Star Wars: Republic Commando
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Star Wars: Republic Commando | ||
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Composer(s) Jesse Harlin | | |
Engine | Unreal Engine 2 | |
Platform(s) | ||
Release | Microsoft Windows, XboxNintendo Switch, PS4
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Genre(s) | Tactical shooter, first-person shooter | |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Star Wars: Republic Commando is a
Republic Commando received generally favorable reviews at release, with praise directed at its story, characters, and combat, although some criticized its short length and average multiplayer.[4] Over the years, the game has come to be considered one of the best Star Wars games ever made, along with gaining a cult following.[5][6] An enhanced port of the game by Aspyr was released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on April 6, 2021.[7] This port did have a minor performance problem, which was later resolved with an update.[8][9]
Gameplay
The game features some gameplay elements that resemble features in other
In single-player mode, the player and squadmates do not die when they run out of health, but rather are incapacitated. If the player character is downed, the player can order the squad members to attempt to revive the player or to continue with their current orders. Therefore, the game is only truly over when the player and all members of the squad are incapacitated at once or if the player is downed in a position their squadmates cannot reach (such as chasms). Certain missions may require squad members to split up to accomplish various isolated objectives, and in such scenarios, where the player is operating alone, losing all the player's health also results in a game over. While reviving a downed commando restores a small amount of health, bacta charging stations are necessary to fully regain it.
Weapons can be acquired in both single player and multiplayer. Throughout the campaign, the player always carrys the compact DC-17 and a blaster pistol with unlimited ammo. The DC-17 can be configured into an assault rifle, sniper rifle, and grenade launcher. The player may also use weapons dropped by enemies.
Republic Commando maintains a first-person perspective throughout the game, presenting the story from the eyes of Delta Squad's squad leader, RC-1138 ("Boss"). His squadmates include RC-1262 ("Scorch"), a talkative explosives expert; RC-1140 ("Fixer"), a skilled hacker and a dedicated soldier; and RC-1207 ("Sev"), the squad's sniper who enjoys racking up kills. Information is received via radio commands from a clone officer (referred to as "Advisor"), and a text-based objective list with a pop-up objective tracker arrow that points the player to the next objective.
Synopsis
The game begins with a montage detailing
A year into the war, the now-veteran Delta Squad is sent to investigate the derelict Acclamator-class Republic Assault Ship (RAS) Prosecutor. Delta Squad splits up to investigate, quickly losing contact with command as they board the ship due to unexplained communication jamming. Making their way inside, they find the Prosecutor seemingly abandoned and in disrepair. The squad lose contact with Scorch after he reports electrical interference with his visor and Boss is soon ambushed by scavenger droids. Boss makes his way to one of the ship's logs from its data cores for investigation. As Boss is about to reunite with Sev, the latter is suddenly attacked and captured by a
Delta Squad fights its way through the Trandoshan forces until they reach the hangars, where they destroy the Trandoshan dropship. Just then, a Lucrehulk-class
As the war drags on, Delta Squad continues to undertake dangerous missions. When the
Soundtrack
Republic Commando is notable for being the first entry in the official Star Wars game series to feature licensed music. The song "
The main bulk of the soundtrack is a break from convention of previous Star Wars games that use abridged versions of John Williams' original score, instead using a combination of Williams' music and new music composed by Jesse Harlin. This new music takes on a high-paced, gritty and vocal theme to the traditional Star Wars score. "The entire goal was to present a very dark and military take on the Star Wars universe from the point of view of disposable grunts – something no one had seen before," said Harlin. "Most of John Williams' material is very romantic and thematically relates to characters we weren't focusing on."[10] Of note is the "Vode An" theme, which plays in the main menu and several key points throughout the game (such as when the player's clone commandos defeats a large group of enemies). The "Vode An" theme, as well as several other key music pieces, have additional choral lyrics in the Mandalorian language. It was these lyrics that further inspired author Karen Traviss to develop the Mandalorian language into a "fully working language".[11]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | Xbox: 78/100[12] PC: 78/100[13] NS: 70/100[14] PS4: 58/100[15] |
Publication | Score |
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Edge | 5/10[16] |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7.33/10[17] |
Eurogamer | 8/10[18] |
Famitsu | 31/40[19] |
Game Informer | 8.25/10[20] |
GamePro | PC: [21] Xbox: [22] |
GameRevolution | B[23] |
GameSpot | 8.7/10[24] |
GameSpy | [25][26] |
GameZone | 8.8/10[27][28] |
IGN | 8.2/10[29][30] |
Official Xbox Magazine (US) | 8.2/10[31] |
PC Gamer (US) | 62%[32] |
Detroit Free Press | [33] |
The Sydney Morning Herald | [34] |
Star Wars: Republic Commando received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[12][13]
In the United Kingdom, sales of Republic Commando's Xbox version surpassed 60,000 copies by the end of 2005.[35] In France, 85,000 units were shipped for the game's launch.[36]
Sequel
A sequel titled Star Wars: Republic Commando: Order 66 was released in August 2005 for mobile phones running
Legacy
In April 2014, following The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Lucasfilm, most of the licensed Star Wars novels, comics, and video games produced since the originating 1977 film were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise going forward.[40][41] Republic Commando was among the projects affected by this, as the events depicted in its campaign would no longer be considered canon. However, the game's characters remained canon thanks to Delta Squad's inclusion in "Witches of the Mist", an episode from the third season of the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (whose canonicity remained intact after the acquisition). The series' supervising director Dave Filoni cited the game as an inspiration when creating the clone characters from the show.[42] One of the squad's members, Scorch, later re-appeared in "War-Mantle", an episode from the 2021 sequel series Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The helmet HUD design from the game was also briefly seen in the series.
