There are people of a certain age, usually male and given to an unsettling fondness for Red Dwarf, real ale and proclaiming Alan Moore to be some kind of hirsute pagan god (and, yes, they themselves might sport unkempt beards), to whom the popular speculative fiction publication 2000AD is sacred: mention the names Johnny Alpha, Zenith, Skizz et al and their eyes will glaze over in some kind of rheumy reverie as they fondly remember playground arguments (frequently resulting in scuffed kness and torn shorts), about who was harder: Dredd or Orlok, or whether Judge Anderson was fitter than Venus Bluegenes.

Rogue Trooper is up there in the pantheon of 2000AD: an untouchable classic, one of the immortal strips that, unlike some other characters, never seemed to diminish. The story of Rogue, the blue-skinned Genetic Infantryman, a biologically engineered soldier developed by the Southers to be able to breathe the toxic air of Nu-Earth, poisoned by decades of war with the Norts (and hence be able to fight without the hindrance of atmosphere suit). Rogue’s only "real" companions are his chip buddies - biological microchips holding the personalities of dead comrades whom Rogue has implanted in his combat equipment - slaughtered at the infamous Quartz Zone massacre, their enemy tipped off by a traitor general from Rogue’s own side. The strip thus concerned Rogue’s seemingly unending quest to find the traitor, avenge his fallen comrades and enable his dead buddies to be regened; that is, have their bodies regenerated.

And all very good it was too; potentially a great property (the film rights have been optioned down the years but it’s never actually made it to production) and, since Rebellion bought up 2000AD lock, stock and barrel, a great IP to convert into videogame form, albeit one that saw its glory years (and highest public awareness) some time back.

It is with considerable collywobbles then, since the heaving disappointment and very definition of mediocrity that was Dredd Vs. Death, that a 2000AD fan of any stock would approach this next effort by Rebellion to take the monochrome majesty (yes, alright, and later colour) of Tharg’s pages and translate them into videogame gold. And, to give Rebellion its due, it does a far better job here than in the moribund Dredd effort - which still deserves another shot in the videogame arena, Rebellion pals o’ mine!

Being a third-person shooty affair, Rogue must traverse the hellish, devastated climes of Nu-Earth, the game beginning with the already-mentioned Quartz Zone massacre. After your buddies Gunnar, Helm and Bagman have fallen to the Norts, Rogue extracts the bio-chips from their skulls and fits them to his rifle, helmet and rucksack respectively. Then each is capable of controlling their equipment and assisting Rogue (Gunnar can be deployed as a sentry gun; Helm is a haxx0r (waReZ r00l) and can display decoy holograms; Bagman can dispense micro-mines and manufacture ammo when required). They can also talk: most memorably, Gunnar is a loudmouth braggart and will proffer advice - read: signpost gameplay - or just blab for the sake of it. In a nice nod to the comic, Rogue must scavenge for equipment since, after striking out on his own, he’s gone AWOL from his own side and hence has no supplies: this takes the form of removing rifles and such from fallen enemies, each worth a certain number of points, and giving them to Bagman for recycling – Bagman then will be able to replenish ammo and offer equipment upgrades, for a price.

Powered by Rebellion’s Asura engine, this certainly looks the part – Nu Earth is exactly how every fanboy will remember it/have mentally projected it into three dimensions from golden-era Rogue Trooper, all poison-gas clouds and jutting columnar crystal, alien topography and simply gorgeous skyboxes. Rogue looks (and sounds) convincing, although hearing him actually talk is a little disconcerting, since the internal voice you’ve assigned him through years of reading speech bubbles could never tally with what the voice actor has given him.

The slightly ageing engine (and hardware) does seem to struggle occasionally in a way that it never did with, say, Rebellion’s previous 2000AD effort. It features the odd chuggy section, particularly in interiors, but it’s never game-breaking, and certainly this is marginally prettier than Dredd Vs. Death, World War Zero or the grimy schmooze of Sniper Elite. It's also fairly solid technically – the Xbox version, unlike Dredd’s effort, supports 16:9 and showcases few ridiculous break-dancing ragdolls and certainly no silly scripting problems like NPCs spontaneously combusting: we did find it possible to become stuck on scenery though, necessitating checkpoint restarts. Rogue also never feels the need to break out a tinny of Red Bull, pleasingly enough.

It's slightly disappointing, despite the presence of current Rogue scribe Gordon Rennie as creative advisor, that Rebellion seem to have made their Rogue model a rather cartoonishly bland composite of every artist's take on him rather than opting for, say, Steve Dillon's thick bold lines or Colin Wilson's classic, uber-detailed clean style, but it's a small quibble. Indeed, we defy the eternal fanboy not to squeak in delight at the in vitro GI foetuses (complete with oh-so-cute mini mohicans) floating about on the attract screen. There's little in the way of a decent "classic" story to sink your teeth into, though, it being really a Rogue Lite affair.

As is the case for much contemporary third-person action, Rogue can wall-hug (and blindfire from said wall-huggery), snipe, stealth-kill, combat roll etc. Indeed, he’s an extremely flexible soldier, befitting his engineered status. Bagman can also dispense a fairly comprehensive selection of ammo and grenade types for all occasions, making combat initially varied (although many set-pieces are heavily scripted, necessitating the use of a specific piece of ordnance). Combat is fluid and fun; it does, once your weapon set is completed, become rather formulaic however, and seemingly repeats the same pattern of forcing Rogue down “corridors” of action, providing a scripted set-piece, having a bit of sniping action, using a fixed gun emplacement, then rinsing and repeating. This despite Rebellion’s claim of open-ended combat options. The game also (in the form of bio-chip "advice") prompts fairly heavily when to use your toolset, for example when to deploy Gunnar as sentry, rather than leaving it up to the player. Stealth, if such a dirty word is permitted, is also neither that high on the agenda, except for the odd delineated mission where sniping and knife kills are pre-ordained - silent infiltration and the like are not really a freeform option, more a hand-held exercise.

Multiplayer is an example of a tantalising idea rendered nearly obsolete by the ever-dwindling numbers of gamers still Live-ing it up on Xbox rather than 360 (a situation compounded by a lack of emulation) and this title's niche appeal: translated, this means that the idea of having 4-player co-operative online is a great one (especially being able to play Rogue, Bagman et al pre-Quartz Zone Massacre, complete with unique skills) but there simply aren't enough players around to get a good game (at least whenever we try, but perhaps they can smell us coming) which is a shame, because this could've been a real gem. Hopefully, this'll get emulated. On that day, Jimmy Hoffa will likely pick up 30 years' worth of pension cheques, but one can always hope. 2-player co-op is supported offline.

A decent-enough third-person shooter, then, rendered considerably more appealing if an admirer of the strip. If so, the score below can safely have a +1 Fanboy Modifier (to hit) applied to it.