{"id":100789,"date":"2019-09-25T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/contra_rogue_corps"},"modified":"2019-09-25T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T13:00:00","slug":"review-contra-rogue-corps-an-ugly-and-unfocused-mess-that-shames-the-contra-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/09\/25\/review-contra-rogue-corps-an-ugly-and-unfocused-mess-that-shames-the-contra-name\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Contra: Rogue Corps &#8211; An Ugly And Unfocused Mess That Shames The Contra Name"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/e77ef0ff4d93e\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/e77ef0ff4d93e\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Contra: Rogue Corps Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99503\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99503\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Contra: Rogue Corps Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/contra_rogue_corps\">Contra: Rogue Corps<\/a><\/strong> sets itself some seven years after the cataclysmic events of 1992\u2019s <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/snes\/contra_iii_the_alien_wars\">Contra III: The Alien Wars<\/a><\/strong>, one of the very best entries in the franchise. It\u2019s certainly a bold move to tie yourself so directly to such a beloved game; a sign of supreme confidence, you might think. Well, if it <em>was<\/em> confidence, it was sorely misplaced, because Contra: Rogue Corps is a missed opportunity and a mess. It\u2019s bloated with unnecessary modes, has cumbersome combat, characters who spout terrible, cheesy dialogue (the city where the game is set is described as being like something that was \u201cshot out of Lucifer\u2019s asshole\u201d) and, on Switch, it&#8217;s a blurred and muddy muddle of low resolution textures and pixelated edges on every surface.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to make this new Contra a twin-stick shooter, whilst not necessarily what any fan would have wanted, could have been one that paid off. With its constantly shifting camera perspectives and tight little arenas that cordon you off and fire tons of enemies in your direction, there\u2019s definitely the basis of something that <em>could<\/em> have been decent here. However, a combination of imprecise controls, boring level objectives and enemies that are thrown at you haphazardly see to it that the whole thing just never gets off the ground; it never finds that magic, addictive flow that the best in the genre possess in spades.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Contra: Rogue Corps Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99507\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99507\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Contra: Rogue Corps Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Aiming in a hectic twin-stick shooter <em>needs<\/em> to be refined and accurate, but the controls here just aren\u2019t slick enough. Time after time you\u2019ll find yourself struggling to hit the exact enemy, exploding barrel or vehicle you were aiming for. There are also platforming elements in every level that feel supremely awkward, getting you into all sorts of bother as you try (and fail) to reach some catwalk or other to deal with a grenade-lobbing mutant. It\u2019s these very basic building blocks that aren\u2019t up to task, ensuring that this is an experience that\u2019s going to struggle to hold your attention for very long.<\/p>\n<p>Missions play out, by and large, in very similar fashion and feature dull objectives. \u201cReach the end\u201d, \u201cfind your target\u201d or \u201cdestroy the enemy spawn points\u201d \u2013 just incredibly bland stuff that makes no effort to get you involved in what\u2019s going on. There are boss battles that vary between being too easy or just plain awkward, and the game randomly shifts to a behind-the-shoulder aiming mode that\u2019s clumsy, inaccurate and an example of a developer throwing everything at their game instead of concentrating on making any of it in any way refined. Granted, the original <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nes\/contra\">Contra<\/a><\/strong> used a similar perspective-shifting tactic, but its application way back in the \u201880s was more convincing and assured than what\u2019s attempted here.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Contra: Rogue Corps Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99502\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99502\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Contra: Rogue Corps Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>All of this stuff is then compounded by the fact that the Switch port is right up there with the most blurred and pixelated games we\u2019ve encountered on the console; we\u2019re talking <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/solseraph\">SolSeraph<\/a><\/strong>-levels of eye strain. It looks much worse docked as the portable screen hides a multitude of sins, but in both modes it\u2019s a pain to watch what\u2019s unfolding on-screen. There\u2019s also the small matter of campaign missions, which can run for a good 20 to 30 minutes, that are set against a timer and cannot be paused. Once you start a mission, you\u2019re locked into completing it unless you choose to completely quit out \u2013 a crazy situation that doesn\u2019t lend itself favourably to the portable nature of Switch.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of positives, there <em>are<\/em> plenty of ways to play through Contra: Rogue Corps, with online co-op available for the full campaign and exploration missions. There\u2019s a couch co-op mode that unlocks once you hit rank 2, although it only really consists of more exploration missions and a 4-on-4 PvP mode, which we unfortunately couldn\u2019t get into a single game of at the time of writing.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also an almost overwhelmingly deep upgrade and customisation system which is undoubtedly the strongest point of the entire package \u2013 which, let&#8217;s face it, isn&#8217;t exactly ideal when people just want to get on with shooting stuff. You\u2019ll hoover up a ton of spare parts and materials during your sorties which can be used back at base camp to upgrade different aspects of your preferred weapons, and each gun comes with several slots to adjust firepower, cooling time and so on. You can buy new weapons and even have surgery to implant improvements into your chosen character\u2019s body \u2013 gifting you better movement speed, defence or attack power, for example. If all of this had been tied to a genuinely good twin-stick shooter, Konami and Toylogic could have been onto a real winner, but it isn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Contra: Rogue Corps Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99509\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/99509\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Contra: Rogue Corps Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\"><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Speaking of characters, the four on offer here. Kaiser, Hungry Beast, Ms Harakiri and Gentleman are all nicely enough designed, but there just isn\u2019t enough difference between their tactics on the ground to make it important which one you choose to main, beyond their aesthetics.They all have two weapons, an overcharge firing mode, special attack and a dodge that makes them temporarily invulnerable as they slice through enemies or avoid incoming fire, and it\u2019s a shame there isn\u2019t as much variety in how they play as there is in how they look. I mean, one of them is a panda, for crying out loud; surely that could have been leveraged into some kind of unique gameplay element?<\/p>\n<p>There <em>are<\/em> occasions when things do come together in very short bursts, and mixing up your special moves, dodge and guns <em>can<\/em> be pretty fun here and there, but another decision \u2013 one that will be divisive and that we really feel ruins the flow of combat \u2013 is that your guns overheat, and they overheat <em>quickly<\/em>. This is perhaps meant to add a layer of strategy to proceedings, but it\u2019s at the cost of constantly watching your weapon\u2019s meter instead of concentrating on blasting the hell out of alien invaders. It just feels like one more thing bolted on in a haphazard way, leading to a game that\u2019s clunky at the same time as being almost impossibly ugly on Nintendo&#8217;s console.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Contra: Rogue Corps has some good ideas. The twin-stick action <em>could<\/em> have worked if it hadn\u2019t been so fussy and inaccurate, the choice of characters <em>could<\/em> have been great if they\u2019d had a bit more variety and the deep customisation and online game modes <em>could<\/em> have added longevity if they hadn&#8217;t been attached to such a drab and messy-looking game. In the end, nothing about this endeavour feels in any way related to the Contra games you know and love, and you\u2019d do much better to grab the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/contra_anniversary_collection\">Contra Anniversary Collection<\/a><\/strong> at a much lower price \u2013 or try out one of the many excellent retro twin-stick shooters or side-scrolling action games already available on the platform.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contra: Rogue Corps sets itself some seven years after the cataclysmic events of 1992\u2019s Contra III: The Alien Wars, one of the very best entries in the franchise. It\u2019s certainly a bold move to tie yourself so directly to such a beloved game; a sign of supreme confidence, you might think. Well, if it was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}