Gamers who purchased the full version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords for the Xbox were treated to an exclusive demo of LucasArts' upcoming squad-based tactical shooter Star Wars: Republic Commando. The demo includes one playable level, in which players will battle through a droid-controlled ship in an attempt to reach the bridge.
Republic Commando is something of a first in the Star Wars franchise - no other game has attempted to show the Star Wars universe in-depth from the perspective of a Republic Soldier. In Republic Commando, you will play the role of Delta Three-Eight, or "Boss", the leader of the elite squad of commandos who you will lead on several missions for the Republic. Although it appears that you will play this character throughout the entire game, no information has really been presented to suggest that your character will differ significantly from the rest of your squad. This doesn't mean that you will be indistinguishable from your squad mates, but there probably won't be a whole lot of character development or revelations of your true identity (which shouldn't be a huge mystery anyway, since you and all of your men are clones of the now-dead mercenary Jengo Fett).
Details regarding Republic Commando's storyline are relatively sparse at the moment. What is known at this point is that the game takes place some time in between Episodes II and III of the prequel trilogy. Since Episode III is slated for release later this year, this should make for some nice chronology. In addition, the game should help lead into the third movie by introducing certain elements of the plot, in particular the character of the droid-obsessed General Grievous.
A common misconception regarding Republic Commando is that the focus of its gameplay is on S.W.A.T.-style stealth and strategy, when this is not the case at all. On the contrary, the game is more akin to your average run-and-gun shooter. The squad mechanics will only come into play when you need your team to perform a specific action, such as breaching a door (which can be accomplished simply by pressing the A button), or when you need one of your men - a sniper for instance - to hold position in a strategic area so that he can eliminate one or more enemies.
Republic Commando features an assortment of weapons to put to use on the game's many foes. The Republic DC17 Multipurpose Rifle will more than likely be standard-issue, but that's not to say that you won't be able to use the weapons of your enemies as well. Expect to wield the weapons of Tradoshan, Geonosian, Wookie and Trade Federation enemies (the latter two being very familiar to anyone who played last year's Star Wars: Battlefront). There are over a dozen weapons total, all of which have different uses in combat - a Wookie bowcaster may be a good choice for engaging an enemy at long range, but a sidearm probably isn't. Of course, should you run out of ammunition, you could always just use your built-in wrist blade to cut your enemies down to size.
Aside from the hand-held weapons in the game, there are plenty of turrets and explosives to be used. Almost every level in the game will have fixed weaponry, whether it's a Wookie rail gun or a Geonosian Sonic Disruptor.
Combat itself looks to be very typical of this genre, with familiar, fast-paced action involving dozens of enemies at a time. Fortunately, your squad will always be with you to watch your back, and from the looks of it, their impressive AI will allow them to do so quite well.
Republic Commando may not overwhelm you in the graphics department, but the game should be able to immerse you in a believable atmosphere that is true to Star Wars. There are some notable issues with the visuals in the demo - such as the occasionally awkward death animation and considerable clipping - but these are minor complaints that can easily be addressed before the game is released. Additionally, the game is very stable at this point and manages to maintain a very high frame rate, even when there's a lot of action or several characters onscreen at once.
Much like the game's visuals, Republic Commando's sound should get the job done. Everything sounds just like you would expect it to, and while some areas appear to be somewhat weaker than others (it's hard to distinguish your men apart simply by their voices - they are clones after all), there are no significant problems to speak of at this point.
Star Wars: Republic Commando is shaping up to be a decent shooter with some interesting featuers that, if executed properly, could make this game something very special. The game is slated for release on the PC and Xbox in March of 2005. With the success of 2003's Knights of the Old Republic and last year's Battlefront, Republic Commando may give the Star Wars franchise yet another strong year in the gaming market. Here's to hoping that 2005 brings us not only another good game from George Lucas, but a good movie as well - something that we're all long overdue for.
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