Controlling the galaxy is hard work, and Star Wars Republic Commando™ is ready to prove it. This squad-based first-person shooter places gamers on the front lines of an interplanetary conflict, putting them in control of an entire squad of Clone Troopers. The action spans several worlds from the Star Wars universe and features authentic weaponry and enemies—droid and alien alike—from the films. As soon as you crawl out of your cloning vat at the start of the game, you're given a number and a uniform and sent out to fight.
Welcome to the squad.
The game's basic control scheme is smooth and accessible, allowing players to jump, crouch, zoom, and interact with the environment. The first-person view is warped at the edges to reflect the high-tech visor you're wearing, and the HUD projects important info (health and shield status, ammo counts, mission intel) onto the visor's interior. You can toggle into a night-vision view for darkly lit areas, and if you get Geonosian guts or droid oil on your face, don't worry: The Republic has seen fit to equip your visor with a laser-beam windshield wiper.
The visor is also an important tool for issuing squad commands, which is a huge part of the Republic Commando experience. As team leader, you can also issue context-sensitive commands by looking in the right place and pressing a button. LucasArts has put some serious thought into squad tactics, and it shows in the sheer number of places you can issue commands. You can order your squad to hack into a computer terminal, open a locked door, plant an explosive charge, or take up strategic positions for sniping or grenade-tossing. In battle, you can leave your snipers and grenadiers where you stationed them, have the entire squad concentrate its fire on an enemy of your choice, or let them fire at will. You can even order them to use the game's healing stations after a tough battle to restore their health and shield strength. By carefully assigning duties and keeping some for yourself to carry out, you turn a group of highly-trained individuals into a true team, each member of the squad doing something to further the larger mission.
Your team, you give the orders.
The missions themselves cover more than a dozen scenarios from the Clone War era, with objectives, environments, and enemies taken straight out of the Star Wars canon. You and your squad will be sent into dangerous territory to accomplish demolition jobs, rescues, search-and-destroy missions, and flat-out firefights against hostile insurgent forces. The levels are huge and well-designed, with plenty of close quarters and wide-open spaces to test your leadership under fire.
In keeping with the tough, gritty flavor of the game, the environments are a little darker and a little nastier than usual. You'll get down and dirty on planets like Geonosis and Kashyyyk, where the locals are not always happy to see you. In terms of weaponry, Republic Commando features a modular, upgradeable blaster rifle that can be configured on the fly. As long as you have the necessary parts, you can pull together an assault rifle, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, or even a grenade launcher—whatever the situation calls for. This flexibility fits perfectly with the nature of your job as a commando: You're there to do whatever is necessary, so you need a weapon that can keep up.
Battle enemies from the Star Wars universe.
Along with its single-player campaign, Star Wars Republic Commando features online multiplayer for up to 16 players via Xbox Live™. Game types include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag, so you can test your commando training against worldwide competition.
Star Wars: Republic Commando is a strong FPS with several innovative touches that truly makes the most of its license. You may have seen the grand, larger-than-life side of war inStar Wars Battlefront™, but life in a squad of Clone Troopers is more focused, more personal, and more intense. Republic Commandos don't get glory or recognition, but they do get the job done.
