So I’m visiting the folks for the Thanksgiving weekend and I come across a dusty box in a closet. I was looking for something to entertain the younger members of the family during the dreary afternoon. Instead of a kid’s board game, I came across a blast from the past, Star Wars Republic Commando. I waited until I got back home to fire the Xbox game on my 360. With a quick patch, the game not only played on my 360, but it allowed me to remain on Xbox Live! The only hiccup the game experiences is when it autosaves and that’ only a half second pause.
The game got decent reviews, but had the misfortune of coming out during the Xbox’s down fall to its beefier cousin. The squad based game play worked almost flawlessly, with easy to understand optical cues that guide you through each stage. The game is very responsive and still ranks up there wit some of the best FPS on the market now. The game came out in 2005 and it’s just a shame that it didn’t garner the following it deserves.
It should go without saying that this weeks Wish List is asking, no begging Lucas Arts to get the band back together and ask Epic Games for the Gears of War engine to make Republic Commando 2. The game would have tons of street cred with the Gears engine and the Star Wars name. I know it’s a risk, but if you can nail the squad based play and push the game to be fairly long you would have the best license game ever made.
That’s the thing really, license games are really hit or miss so I could see why you would be shy. The Gears engine might struggle pulling off the sleeker more mobile clone troopers, and the amount of action on the screen might be hard to duplicate correctly. I admit that there are hurdles, but given the time I have faith that the team could do it.
There is also the question of source material, well that question is answered in the form of the novel series that was written after the original game came out. With the novels there as the basis for the story there is no telling how many games you could do before you ran out of story to tell.
The reason I’m stressing this game in particular is because its one of the few games where the computer AI just worked the way you wanted it to. I think about the capabilities of the Xbox 360 and the look of games like Modern Warfare 2 and I can’t help but wonder at the possibilities that are out there.
The game can also fulfill a promise it failed to keep to me a long time ago, four player co-op. Even Gears of War can’t deliver on that end. But Republic Commando had a 1-4 players mark on the back of the box and delivered no four man play. It’s time for some four player co-op and this is the game I hope that will deliver.
The Star Wars Universe is deeper and more complex than any other outer space adventure including Halo. A first person shooter that exploits that depth will have a huge advantage over other FPS makers who are trying to get a foothold with an original story. The Clone Troopers are characters that are well received by gamers and therefore should instantly have an impact with gamers.
