Star Wars: Republic Commando
Score: 88% ESRB: Teen Publisher: LucasArts Developer: LucasArts Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: First Person Shooter/ Squad-Based/ Online
Graphics & Sound: Star Wars: Republic Commando breaks the mold in terms of what Star Wars games have been in the past. Instead of taking a proven gameplay model and simply adding a Star Wars spin, Republic Commando tries to offer a unique gameplay experience that just happens to be set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. What this amounts to is an action game that offers a satisfying action game, and one of the best Star Wars shooters since the original Dark Forces. Style is not something that Republic Commando can be accused of lacking. Many of the best elements of nearly every shooter to come along in the past few years can be found throughout the game’s presentation. Metroid: Prime clearly serves as one of the game’s key inspirations. All of the game’s major story elements, including “birth,” are told using the same first-person conventions used in Prime. In addition, all useful information is neatly tucked away in your in-helmet HUD. The world outside your helmet looks just as good as the interface. Locales really help to immerse you into the battles. Beginning with the ground battle on Geonosis, action is always hectic and is pure Star Wars. A large part of this is due to the amount of details thrown into the game. Some enemies cause interference with your HUD, adding a little static; there’s even a neat little “side-view” when you die. Speaking of death, enemy death animations add a little extra kick to the whole experience. Landing a headshot on a droid causes it to randomly fire before shorting out, and well-placed hits on mercenary backpacks sends them spinning into orbit. Aural presentation owes just as much to detail as the visuals do. Further breaking the concept of what has made up Star Wars games in the past, the game’s soundtrack is completely original. A few of John Williams' classic score can be heard, but they blend nicely into the new material. Temuera Morrison reprises his role of clone and provides the main character’s voice. Without getting into the “whys” of the situation, the clones under your command don’t share his voice (even though they share the same DNA), but the voice work is so well done, it’s easy to overlook such a small thing.
Gameplay: The idea of a squad-based shooter is nothing new; it’s the concept of easily commanding your squad that makes Republic Commando stand out. Set in the three years between “Attack of the Clones” and the upcoming “Revenge of the Sith,” Republic Commando breaks the model of recent Star Wars games. First off, you’re not a Jedi, nor are you a pilot. You take the role of Delta 1138 (A.K.A. “Boss”), the leader of an elite squad of clones who are sent to do the Republic’s behind-the-scenes work. Although all cloned from the same genetic stock, each commando has his own personality – adding to the game’s presentation. Each commando has his own personal markings that not only help to make him stand out during hectic on-field battles, but gives you something beyond the emotionless robots found in other squad-based affairs. Sure the personalities are a little generic, from the psychopathic sniper to the by-the-book second-in-command, but they still work and make you care about your squad. Single-player Mission structure is set up in a very linear fashion. Spanning three campaigns, Republic Commando takes you from the Battle of Geonosis to a derelict Republic Cruiser. The big payoff comes in the last mission, which leads directly into “Revenge of the Sith” and introduces a few of the new movie’s new faces, such as General Grevious. Each campaign is set up as its own self-contained story. The only continuity between the three is that each campaign becomes more difficult than the last. The approach is novel, but does have a few problems. The first is that there’s very little “story” going on between the chapters. Each is introduced only with a few words of narration and a counter that tells how far into the Clone Wars the campaign is set. What really hurts about the whole setup is the ending. Like another high-profile Xbox game to come along recently, Republic Commando simply drops off at the end with little resolution. What makes this hurt even more is that the game is rather short and clocks in at about 8-10 hours total. Granted, continuing would have put a damper on the movie, but I’m sure it could have been handled better. Maybe LucasArts will surprise us with a special “unlock” once the movie hits, but I’m not holding my breath on that one. Multiplayer is present, but is just kind of hanging around for the ride. Star Wars: Republic Commando includes both online and offline variants, but there’s really nothing here that stands out. The real shame of it all is that the action just screams for a co-op mode, or at least some kind of class-based team play similar to what we saw with Return to Castle Wolfenstein or even Battlefront. The action is still fun, especially for Star Wars fans looking to connect with other fans, but, as its stands, multiplayer feels like something that was tacked on at the last minute.
Difficulty: Taking the fuss out of squad-based systems, which are sometimes too complicated to be of any use, lets tactics become a focal point of the game – which is where the aforementioned strategy comes in. Haphazardly assigning people to spots before assessing a situation is a surefire way to find your squad dead. The fewer the teammates, the harder the mission is to accomplish. At least that’s the theory behind everything. Death is handled in much the same way as other games. The catch is that none of your squad mates can be permanently killed. If a squad member, or even you, should become incapacitated, one of your living members can become a makeshift medic. Even with you out of the picture, your squad does a pretty good job of handling themselves. As a result, Republic Commando is fairly easy and rewards persistence more than skill. Without any real penalty, it’s more luck than skill.
Game Mechanics: Getting back to the actual structure of missions, each follows a very direct path. Like the story, this places a few limitations on the action since there’s really only one “correct” way to do things. Some areas allow for a little creativity, but overall you’re following one path. Of course, the entire premise of a “correct way” is based off the assumption that you’ll be able to effectively manage your squad and keep everyone alive – which is where Republic Commando gets tricky. Ordering your squad around is easy enough. As you travel through the twisted corridors that make up a bulk of every level, you come across hotspots. Targeting a hotspot brings up a holographic image of one of your commandos and the action they will perform there. These include actions like slicing a terminal, sniping, or placing explosives. With the press of a button, commandos can be set into action. Thanks to an excellent A.I. system, squad mates dutifully get to work without much delay and generally carry out orders to the letter. In addition to carrying out individual commands, maneuvers are also available. Holding down the command button and pressing the D-pad sets up squad-based commands that set your entire group into action. Maneuvers come in handy when you need to get the entire group to drop what they're doing and focus on one target. These instances are rare, but you’ll be happy you have them when the situation arises. Although much of the attention goes towards the system’s squad-based components, it’s important to note that there is still a solid shooter to be found in Star Wars: Republic Commando that should appease any action fan – even if you think Star Wars is something left only for social lepers who still live in their mom’s basement.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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