Star Wars: Republic Commando Review

Posted by Mark E. Hengst II March 19, 2005

In May of last year I had the privilege of attending E3 in downtown Los Angeles, my second trip to E3 in fact. One of the many games I saw and played was the highly anticipated Star Wars Republic Commando. I remember seeing the interface and thinking of Metroid Prime with squad-based elements. I am sure I am not the only one who envisioned a Rainbow Six-style game with Star Wars models.

The Squad-Based FPS title has a somewhat ugly history when one considers the games that have come before it. Games like the 2003 game Devastation, which toyed with the whole squad-based concept, to games like Elite Force 1 and 2, which merely pretend to be squad-based combat, we have seen a wide range of squad-based games. One difficulty with the whole concept is that it’s very difficult in an FPS environment to actually implement squad-based combat and mechanics while still make it accessible to the average gamer. So the question would be - will this game be a Rainbow Six style of game, or just another shooter with some squad mechanics thrown in for good measure?

"…say that three times real fast."

Sometime you need a little help from your friends

Republic Commando ties in with the upcoming Revenge of the Sith movie which, unless you are living under a rock, you have heard something about. This game deals entirely with the whole Clone Wars setup and actually begins with a series of missions which are occurring during the main battle of the Attack of the Clones movie. While you watched Jedi battle it out in the arena, this game deals with an elite squad of clone commandos (say that three times real fast) who fight to help carry the day for the Republic. For those truly interested, there is also a novel of the Republic Commandos called Hard Contact, which loosely ties in with this game without dealing directly with this it’s characters.

You are Delta Squad, an elite cadre of Clone Commandos tasked with infiltration and completion of what can best be described as suicidal missions. From search and destroy to rescue missions, you will lead your squad of four into hopeless scenarios and only through skill and courage succeed and bring honor to the Republic. Even amongst an army of clones, you are a special squad of the best the Republic Army has to offer, you are the Republic Commandos….

Gameplay
For all intents and purposes, Republic Commandos function in what can best be described as standard FPS game controls. The sole difference in this game is the command structure set up for controlling your squad mates.

When I think of squad-based combat, I cringe as I think of numerous commands issued through bulky menus which a slow fingered person such as myself is hopeless at. Thankfully, Republic Commandos has chosen a different approach to controlling your squad mates. For starters, you are bale to control your squad with five different keys. These commands include search and destroy, form up, secure area, cancel maneuvers and the variable “F” key, in that it can be used to command your squad to engage a specific target, breach a door with explosives, hack computers, or plant explosive charges. It is also necessary for engaging in tactical maneuvers which are absolutely crucial to making it through this game intact. These maneuvers also include establishing cover and engaging in sniper fire as well as establishing anti-armor positions and grenade throwing positions. There are also the standard enemy turrets in which you can order your squad to occupy and then just sit by and smile as you watch them mow down the baddies.

Each of these tasks can also be completed by the Commando you control, but sometimes it’s better to delegate authority, especially when the tasks you need completed are heavily contested with enemy soldiers. You will also find that you occasionally have choices when it comes to gaining access to enemy structures, from the more stealthy security slicing to my favorite, the breaching of the door with explosives. A nice touch with the explosives breach is that as soon as the doors open one of your squad tosses in a grenade. This little maneuver often allows for you to overpower a room before its soldiers are prepared for you.

An example of the squad orders interface

The weapons available are standard in terms of both your FPS and Star Wars fare. From pistols, automatic rifles, shotguns and sniper rifles, to the always popular (particularly amongst Wookies) bowcaster, we see all that we have come to expect in a Star Wars FPS. You also have access to melee weapons, ranging from a knife attached to your amour, to the butt of your shotgun styled weapon. Where this game gets slightly more interesting is in the selection of grenades (referred to as detonators in this game) available. You have your standard thermal detonators, which operate like a standard grenades, EC detonators, which generate an electrostatic field which immobilizes droids, the Sonic detonators, which act as proximity mines sand the Fashbug detonators, which are basically like flash bangs and can be used to stun and blind biological enemies.

Oh is this one gonna leave a stain

Normally I am not much of a grenades man; I prefer running and gunning my way through confrontations, something which you can’t really do in this game. The use of detonators is not only helpful, it’s necessary. You will truly be outmanned and outgunned in nearly every section of this game. The detonators often act as the great equalizers and often are the difference between life and death. Pay attention to the command for cycling through your detonators, as you will need to make sure and use the right detonator for the right situation.

In addition to your weapons, you will occasionally find yourself in a situation in which your are operating under low lighting conditions, making the use of a different visor mode to assist you in navigating these dark and often confining ducts and passageways you find yourself in.

For a game like this, one of the first questions asked is whether the game features good or realistic AI. This game is somewhat of a mixed bag in terms of AI. At times you will find your squad saving your life and making use of the natural terrain and cover to lay down suppressing fire, which often enables you to flank the enemy and destroy them. Sometimes your squad will even use the health dispensers on their own which is also a nice touch. However, they often do the exact opposite. This game features a number of intense engagements, often ranging across numerous rooms. If you are not careful, your squad will move ahead of you and engage another enemy, heedless of the necessary tactics needed to defeat them. On a number of occasions I used a health station only to look up and see that not only had my squad moved ahead of me, but had managed to get themselves killed while I was taking a breather. This can certainly be cured by ordering them to form up on you, but it gets annoying that they rush ahead blindly without their leader.

