Star Wars: Republic Commando Review

Star Wars: Republic Commando is going to surprise a lot of people. Not only does the game look and sound absolutely fantastic, but the squad-based gameplay is extremely well put together and is simply a joy to play. It is a bit on the short side, but Republic Commando gives you an interesting new perspective on the galaxy far, far away that Star Wars fans will definitely appreciate.

Features

In Republic Commando, you are the leader of an elite special-forces unit known as Delta squad. You and your three squadmates are all clones of Jango Fett, but you have been given special education and training that puts you in a class far above the thousands of other clones that make up the Republic’s army. The game takes place during the Clone Wars, but rather than being out on the battlefield alongside thousands of other soldiers, your squad in working behind the scenes to assassinate, destroy, or sabotage whoever or whatever the Republic wants. You’ll fight off bugs on Geonosis, infiltrate an enemy starship, investigate a Republic ship that was attacked, and fight off slavers on the wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk. The most interesting thing about all of this is that you get to see the Star Wars universe from a whole new angle. This is the gritty, brutal, dirty side of war. You are responsible for the little things that make the big battles possible, and that is pretty darn cool.

Gameplay

If you have played Halo or Halo 2, Republic Commando will feel very familiar. That, of course, is a good thing considering that the Halo games are among the best playing console first person shooters ever. Movement and shooting and tossing grenades all have that great, tight feel like Halo. The health system will also be familiar because it uses a recharging overshield along with health that you can refill at stations spread throughout the game. Weapons include your standard blaster rifle which can be modified to be a sniper rifle and grenade launcher, a pistol with unlimited ammo, and a number of weapons you can take from fallen enemies such as shotguns and rocket launchers. You can also use a powerful melee attack which is a one-hit kill on most enemies. I’ve got to admit that I love the melee attacks and it is flat out fun to run up to droids and pop their heads off with your knife. Definitely good times. All of the shooting and grenade tossing and melee attacks flow together incredibly well and the whole experience is very smooth which is exactly what it needs to be with the kind of competition there is in the FPS genre on Xbox.

Total Immersion

There are a lot of things that set Republic Commando apart. The most obvious of which is that, similar to the Metroid Prime games on the Nintendo GameCube, you are viewing the game world from the inside of a helmet. Overlays on the helmet visor give you health information for you and the rest of your squad as well as your inventory of weapons and grenades. There is also a night vision mode you can switch to in dark areas. Something interesting that reminds you that there is supposed to be glass in front of your face is that when you are fighting up close and personal with enemies, some blood or oil will splash onto your faceplate and your helmet will automatically clean it off. Little details like that are very much appreciated and they help to immerse you into the world just that little bit more.

The Squad Is Your Weapon

The most important aspect of Republic Commando is that you are in control of three other elite commandos and using them properly is the key to success in the game. You can order your squad to perform a door breach or tell them to hack a console or place explosives or man turrets or take sniper positions and they do them with amazing precision. The most surprising thing is the way they behave when you aren’t giving them orders. Unlike a lot of games where your teammates are usually in your way and are generally too stupid to be much help, the AI in Republic Commando is surprisingly good. Your squadmates react and fight very realistically and you really feel more comfortable having such skilled soldiers alongside you. Each member of your squad has a unique personality and they are all very likeable, so you actually get attached to them after a while which makes the battles even more intense and exciting. If you or your teammates run out of health, you can be revived as long as there is still one member of your team around to give you a recharge. This makes the game easier, yes, since it makes it pretty hard to die, but it brings you and your squad that little bit closer together which immerses you even more.