The concept of Clone Commandos introduced in the game has been featured in several other Star Wars works since. The episode "Missing in Action" of the fifth season of The Clone Wars introduces the character of
See also
References
- ^ "Star Wars Republic Commando infiltrates factory". GameSpot. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
- ^ "Aspyr Media". Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
- ^ "Star Wars Racer and Commando Combo". THQ Nordic. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
- ^ Colayco, Bob (February 25, 2005). "Star Wars Republic Commando Review - GameSpot". www.gamespot.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Hartup, Andy (April 13, 2017). "The 10 best Star Wars games of all time". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
5. Star Wars: Republic Commando. This Xbox exclusive is one of the gems in the Star Wars games library. ... Add in a number of clever design decisions and quality visual flourishes (that windshield cleaner) and you have one of the few Star Wars titles to truly excel in its own right.
- ^ Schneider, Steven (February 11, 2016). "'Star Wars: Republic Commando' Never Got A Sequel – But LucasArts Had Ideas". Tech Times. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
- ^ Good, Owen S. (February 24, 2021). "Star Wars: Republic Commando coming to PS4, Switch". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Doolan, Liam (April 10, 2021). "Star Wars: Republic Commando Dev Apparently Investigating Switch Frame Rate Issues". nintendolife. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Sheridan, Connor (April 21, 2021). "Star Wars: Republic Commando Switch version will get a performance fix next month". gamesradar+. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Bielawa, Justin (March 8, 2006). "Commando Composer: An Interview with Jesse Harlin". Music On Film. Archived from the original on July 20, 2006. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ Proctor, Aaron (August 5, 2006). "Exclusive Interview with Karen Traviss, The Clone Gal". The Boba Fett Fan Club. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
- ^ a b "Star Wars Republic Commando for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
- ^ a b "Star Wars: Republic Commando for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
- ^ "Star Wars: Republic Commando for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
- ^ "Star Wars: Republic Commando for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
- ^ "[Star Wars] Republic Commando review". Edge. No. 148. April 2005. p. 101. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ "Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 191. May 2005. p. 134.
- ^ Reed, Kristan (February 23, 2005). "Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox)". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ "Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox)". Famitsu. Vol. 845. February 25, 2005.
- ^ Reiner, Andrew (March 2005). "Star Wars Republic Commando (Xbox)". Game Informer. No. 143. p. 136. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007.
- ^ DJ Dinobot (March 28, 2005). "Star Wars Republic Commando Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on January 12, 2006. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ The Enforcer (March 1, 2005). "Star Wars: Republic Commando Review for Xbox on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on November 16, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- Game Revolution. Archivedfrom the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ Colayco, Bob (February 25, 2005). "Star Wars: Republic Commando Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
- ^ Tuttle, Will (February 21, 2005). "GameSpy: Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on February 24, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ Madigan, Jamie (March 7, 2005). "GameSpy: Star Wars Republic Commando (PC)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 10, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ Bedigian, Louis (March 15, 2005). "Star Wars Republic Commando – XB – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ Hopper, Steven (March 17, 2005). "Star Wars Republic Commando – PC – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 4, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ Adams, Dan; Perry, Douglass C. (February 18, 2005). "Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox)". IGN. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
- ^ Adams, Dan (February 18, 2005). "Star Wars: Republic Commando (PC)". IGN. Archived from the original on September 11, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
- ^ "Star Wars: Republic Commando". Official Xbox Magazine. April 2005. p. 80.
- ^ "Star Wars: Republic Commando". PC Gamer: 76. April 2005.
- ^ Schaefer, Jim (March 13, 2005). "A winning team: Your squad mates are the best in 'Star Wars: Republic Commando'". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on March 13, 2005. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ Wilcox, Mike (March 25, 2005). "A break from formula". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on July 12, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
- ^ Reed, Kristan (May 3, 2005). "2005 UK Sales Review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on April 10, 2007.
- ^ [afjv] – Star Wars – Republic Commando
- ^ Buchanan, Levi (November 7, 2005). "Star Wars Republic Commando: Order 66". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 24, 2005.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - )
- ISBN 978-0-8118-6184-7.
- ^ McMilian, Graeme (April 25, 2014). "Lucasfilm Unveils New Plans for Star Wars Expanded Universe". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- StarWars.com. April 25, 2014. Archivedfrom the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^ "Star Wars The Clone Wars Season Three: Witches Of The Mist Featurette". Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2021 – via YouTube.
External links
- Star Wars: Republic Commando on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki
- Star Wars: Republic Commando at MobyGames