Post by Witcher Wolf on Mar 2, 2005 8:26:06 GMT -5
Tactical HUD engaged
When I was a wee lad I always wanted to be a Stormtrooper, sure they got shot all the time and they couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with a rifle at point blank range, but they got cool snazzy white uniforms and nifty toys to play with.
There are always tonnes of military games out there most of the FPS based, but really up until now there has been no real sci-fi squad based Rainbow Six style game for Xbox owners to get their teeth into.
We’ve got our Halo and Halo 2’s but they’re not really squad based since your allies do their own thing and you can’t order them about. With Lucas’ creation of Episode one, two and now three we’re once more thrust into a whirl about Star Wars.
Hot on the heels of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 is this new squad based FPS from LucasArts. Star Wars: Republic Commando.
Story
Republic Commando takes place at the beginning of the Clone Armies’ attack on Genosis from Episode II. You are thrust into the role of 38 a Republic Commando, one of the elite that along with your squad of Scorch, Fixer and Sev must accomplish the impossible and go where no baldy star ship captain would ever go.
Gameplay
Fans of Rainbow Six and other squad based shooters will immediately recognise the style of game, this isn’t to say that it rips them off and puts a lick of Lucas’ paint over the whole thing in the hope of disguising the truth.
Using a simple GUI and orders system your squad can be made to interact with the environment, each other and specific objectives quickly and fairly painlessly. They can be ordered to guard a specific location or seek out new enemies to engage. If they get into trouble you can order them to come to you and reform.
With a simple command you can order them to concentrate their fire on a specific target such as one of the Super Battle Droids or a Genosian Elite.
Your helmet HUD can be switched between various modes, the Tactical Mode allows you to get a constant stream of data and information about the area you’re in. Objective markers are displayed along with your squad’s position, health and other pertinent information.
Also displayed on the HUD of your visor are holographic markers that give an indication of the manoeuvres available to your squad. These can be as simple as sniping from a set location, tossing grenades from a vantage point or as complex as slicing (hacking) a console, setting demolition charges or breaching a door with a special manoeuvre, a quick tap of your A button will send the order allowing you to concentrate on other things.
Pressing A and tapping down on the D-pad cancels the current order.
You visor also has a low light mode for when things get too dark, the effect is quite pleasing and isn’t too hard on the eyes.
The visor also comes fitted with a small energy wiper; you’ll find out why if you shoot an enemy point blank or hit them with the melee spike in your left gauntlet. Blood or gunk often sprays up and coats your vision for a while until the wiper cleans it off, its nice touches like this that appeal to me.
It uses the standard control system, right trigger fires and left throws Detonators (grenades) of various types. Left stick to move and right to look around, there is an auto-aim for single-player and all of these things can be modified in the setup menus.
The game isn’t over until your whole squad is wiped out, which means that there’s a lot of room for error at the start. You can revive fallen squad members and if they’re not involved in a fire-fight, they’ll revive each other and you.
All of this is done via the A button and is simple to pull off in the heat of battle.
Your squad will also attempt to go for Bacta (health) if the going gets too tough, and you can see on the left hand side of your HUD their current status. They can be ordered to collect Bacta as well with just a tap of the A button, got to love that button.
There are eight varied environments split over fifteen big levels where all of your skills as a leader and tactician will be tested to the full, it’s not just about running and gunning, often it’s best to set up a nice tight sniping position if you have the option and take the enemy out from a distance.
AI
Hardest thing to get right, biggest gripe of most reviewers and I am no exception. It’s paramount in a squad based shooter that you need a decent level of team AI to back you up when the blasters start firing, in Republic Commando I found the AI to waver between scarily precise at times to downright stupid on others.
Enemy AI will often get stuck on some obstacles and refuse to move, this isn’t a problem unless they’re too far away to hit and you don’t have a sniper attachment or its run out of ammunition. Your squad AI doesn’t often catch you in friendly fire or walk into the line of your blaster, but they will sometimes stand there while a Genosian beats them to within an inch of their life.
Other times they appear to be somewhat brutal and vicious, lashing out with a quick melee attack and knocking the beastie to the ground, only to deliver a blast or two with their rifle to make sure.
Along with the movement AI they do have an excellent chatter AI that keeps the dialogue flowing back and forth, almost too chatty at times but it keeps within the feel of your slightly oddball squad.
