Star Wars: Republic Commando

[Kraxis]

Here we have a nice squadbased FPS.

The Good:
The AI of both allies and enemies is good, very good in fact. Stupid enemies are just that, Battle Droids do tend to charge headlong at you at times (Episode 1 movie), while Geonosians are bright at jumping out of your sight fast, but the worst one has to be the little Scavenger droid that is simply too small to hit and too fast to track properly and is equipped with good weapons.
The sound is great and so are the voices (this includes humour such as when a Wookie lifts up a Super Battle Droid or our hero finds a lightsaber), btw it is Jango Fett that has provided the voice for your character.
The men have personality, not just a bad attempt at it.
The enemies are quite tough, they need several shots most of them, even the Battle Droids. Super Battle Droids are downright scary.
You can revive your pals, and you yourself can get revived, but with limited life.
You have a good and easy control of your men, giving them orders is simple but not weak.
Good feel, you do feel like you are part of the movies at times.
While there is respawning you can actually hinder this when it happens (droid dispensers can be destroyed, but not easily).

The Bad:
The surroundings are solid (no CS way of shooting through a door) and they extend a bit beyond the graphics show, quite annoying when you walk crouched.
While the enemies do die and explode poperly, the terrain is a bit blocky when destroyable.
Sometimes you feel like you are hearded along, not like the free feel that Call of Duty, for instance, provides.
You have few weapons and they are instantly recharged to max when you get to the correct ammopowerup. This might in fact not be too bad as you are constantly running out of blasterammo and since it is energy it might be stored easier in crates.
I have noticed a few bugs, but nothing important. At times the visor becomes black, just not the 'internal' parts, only the outside vision. And the game runs heavily on scripts that can get messed up (experienced this only once).
The men are clones of the same man, yet they are all different in voices and behaviour. This is both good and bad (less generic, but wrong from the movies' point of view).
While the AI is good, your buddies have a bad tendency to step into your line of fire when shooting from cover. Might be good as you are forced to move to another place (and thus act as real team), but at times it can get annoying.

The Ugly:
Not much here, only the feeling that the game could have been a top game if given the time. The fact that it is rather short, only a bit longer than Call of Duty. And the last part is that the game fluctuates a lot in difficulty. I played at default (middle) level. A few times it was almost impossible to win but mostly it was easy. If I had increased the difficulty it would mostly have been a tough nut as I like it, but it would also have been a showstopper as soon as I reached the hard parts (which is luckily sprinkled evenly among the misions).

[Fragony]

Played the demo. It feels just like halo which is always a good thing. Maybe I will pick it up when the price drops.

[Steppe Merc]

You pretty much summed up what I thought. Didn't quite finish it, but I'm playing other games now, will come back to it. I'd recommend it.

[Kraxis]

Now it makes sense that it ended where it did...

I watched the movie last night and I certainly don't want to play on from where it ended. BETRAYAL!!!! I had to accept that it was the end of the good guys.

[Papewaio]

Clones will have slightly different voices just as identical twins can and do.

The game itself is too linear. Follow the path, unlock the level, next follow the path. A few times you can go either side of a pillar or anti-clockwise and clockwise on a path not much else.

[Kraxis]

Oh yes, slightly different, but not so that you can't hear they aren't related. But as I noted before, it isn't really that bad as you get a more personal relationship with them.

Most FPS games are rather linear, some just disguise that well and some don't. Here we have a case of the latter. Though there are times when you certainly can take the wrong turn (bridge of the Seperatist ship and in the Assault Ship), but you are quickly lead back and you should easily findyour way by the help of your buddies. If ever in doubt, follow the others.

[jeffreyLebowski]

i picked this game up simply because it was a star wars game i hadn't played yet. i was pleasantly surprised... if you're looking for close combat in fps form, you've come to the wrong place. however, if you're looking for some pretty damn intense action with some basic tactics, it's perfect.

the engine is very nice, looks great, and runs nice and smooth. the voice acting is awesome, as is the musical score, and the overall atmosphere. i'm having a lot more fun with this than i ever did with brothers in arms, which surprised me. this game's engine looks about 2 generations ahead of brothers in arms, and runs twice as smooth. gearbox needs to hire some better engine programmers, i suppose.

assaulting the droid ship in the geonosis campaign was an amazing piece of game design... it got my adrenaline flowing, i know that. my only complaint so far is the occasional mission section where you're seperated from your squad. i don't know why every damn squad-based game feels the need to throw in a solo section here and there, but if i wanted to play a solo fps, i'd play half life 2. aside from that, this game rules.

oh, and about it being linear... yes, it is. but honestly, show me an action oriented fps that isn't. this game is about awesome set-piece battles. you need some sort of linear process to force the player into said set-pieces. it's a lot like call of duty, except the friendly AI is amazing and actually useful, the graphics are insanely good, and it's set in the star wars universe.

[Kraxis]

I'm pleasantly surprised that I'm not the only one that actually loves the game, ok loves is a strong word, but it is good.

I actually liked the few splitups, it forced you to recognize that the enemies are in fact rather strong and clever. Ok, the SBDs aren't that clever. I have made plenty use of the tactic of storming in and stabbing tow-three times with the wristblade then step back as the SBD slowly reacts to this and swings at me. Meanwhile my buddies blast it with their weapons and don't get any returnfire.