Just hanging with the boys

Your enemies range from being stupid to deadly and there is rarely any rhyme or reason to the way they operate. This lack of consistency is also very frustrating and some of the sections in this game are quite difficult, with the enemy responding differently every time. This wouldn’t be as big of a deal if it wasn’t for the unpredictability of your squad in these situations as well. There were a few occasions in which I ordered a squad mate into a sniping position only to look over and see him not defending himself against an enemy standing right in front of him.

Finally, one aspect of this game which makes for some interesting tactics is the way in which you can die but not actually die. When your character goes down in combat, you have the option of ordering one of your squad over to revive you. This tool works both ways and you will often be either reviving your men or ordering them to revive themselves or use the health dispensers located throughout the levels.

Graphics
Graphically, this is one fairly good looking game. Certainly it doesn’t come close to rivaling Half-Life 2 or Doom 3, but it does feature a very good looking graphical engine which allows for some fairly high in game resolutions. The whole viewpoint through the helmet is very similar to that used in Metroid Prime, which in my opinion is a good thing.

The use of impressive textures and shadowing also make for a great game. This is one of those games which is almost better in a dark room as it features some very dark levels. In fact after your first few missions, you will be either indoors or underground and the lighting is often low to begin with. The graphics used when you activate your visor mode in order to see in that dark is rather sharp and somewhat reminiscent to what you see when you look through real light amplification devices, which contrary to what you see in most games is really no more than taking the existing low levels of light an d magnifying it, allowing you to see in the dark.

"…you do in fact have a helmet on."

As you can see from the screenshots provided, reminders are given to show you that you do in fact have a helmet on. When you kill enemies up close, you will often get a nice splattering of gore on your visor which will take a few seconds to clear. These small touches really help maintain the beauty around you. It is truly impressive to toss an EC detonator and watch as it shocks and temporarily immobilizes your droid enemies.

Throughout your journey, you will also see a number of impressive looking explosions, which seem to follow your team wherever you go. Some of the best sequences are actually going on around you, for instance as you are preparing to hit ground on your first missions, you will see ships engaging in combat and being destroyed around you. This all helps maintain the impression to the gamer that you are in fact only a small part of a larger war taking place. These are the touches which allow graphics to immerse the player in the game and in this case they succeed, especially in the second portion of the game when you are on the ghost ship. The graphics used in this level maintain a desolate environment and lend an air or dread and mystery to the mission you are on.

A patrol of droids

Sound
Even in Lucasarts’ bad games, they have established a tradition of featuring some of the best soundtracks and sound effects found in any game. This game is no different, as they use the sounds that movie fans always associate with Star Wars, even down to those annoying little black boxes on wheels, whose use has never been explained to me.

See I told ya this was funnier than the dancing baby

Temuera Morrison again lends his voice to the Star Wars universe and is the voice of your character, known as Delta 38. This game is somewhat odd in that it doesn’t really have a structured story. Aside form a few lines of text, the majority of the story is told through Delta 38 and his squad mates and of course the often helpful Clone Advisor who often briefs your squad and updates their objectives. Strangely this loose use of the story actually works. The characters, despite being clones, have distinctive enough personalities, to be both entertaining and help keep the game moving. This is also the only way to determine what it is you are doing in this ongoing Clone War.

The sound effects are as usual standard Star Wars fare. Form the beeping of droids, the sharp high pitched ring of the blaster rifle, to the tell-tale arming of a thermal detonator, everything is exactly as any Star Wars fan would expect it to be. All of these factors coupled with an excellent in game soundtrack served to create an amazing atmosphere for those playing the game. It’s truly astounding how the right music can lend a sense of intensity inside a situation. For me it was all worth it to be rushing through a droid factory trying to reach my extraction point before the whole structure exploded, meanwhile listening to the computer doing the 10 second countdown.

Multiplayer
It is going to be very difficult for me to rate this game’s multiplayer component based solely on what was included. I say this because this is one of those situations in which what might have been overshadows what was.

This game features the standard multiplayer modes of deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and assault. You are offered the choice of either being a Clone Solider or the lizard-like Transdoshan. This inclusion of both the Wookies and Droid soldiers would have been a great touch but was left out.

"…you bent my Wookie."

These modes are not horrible, far from it. The capture the flag and assault offer some large maps and require decent strategies and tactics to be successful. However the lack of variety in the armies, as well as the lack of playable classes (think Tides of War) all serve to offer up what can only be considered a bare-bones, afterthought of a multiplayer component.

If Lucasarts had included cooperative play, as well as some type of Counterstrike/Swat mode in which 2 teams with different objectives engage, this game likely would have been one of the biggest games to be released this year. Sadly the obvious lack of effort put into the multiplayer component is disappointing.

Night vision

Replay Value
With the multiplayer component not offering enough to keep you playing it, it falls to the single player campaign. The single player campaign features various difficulty levels and realistically will take a gamer between 10-12 hours to complete. As I said earlier this can be a very difficult game so don’t be shocked if it takes you a bit longer to complete due to constant loading. There are a smattering of unlockables located throughout the game, but not really anything that I thought made the unlocking worthwhile. For most, this game will be played through once, maybe twice and then put on the shelf.

Conclusion
Judged solely on what this game is, It is an intense, exciting fast paced thrill ride of a game. It features a well implemented and easy to learn squad based mechanic which shows you can take a complex game mechanic and make it accessible to masses and still fun. This is a great sound and great looking game which will immerse you in the

Clone Wars and show you a side you are likely to miss if you only watch the movies, having said that, it falls short of the expectations that I and many gamers had when we first heard the announcement of this game and saw that impressive set of screenshots. Still there is always the hope that an expansion will add these things or some type of download or mod will offer it up. Still for what is a movie tie-in, we have a solid FPS title that will offer action and excitement, while at least feeling like a solid PC game and not just a port of a console game.