Review: Star Wars Republic Commando
When you think of great Star Wars video games, most people go to Knights of the Old Republic, the Battlefront games, Jedi Academy, and Tie Fighter. However, if there is one game in this franchise that can be classified as a cult game, I would say its this one, Republic Commando. This game is something that not every Star Wars fan has played, but those who have love it.
Premise and Plot Republic Commando is a 2005 first-person shooter video game made for the PC and the original Xbox. When it was announced, many fans did not know what to expect as there was not going to be any use of Jedi or force powers at all, which I think is a stupid complaint seeing as there were countless Star Wars games such as Battlefront one where you don't use the force. However, years later, many fans who have played welcomed the change of style and tone as this game was very dark and gritty, well as dark and gritty as a "T" rated Star Wars game could get. In the actual story of the game, you are Delta Squad, a group of highly trained clones called commandos. Commandos are basically the Navy Seals of the Star Wars universe. You control the leader of the of the squad, nicknamed "Boss," and you lead a group of three men "Scorch," "Fixer," and "Sev." As far as story goes, to me, its passable. While the clones have good personalities and play off each other well, the actual tale is really nothing more than a series of missions that the squad does over the course of the war. Granted, the missions are cool, but overall, its not something that you will remember forever like in Knights of the Old Republic.
Gameplay
Now lets talk about the most important thing, the gameplay. For the most part, its really fun. The game controls well, all of the weapons are fun and easy to use and the game is also really tense and at times offers up a really good challenge. Since you are a part of a squad a big selling point in the game is controlling and directing your AI throughout the battlefield. And, it does work well, whenever you enter a battle you can coordinate your squad to set up lookout points, cover fire, work on objectives so you don't have to, target an enemy or a group of enemies or advance on a position. It does work well and for the most part the AI is really smart and intelligent and even help revive you whenever you go down. The only small nitpick I have with this system is that I wish there was more you can do with the squad or at the very least give more commands than the ones the are just a button. The 18 missions total in the game are fun although you tend to do the same objectives in every mission. Difficulty wise, you might be surprised how hard the game is. Ok, its not the Lost Levels hard but even on the Normal difficulty setting I still died a lot. Yeah, the enemy AI in the game are challenging as well, especially the Super Battle Droids. Oh my goodness, those guys! Everybody who has played this game knows how over powered these guys are. You basically need your entire team or all of your grenades to take one down. There just as over-powered as the destroyer droids were in Battlefront one.
Graphics and Audio Graphically, for a 2005 original Xbox game, it looks well enough. The environments are detailed enough, and the worlds and settings do have that Star Wars feel. My only real complaint about the graphics is its limited color pallet. Yes, its supposed to be a darker game in the franchise but that doesn't mean the vast majority of the colors in the game have to be black, brown, and grey. Heck, even during the last section of the game when they go to Kashyyyk, a planet known for green, the game still feels very gray. The character models on the clones are well detailed and the redesign of the droids are really cool looking. There is even a cool thing in the game when you knife someone blood splats on your visor. However, the models on the Trandoshan enemies leave a little to be desired. Audio wise, the game is spot on. I mean, the music is Star Wars. You either love the music or you are wrong. The sounds of the battles, weapons, explosions, and environments are also top notch as well. Heck, even the voice acting isn't bad either as each clone in the squad have their own way of speaking and inflections in their voice.
Overall
It is a solid game at its core even though it has some issues and it can be completed in around 6-7 hours. Basically, it has a good foundation that can be spawned into a sequel. That is why I referenced this game before as I feel it had so much potential. A sequel was in development called Imperial Commando before it got cancelled by LucasArts. Hopefully, maybe one of EA's developers can make a sequel to this game as we know both Bioware and Visceral are making Star Wars games right now. For now, only time will tell.
