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Published
by LucasArts
Developed by LucasArts
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £39.99
There
was once a time when every Star Wars game that was released
was considered a classic. Games such as X-Wing and Tie Fighter
were two of the best DOS games of all time. In recent years
we've had to suffer such titles as The Phantom Menace and
Force Commander which didn't impress anyone. If the recent
Star Wars games are anything to go by though the golden
days are definitely beginning to return. Star Wars: Knights
of the Old Republic and its recently released sequel are
two of the best Star Wars games ever created and now we
have Star Wars: Republic Commando which promises to be another
great Star Wars experience.
Star
Wars: Republic Commando places you as the leader of an elite
squad of Republic Commandos. The game is set during the
Clone Wars period (right between Episodes II and III) and
you'll even see vehicles and locations that will appear
in Episode III. Of course in Republic Commando what you're
seeing is a different view of the Star Wars universe because
it's not through the eyes of a Jedi; instead it's from the
view of soldier. There's no force to assist you here but
in some ways that makes a refreshing change and it certainly
allows for a free flowing FPS game which is certainly what
Republic Commando is. The choice of weapons, the range and
AI of your enemies and the interaction with the other members
of your squad all serve to make this a very enjoyable game.
I
suppose that it's easy to expect this game to be a kind
of Rainbow Six type Star Wars game. The fact that you are
in control of a squad tends to give that impression. In
actual fact though the game bears little resemblance to
the Rainbow Six games which is some ways is a good thing.
If the game had required you to strategically plan your
attacks it would have completely ruined the pace of the
game. The game plays similar to Halo if anything, although
it's not quite the same experience. The HUD reminds me a
lot of the Metroid Prime games on the GameCube but again
this is only an aesthetic similarity and the game plays
very different to Metroid Prime. Of course you do have to
command your comrades (Fixer, Scorch and Sev) but thankfully
the method of doing this is a simple one.
Essentially
there are a variety of orders you can give to your squad
and these orders are all issued with the A button. You can
order them to collectively attack a unit by placing your
crosshair over an enemy and pressing the A button. By holding
the A button and pressing left on the directional pad you
can issue a search and destroy order. Pressing up on the
directional pad along with the A button will order your
squad to secure the area. Right on the directional pad along
with the A button orders the squad to form-up, whilst down
on the directional pad and the A button will cancel a manoeuvre.
There are other orders though which enable you to place
squad members in advantageous shooting/sniping positions.
When you come across such positions a blue hologram of a
commando will appear and if you place your crosshair over
one of these positions and press the A button a squad member
will take up the position. Orders to slice computers and
plant explosives are all issued in a similar manner. Placing
your crosshair over a bacta dispenser (which allows you
to top-up you health) and pressing the A button will send
a squad member to the dispenser to regain health. This method
of issuing orders may seem simplistic but it works really
well and is immediately accessible and intuitive. You can
also revive fallen squad members and they too can return
the favour. If you fall and there are no squad members standing
though it's game over.
From
start to finish Republic Commando is an enjoyable game to
play. What most gamers will be disappointed with though
is that from start to finish, at the absolute most, is 11
hours which is fairly short. The multiplayer modes are simply
OK and don't really offer anything you haven't seen before.
Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Assault and Capture the Flag
make up the game modes. Four player split-screen, System
Link and of course Xbox Live are supported. Sadly co-op
play is not supported. Playing on one console and over Xbox
Live would have been great in co-op mode and I reckon it
would have been very popular too so it's a disappointment
that it wasn't included.
Whilst
the Knights of the Old Republic games weren't exactly the
best looking games on the Xbox, Republic Commando looks
much better and has many impressive graphical effects throughout
the game. Everything from the environments (such as Geonosis
and the Wookie homeland Kashyyyk) to the splattered Geonosians'
ooze that hits your visor when you kill one at close quarters
looks very impressive. You'll also get an impressive blurring
effect when an enemy takes you out and you're waiting to
be revived. For the most part the frame rate is smooth throughout
the game. It can dip on the odd occasion, especially when
you come under siege from hoards of enemies but this is
only for a very short time and there's nothing that spoils
the pace of the hectic action the game offers.
It's
unusual for deaf gamers to be well catered for in a FPS
game. Last year we had the exceptional Half-Life 2 with
its amazing support for deaf gamers but on the whole, it's
a poor genre for providing subtitles and captions. It's
all the more pleasing then to see what a good job Republic
Commando has done in being deaf gamer friendly. By default
subtitles are enabled so you can jump straight into the
game without having to pop into the options. All mission
objectives and orders are displayed in text too. What I
really like though is that most of the comments from your
squad members are shown in text. This allows you to capture
more of the games' atmosphere and get a feel for your comrades'
personality. The only downside here though is that the comments
are not colour coded which means during hectic action it's
not easy to see who's saying what at a glance. As you play
through the game various bonus movies will unlock and these
aren't subtitled which is a shame but this is hardly anything
to be disappointed about.
Star
Wars Republic Commando is a must for FPS fans and fans of
the Star Wars universe. The action is relentless and the
AI of your squad members and your enemies is great. The
negatives are that it's not long enough and that the multiplayer
options are nothing unique. Had there been a co-op mode
this would have made the multiplayer mode much more appetizing.
Although the single player game is short I can see gamers
wanting to play through again and again because the action
is so constant and engaging. It's beginning to seem that
the Star Wars name is once again a sign of quality when
it comes to games.
Overall
Game Rating: 8.8/10
Star Wars Republic Commando is an action filled FPS that
offers non-stop thrills. The single player game is a little
short though and the multiplayer options are nothing different.
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
It's
great to see a FPS with such extensive subtitling. However
it would have been better if the text for each squad member
had been colour coded.
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