I wouldn't say previous Star Wars games have been terribly easy. I had a tough time of it in Star Wars®: The Clone Wars™ in places, and Star Wars® Knights of the Old Republic™ and its sequelcertainly had their challenges (damn floating lightsabers!), but Star Wars Republic Commando™ is simply unrelenting. At about the two hour mark it takes a leap from challenging to just plain unmercifully difficult, but I love the step up in difficulty. While it may not exist on the same plane as Ninja Gaiden®, it presents more than enough difficulty that each step forward, each goal gained, each objective realized is cause for some sort of mini-celebration (I choose chair dancing myself).
With the beating you'll likely take while playing Republic Commando in mind, we've come up with a few specific tips that should help in more difficult circumstances. Read on and you'll hopefully be relieved of some of your battle-related stress.
A hint of Episode III.
Mini-Boss Delight While they may be a bit too numerous to be considered true mini-bosses, the Super Battle Droids (SBD) and Geonosian Elites (those are the big flying guys with the laser-beam guns) are difficult enough to defeat to earn that distinction. What's more, you'll find them with increasing frequency and in increasing numbers as the game goes on. Here are few tips that may help you put them to rest a mite bit quicker.
The All Fire Technique: After targeting an enemy for a second or two, you can press and hold down the A button for another second to command your entire squad to fire on your target. You'll know the command has been given when you see a red box highlight the enemy. This is crucial for defeating both the SBDs and Elites, as they can take an immense amount of damage.
SBD-Specific Tips
Try to save up your electric charge grenades for these guys. Sure, it's nice taking out a whole squad of regular battle droids with one electric grenade, but you'll be sorry if you run into the big boys with none handy. Remember to remove the SBD's defensive shield with a well-placed sniper shot on the shield arm, or the shield will block your grenade blast.
Go for the headshot. While aiming for the head is always good advice, it's particularly easy with the SBD. They're slow and lumbering creatures, so it should be no problem to bust out the sniper rifle attachment and put a few rounds in their armor-plated noggin.
If there's more than one, use the All Fire method noted above, and then concentrate your efforts on the other(s).
Melee attacks also work well, though watch out for the SBD's own close-quarter assaults. They have some major fire power, but they're immensely strong as well. They are slow, however, so you can sneak up behind them and lay in a few melee attacks before they get around to you.
Pesky shields.
Elite-Specific Tips
Use sniper shots. These guys are nearly impossible to hit with any sort of regularity using your standard assault rifle. Instead, use your sniper rifle, and wait for them to hover for a second before shooting them.
When you kill an Elite Geonosian, they should drop the beam weapon they carry. Pick it up, but try to only use it against other Elites, as you can trail them with the weapon easily, and inflict some major damage. Plus, it's a waste of firepower to use the beam weapon on a weaker enemy.
If there are any sniper locations to set up your squad-mates in, make sure you use them. Just like for you, it's easier for your squad-mate to hit them and do good damage while using a sniper rifle.
Battlegrounds While not specifically denoted, you'll find that there are two types of battles in Star Wars Republic Commando. The first are the small skirmishes you often engage in on pathways and hallways. The others are larger affairs that usually take place in large rooms or open areas, and these areas generally contain context-sensitive options for your squad-mates (e.g. a sniping perch, or grenade-launching location). The key with the larger battles is to stay patient and wait out the battle. You may set up shop with sniping and grenade locations and maybe even a turret or two to wipe out the first wave, but then, if you step out into the open area, that second, more powerful wave of enemies comes forth. Now you're forced to set up and dig in again, which wastes precious time and likely gets you or a squad-mate killed. Instead, make sure to wait just a little bit after the initial attack and make sure more enemies aren't on the way.
Hmm, there's something about that name …
Call Them Forward It's easy to get lost in the confusion of battle and keep marching forward, but remember, if you've placed a squad member in a context-sensitive action (e.g. sniping), they'll stay there until you're well ahead of them (and they may not disengage at all depending on your "Auto-Pull" setting in the game options). Make sure you cancel squad-mates' maneuvers when it's no longer necessary for them to be there. Otherwise, you're fighting shorthanded soon enough.
Hopefully these tips net you some immediate relief from the stress of battle in Republic Commando, but if you're still having trouble, don't worry. Just keep trying. Like Ninja Gaiden, your skills will continue to evolve with every death and every failed attempt until you're so honed a commando that you'll look back on other titles and laugh at their paltry challenges.
