It seems that nowadays you can’t kick a chunk of bantha
fodder without hitting a Star Wars game. While some of them are excellent
titles that expand upon the Star Wars universe by providing great stories and
compelling gameplay, others are, well, Super Bombad Racing. Luckily for us, the
long-awaited Republic Commando is not one of the latter. While the
single-player campaign is quite short, the game offers intense gameplay and an
easy to grasp interface that FPS fans should have no problem picking up. All in
all, Republic Commando is a good game that puts gamers successfully in the
helmet of a Clone Trooper.
In Republic Commando, you play as the leader of a group
of four Clone Troopers as they fight through a variety of missions during the
infamous Clone Wars. You’ll face off against the Separatist Droid Army and
their allies on familiar battlegrounds as Geonosis and Kashyyyk, the Wookie home
planet. The battles are fast and furious, with your squad mates providing much
needed support from all angles and utilizing each of their individualized
traits. One member of your team is a wily demolitions expert, another is a
computer hacking expert, and the other is a gung ho ultimate warrior who is
skilled at sniping. Each of these characters come in handy in their own unique
ways and proves to be an asset in many pinches on the battlefield.
Commanding your team around is very streamlined thanks
to the PC’s keyboard layout. Whenever a hotspot appears indicating that your
team can perform an action like slicing a computer terminal or manning a gun
turret, a green hologram of them completing the action will appear on the screen
and then you only have to push a button to get them to perform the task. Doing
this, you can position your team in sniping positions or on gun turrets before a
big fight so you can have the upper hand.
Your team can also heal you should you fall in battle
and vise versa. You never truly die until each member of your team is out of
commission, as you can regenerate each other indefinitely. Also there are many
strategically placed bacta tanks throughout the game that allow you and your
team to heal up before and after big conflicts.
For hardcore fans of the Rainbow Six series and other
team-based action strategy games, the tactical elements of Republic Commando may
seem a little on the light side. You have options at the hotspots that you
can’t really change around and you can’t do things like queue up other commands
the way you can in the Tom Clancy games. While the squad elements are certainly
there and very well implemented, but not quite as deep as other strategy games.
That said, Republic Commando is a very intense action
game. The battles are fast and extreme, with hordes of enemies swarming your
team at one time. Unfortunately, the game is also over very quickly, and most
gamers should be able to complete the single player campaign in less than ten
hours.
The graphics are fantastic on the PC. The game makes
great use of bloom lighting and pixel shading, resulting in one of the most
graphically impressive Star Wars games to date. The character models are nicely
detailed, making each member of your team distinguishable from the others (um,
even though they are clones). There are also some great little touches, like
blood and oil splattering on your character’s visor and then being wiped off
with a laser wiper, that add a lot to the overall aesthetic. The environments
are great looking too, providing great representations of some of the beloved
worlds in a galaxy far, far away.
The sound is also great. The game features some
familiar Star Wars tunes, as well as some new themes that seamlessly add to the
game’s Star Wars atmosphere. The voice acting is also very well done, with each
character having their own unique personalities that come out during the game.
Even though Republic Commando is light on the strategy
elements, something that might turn off the more serious squad based gamer, it
is still a fun game that no Star Wars fan should miss out on.
|
|
Gameplay: 8.8
Republic Commando
pits you and your squad against enemies in several real locations in the Star
Wars universe. The action is very intense and the tactical interface is very
streamlined, making easy for anyone to pick up and get into. The single player
campaign is very short, however, and can be completed in about ten hours or so.
Graphics: 9.5
Republic Commando has some of the most impressive graphics of any Star Wars game
yet, with realistic character models, great environments and some superb
lighting and texture effects.
Sound: 9.0
The game has some
great music, both new and familiar, and the voice acting is very well done.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 9.0
Republic Commando
borrows heavily from other games, like Halo, Metroid Prime and Ghost Recon, and
does so with a lot of polish.
Multiplayer: 8.5
The multiplayer elements aren’t quite as good as the single player aspects,
relying on familiar staples like Deathmatch and CTF to get the job done. A
co-op campaign would’ve kicked serious butt.
Overall: 8.8
Republic
Commando is a blast, albeit a short one. The action is very intense and the
tactical elements, while light, are easy to grasp. Fans of the Star Wars
franchise, or action FPS games, shouldn’t miss it.
