Star Wars: Republic Commando for XBOX
 

Who else is excited about this? Star Wars + First Person Shooter = :drool:

The demo for this game on KOTOR II was interesting. I will probably pick it up.

Yep, hopefully it's like Rainbow Six with Clone Troopers...

I also played the demo on KOTOR II, it was pretty good.

I was a bit thrown off by the demo when my buddy brought it over yesterday. It was cool but not nearly as tactical as I had hoped. I have the preorder totally paid off already and I'm still trying to think if I should cancel it and just put the money on Oddworld Stranger instead.

My excitement for this has just been fading over the last 2 years and the videos I've seen recently didn't really do alot for me. I'll pick it up though anyway because I'm all about FPS games, but I just won't be in a big rush to get it.

Uhhh... there have been lots of these...

I would have liked this if it had been something like Rogue Spear but since it's going to be more like Halo or something, I'm not too interested.

I was excited. And then I bought Battlefront. Lucasarts has lost their touch. I will wait for the bargain bin.

Remember that LucasArts only published Battlefront, Pandemic Studios developed it. For Commando, they are actually developing this one.

Did not know that. I will still go by the wait and see method.

This is kind of funny, as I remember when Lucasarts started letting way more other studios develop their titles, and that was considered good news. This was after a string of misses at the end of the 90s.

I'd be excited if they released sam and max or full throttle 2. Suckaz.

Anyone know if this will be out Tueday, according to the CompUSA ad for $34.99, or if this is still being released in March?

ebgames.com lists a 3/1/05 ship date.

Non-Jedi Knights?

Well, if you think removing a weapon and force powers is a feature, well then ok. I don't see why you would. There is plenty of gun combat in the FPS Star Wars games that are out there.

Anyways, played the demo today for the PC and it was kind of fun. Nothing special. Everything seemed kind of basic. There was way too much cycling through grenades and weapons and such. Nice production values though. I'd buy this game when it becomes really cheap.

Haven't heard anything about this... How will it differ from Dark Forces other than multiplayer support?

Well.. Dark Forces ran on the Doom engine... :lol:

There have been some advances since then.

Well, the IGN review is up. They seem less than thrilled with it. Looks like I might wait until a price drop.

Closing Comments
The bottom line for the single player experience is that it's a good fun ride. Not excellent, but solidly good. The action survives on near constant combat, decent weapons, and very Star Warsy sound. Gameplay could have been helped by less hand-holding and more tactics. Multiplayer is there... but that's about all I can say for it. It can be fun for a while, but it isn't going to replace Unreal Tournament 2004 or Halo 2 anytime soon. It would have been nice to see the multiplayer a little deeper since the single player game only lasts for around 10 hours.

Presentation is really what carries Republic Commando farther than it could have gone on its own. It comes with a grand score, good voice work, lovely animation, and great artistic style and polish. There isn't too much story to speak of as these soldiers are mainly just doing a job for the Republic and not personally involved in the politics, but it gives a couple of insights into the other side of the conflict as well as things to come.

If you're a fan of Star Wars that's been looking for something a little grittier, this is definitely a good choice. Don't expect it to blow your mind, but it looks good and plays well while it lasts.

Another Take from Douglass C. Perry
Republic Commando is a solid, good looking first-person shooter that takes the squad dynamic and then neuters it real good. Rainbow Six fans are going to wonder what the hell happened, but less military (or less militant) gamers are sure to appreciate the rather easy squad tasks and team dynamic. As far as it goes, the squad is still interesting and relatively fun. The game gives you little management tasks like filling up Becta and covering tactical locations, and the biggest one, obviously, is that you must keep your squad alive, and they you. Indeed, there is a bare-bones dynamic there to make you feel like you're commanding a squad. But just barely.

Aside from that, some stretches of the game nonetheless will hammer you with surprising oodles of enemies, and Like Dan was saying, the bigger, more open situations require more skill and thus a bigger reward. Republic Commando does a solid job of bringing in a different side of the Star Wars universe, with different kinds of creatures than you've encountered before, with different weapons, skills, and environments, and it's quite pretty. In addition to the good texture work and often dark spaces, the character models are imaginative and likable, their animation is usually good, and a litany of special effects gives the game a polished sensation.

In short, Republic Commando is a solid endeavor that just comes up as little short. The single-player campaign seems to end pretty quickly (8-11 hours max), the Wookiees are indeed cool as they smote enemies against the ground in various ways, the multiplayer is average, and overall it's visually appealing. Sound appealing to you? Go get it. Still on the fence? If you're a hardcore player, rent this first.

IGN's Ratings for Star Wars Republic Commando (Xbox)
Rating Description
out of 10 click here for ratings guide
9.0 Presentation
The game is presented beautifully. Everything from the opening cutscenes to the briefings are done with style and polish.
8.5 Graphics
This is a good looking game. I was a bit surprised the first time I saw it, but they did a really good job bringing Star Wars to life here. Textures and animation are especially impressive.
8.5 Sound
The music is terrific, voice work is very good (though a tad bit out of place), and sound effects are certainly decent.
8.0 Gameplay
This is a fun game. It's a good linear shooter. It's just too bad the squad members are more of an accessory than brilliant gameplay addition.
7.0 Lasting Appeal
Short. It takes around 10 hours to complete the single player and while multiplayer can be fun, it won't replace any of the better multiplayer games you already have.
8.2 OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

After reading the IGN review last night I'm pretty sure I'm going to move my preorder money over to Brothers In Arms or Dead To Rights 2. They could or really made something cool but it seems they fell just a bit short.

I read that too. What sounds messed up to me is the squad comments. Sounds like there is no real point to having different type squad members because they all function and can do the same exact things as all the other members of your party.

10 hours? Pretty short if you ask me.

Definite $20 purchase though. :)

I do not like them comparing the multiplayer to Halo or UR, these are not the same type games, and this coming from a video game reviewer? This was suppose to be squad based, which it sounds like this guy was wanting Halo 2 in SW universe. I will give this a rental first, but I hope I am not too disapointed as I am really waiting for a SW squad based game, I may have to wait on Rainbow Six 4.

I played a non-demo version of the game today and I loved it. The graphics are clean and great looking and the overall feel was very good. :up:

I guess I'm not a hardcore gamer like the rest of you so I suppose that makes me easier to impress. Anyway, I had some store credit so I picked it up.

If anyone actually has plans to play this online now and then let me know. I cleaned out most of my friends list since I was in the Halo 2 clan and most everyone in here...seemed to be in the clan. I'd like to rebuild my list with some folks on here like I used to have it. :)

I can't get Progressive Scan to work. I get the Lucasart Logo and TV shows 480p. When it switches to the main menu, the signal is off. My other games work fine. Any ideas?