Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox) > Reviews (2)

Gameplay

Wow. What a game. They really hit the mark with this game.

The gameplay in this game is simply stunning. The amount of thought that must’ve gone into creating this gritty and darkly humorous Star Wars game must be incredible.

In a nutshell, you play as the leader of a Clone Commando Pod (squad) called Boss (voiced by Temuera Morrison himself) and are unleashed onto the bad-soon-to-be-good guys. Each member of your squad has different skills and different personalities (caused by the different training they went through) but in the end, each member can perform any task as well as each other.

The inclusion of iron sights is spot on. Iron sights are becoming the norm in FPS games and it is indeed a welcome admission to Republic Commando.

Your computer controlled comrades in arms can handle themselves in a fire fight quite well which is a blessing. Their fighting skills are essential throughout the game especially when you decide to plant a bomb or slice something yourself. Your podmates aren’t perfect though and do have some blonde moments when they seem to just run in front you as you’re trying to nail a bug boy.

The whole concept of ordering your team mates to key locations is a good one. Having someone watch your six when you’re expecting an ambush is a blessing and smart placement of your men can save your own hide more time than you could count. To improve on it, I would have made it so you could place your men behind any piece of cover you wanted, not the ones that the developers think will be good as it makes it a little too easy. You half-expect something bad to happen when you see a number of ‘covering’ locations appear on your screen.

Graphics

Utilising the legendary Unreal engine, looks is something this game does not lack.

The HUD is something special indeed. The inclusion of the helmets visor is a very nice touch and adds some depth to the game. Health and shields are located just at the bottom of your visor quite convincingly. Ammunition is displayed on the actual weaponry and the crosshair appears as if it is part of your visors HUD instead of just floating in mid air. Another nice touch is that weather effects and adversaries blood (or whatever they have) hit your visor and obscure your vision momentarily before your high-tech window wipers kick in.

Harnessing the Unreal engine of the time to its current potential, the levels are beautifully created. Each texture looks as if painstaking care has been put into it to make the whole experience look authentic. Well, as authentic as you can get with Star Wars.

Sound

This game is pure audible ecstasy for any Star Wars fan. Each sound is professionally implemented and every fire fight is delivered in perfect Star Wars fashion thanks largely to the high quality of the sound effects. If the sound is wrong in Star Wars, the whole thing just falls apart.

My only real gripe with the sound in the game was that your own issue blaster was too quiet compared to the sounds your team mates used and, as a result, this made the weapon seem a little too underpowered.

The main thing everybody liked, including myself, were the comments made by your podmates. Conversations were light hearted and humorous. You really felt that these ‘men’ were part of a fighting unit just from the bond they shared.

Value

This game is worth every penny you spend on it. You will walk away from this experience wanting more even if it is just one more level. It’s a lot of fun and you will feel a little empty inside once you’ve completed it. Even though the multiplayer is a bit uninspired, the depth of the single player campaigns is outstanding albeit a little too short.

Final Thoughts

What makes this game stick out from the rest is that it's Star Wars but not as we know it. We, as a fan base, are too used to playing characters that are gifted in the ways of the force. We hardly ever see a side of Star Wars that focuses on us normies. And Star Wars has never been so gritty and real.