If you shoot someone with a particularly fine shot you might get a compliment from one of your squad.
When I was a wee lad I always wanted to be a Stormtrooper, sure they got shot all the time and they couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with a rifle at point blank range, but they got cool snazzy white uniforms and nifty toys to play with.
There are always tonnes of military games out there most of the FPS based, but really up until now there has been no real sci-fi squad based Rainbow Six style game for Xbox owners to get their teeth into.
We’ve got our Halo and Halo 2’s but they’re not really squad based since your allies do their own thing and you can’t order them about. With Lucas’ creation of Episode one, two and now three we’re once more thrust into a whirl about Star Wars.
Hot on the heels of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 is this new squad based FPS from LucasArts. Star Wars: Republic Commando.
Story
Republic Commando takes place at the beginning of the Clone Armies’ attack on Genosis from Episode II. You are thrust into the role of 38 a Republic Commando, one of the elite that along with your squad of Scorch, Fixer and Sev must accomplish the impossible and go where no baldy star ship captain would ever go.
Gameplay
Fans of Rainbow Six and other squad based shooters will immediately recognise the style of game, this isn’t to say that it rips them off and puts a lick of Lucas’ paint over the whole thing in the hope of disguising the truth.
Using a simple GUI and orders system your squad can be made to interact with the environment, each other and specific objectives quickly and fairly painlessly. They can be ordered to guard a specific location or seek out new enemies to engage. If they get into trouble you can order them to come to you and reform.
With a simple command you can order them to concentrate their fire on a specific target such as one of the Super Battle Droids or a Genosian Elite.
Your helmet HUD can be switched between various modes, the Tactical Mode allows you to get a constant stream of data and information about the area you’re in. Objective markers are displayed along with your squad’s position, health and other pertinent information.
Also displayed on the HUD of your visor are holographic markers that give an indication of the manoeuvres available to your squad. These can be as simple as sniping from a set location, tossing grenades from a vantage point or as complex as slicing (hacking) a console, setting demolition charges or breaching a door with a special manoeuvre, a quick tap of your A button will send the order allowing you to concentrate on other things.
Pressing A and tapping down on the D-pad cancels the current order.
You visor also has a low light mode for when things get too dark, the effect is quite pleasing and isn’t too hard on the eyes.
The visor also comes fitted with a small energy wiper; you’ll find out why if you shoot an enemy point blank or hit them with the melee spike in your left gauntlet. Blood or gunk often sprays up and coats your vision for a while until the wiper cleans it off, its nice touches like this that appeal to me.
It uses the standard control system, right trigger fires and left throws Detonators (grenades) of various types. Left stick to move and right to look around, there is an auto-aim for single-player and all of these things can be modified in the setup menus.
The game isn’t over until your whole squad is wiped out, which means that there’s a lot of room for error at the start. You can revive fallen squad members and if they’re not involved in a fire-fight, they’ll revive each other and you.
All of this is done via the A button and is simple to pull off in the heat of battle.
Your squad will also attempt to go for Bacta (health) if the going gets too tough, and you can see on the left hand side of your HUD their current status. They can be ordered to collect Bacta as well with just a tap of the A button, got to love that button.
There are eight varied environments split over fifteen big levels where all of your skills as a leader and tactician will be tested to the full, it’s not just about running and gunning, often it’s best to set up a nice tight sniping position if you have the option and take the enemy out from a distance.
AI
Hardest thing to get right, biggest gripe of most reviewers and I am no exception. It’s paramount in a squad based shooter that you need a decent level of team AI to back you up when the blasters start firing, in Republic Commando I found the AI to waver between scarily precise at times to downright stupid on others.
Enemy AI will often get stuck on some obstacles and refuse to move, this isn’t a problem unless they’re too far away to hit and you don’t have a sniper attachment or its run out of ammunition. Your squad AI doesn’t often catch you in friendly fire or walk into the line of your blaster, but they will sometimes stand there while a Genosian beats them to within an inch of their life.
Other times they appear to be somewhat brutal and vicious, lashing out with a quick melee attack and knocking the beastie to the ground, only to deliver a blast or two with their rifle to make sure.
Along with the movement AI they do have an excellent chatter AI that keeps the dialogue flowing back and forth, almost too chatty at times but it keeps within the feel of your slightly oddball squad.
If you shoot someone with a particularly fine shot you might get a compliment from one of your squad.
