Coming off the less than stellar (to put it mildly) Batman: Dark Tomorrow, Kemco is in desperate need of a hit … something they can turn into a franchise. Luckily, the progress Bits Studios has made on Rogue Ops in recent months has paid off, and it now has the potential to be the sort of hit that Kemco can rally around. The story is fairly clichéd (widow joins the same organization that got her husband and daughter killed in order to avenge their deaths), and the gameplay is stealth-action like we've all seen before. As many of our readers know, I'm a sucker for detail. And when I say detail, I mean ridiculous stuff that does little but add atmosphere to the game. This is where Rogue Ops is going to really distinguish itself, because there are little touches of detail all over that serve to really bring the game alive.

First, the heroine of the game, Nikki Connors, has been given a makeover. No longer does she look like the brunette bombshell you'd find in any other game. Nikki's been given a dye-job, and she's out to prove that not only to blondes have more fun, but that they'll kick some ass given the opportunity. Her look is fairly fresh, but the core gameplay is reminiscent of "Splinter Cell". Where the game excels is in giving you better indications of what you can interact with, through icons that will indicate exactly what you can do to an object or a piece of the environment.

The game also gives you several different ways to complete most tasks and challenges. If you need to cross a section covered in laser netting, you can try to find a way to go up and over the field, deactivate the lasers with a keycard (if you can find the right panel), try to short-circuit the power in the area, or even use the dead bodies of your enemies to block the lasers. That's the sort of thing I mean when I talk about detail, because when you can use corpses to help pave your way through traps, that's both clever and satisfying.

There is even more attention to detail, with the way enemies will be aware of their surroundings. Errant drops of blood (blood pours out of fallen enemies and can trail behind you when you pick them up to dispose of them) will not go unnoticed by the guards, and they'll even go as far as to follow the blood to the source. Likewise for footprints in the snow, so players will have to be even more careful not to leave any evidence of their presence.

Nikki has a decent selection of weapons, but ammunition is at a premium. Don't expect to be able to simply shoot everyone in sight to finish a mission. Conservation of ammo is critical, and players will quickly find themselves relying on reusable weapons, like knives or shuriken. Regarding the latter, you'll even be able to retrieve thrown weapons, both to use them again, and to eliminate the evidence.

Something quite innovative is Nikki's use of stealth attacks. When you approach an enemy from behind, a meter will pop up. While you can attack at any time, the longer you can stay in range and undetected, the easier your kill will be. Fill the meter, and you may only have to make a short series of three joystick moves (which pop up on the screen) within the time limit to dispatch the guard. Jump the gun, and you may have ten direction presses and less time to make them in. When you pull off the kill, Nikki will make quick work of the victim, and the game will even flash to an x-ray shot of the corpse, very much like you'll see in the show "CSI". Very effective.

Rogue Ops could have been a real train wreck, but Bits Studios has slaved away and really made the game something special and interesting. While it's hard to say if the game will be good as its spiritual brethren in Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid, there are nice touches of detail everywhere that you just don't see in the other games. This is definitely one you'll want to watch out for this fall.