So how far have you progressed?
I have to admit that the droidship was brilliant, it really felt like you were infiltrating a massive enemy ship, but that battle to and on the bridge was simply hard. Not enough time and more than enough of the toughest enemies in a position where you can't ignore them or find proper cover.

[jeffreyLebowski]

i just finished the second campaign last night... and it's incredibly awesome. i don't want to ruin too much, but let's just say that pretty much the entire 2nd half of the campaign (once you meet up with your full squad) is as intense as the separatist ship infiltration in the first campaign. the fighting gets so insane, and the odds so overwhelming, that you almost have to take a breather every once in a while. when you start encountering droid dispensers left and right, it makes the first campaign look like a cakewalk.

after i finished it last night, i made the drop into the 3rd campaign and saved it. i'll probably try to finish it tonight. just the first mission of the campaign sounds awesome, you have to break that wookie leader from episode 3 out of a slaver camp. who knows where it goes from there. judging by the plot that's unfolded so far, i'm sure the separatists will make an appearance as well. should be interesting...

about that battle on the bridge... it is indeed tough. however, i noticed that if you clear the bridge before the reinforcements show up, you can send some of your squadmates to booby-trap the explosives by both doors. those traps can pretty much vaporize the entire first wave of SBD's and battle droids coming through both sides. then set up snipers in the 2 available positions, send fixer to slice the console, and pray. hehehe. i can't say i'm looking forward to that part when i play this over on hard difficulty.

[Kraxis]

I have finished the game...

Trust me you will meet interesting enemies in that camp. And they are not easy.
So you agree that the little flying buggers are the worst enemies right?

I tried to do that with the bridge, but usually the SBDs woul enter just as the charges had been set effectively killing both Sev and Scorch. And with Fixer on the console I was hard pressed reviving them and protecting Fixer.
By the time I got to the bridge I was always out of grenades because the advance had to be so fast.

[ah_dut]

I have this game...one problem, I am stuck in the bit just after you get the anti armour weapon...which wall am I supposed to shoot to get around? Any help Kraxis?

[jeffreyLebowski]

i don't remember that part exactly, but if you just tap F1 and set your squad to search and destroy, they will automatically move towards where you need to go. if that doesn't work (occasionally, they don't), check out the guide at:

http://www.gamefaqs.com

enjoy.

edit: i just noticed they don't let you link directly to guides. just search for republic commando and you'll find it.

[Mongoose]

Sorry for bumping this old topic, but how is the MP part of this game? I liked the interface and the engine, but is MP like the SP missions or is it just a free for all?

[Marshal Murat]

The voices would be different.
Multi player is kinda basic
You are either Commando or Trandoshan
It was nice, but on the Kamino levels, it turns into a grenade/AA attachment fest. There are concussion rifles, but the biggest thing is
get as many grenades and AA attachments as you can, and blow the place apart.

[Mongoose]

hmm. are there any bots? I doubt you could find many people online at this point

[jeffreyLebowski]

hmm. are there any bots? I doubt you could find many people online at this point

i don't believe so. and honestly, this isn't a game to purchase for multiplayer. it's incredibly ho-hum team deathmatch. it shines in singleplayer, but the multiplayer is clearly something they tacked on at the end so it could be written on the back of the box.

[Microwavegerbil]

Yeah this game is definitely made with single player as the focus and deathmath just tagged on for the sake of being there.

That said, the single player is done, IMO, very well. It is very linear, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. With a set storyline and straightforward action it makes the game progress at a rapid pace that keeps you engrossed in the action and eliminates any feelings of "okay what now". The squad AI is done very well, and I LOVE being able to die and not have the game end. I get so sick of being able to bring all my teammates back to life in every game but when I die it's the big KO. The game is short though, and I finished it in two afternoons. Some different paths and storylines are definitely welcome, but the gameplay is just so great that it's not necessary.

I would love an expansion or sequel. Disobeying orders and fighting the Empire would be a neat twist, but I have no qualms with blasting the rebel scum.

[Kraxis]

Did you notice where our little 'hero' ends up?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Let's just say that he gets his equipment upgraded to more current status and stands around in a big tree with a little green alien.

An expansion of the game would be nice, but I would actually prefer an entirely new game based on this. Come what may, I would love to battle it out as anything from the Star Wars. But with a small preference to being a Stormtrooper or Commando of the Empire... Yeah!

[Afro Thunder]

No, as far as I know, RC-1138 (your character in the game) is not the clone who is with Yoda in Episode III, and gets his head chopped off by him when he tries to kill him. I believe that was a commander clone, not a commando.

[frogbeastegg]

Please use spoiler tags, everyone! Having not yet played the game aside from the demo, but having definite plans to play it at some point in the near future, I'd rather not know what happens to my clone in the end. Yes, we all know clones = stormtroopers. But that says nothing about what those clones go on to do. Thank you.

You understand this is a rather odd request, because I'll have to read the spoilers anyway. But others won't. So if anyone else is, like me, waiting to play the game at some point they won't have anything spoiled.

[Geoffrey S]

I liked the demo, although most weapons felt underpowered. I'd like to see a game like this based on the original trilogy, though. Commanding an elite group of Stormtroopers through Hoth would be ace.