Republic Commando - Video Game Review

Sixteen years ago, only a few months before the Skywalker saga ended (pre-Disney era) with Revenge of the Sith, a true gem emerged from the video game shelves: Republic Commando. As Star Wars fans experienced new thrilling missions through the visor of RC-1138, aka “Boss”, the first-person shooter soon became an all time favorite. For starters, the gameplay did not feature the brave and bold Jedi of the prequels—instead it focused on a special faction of the clone army. Boss, Fixer, Scorch, and Sev, better known as Delta Squad were the stars of the action—each clone with a unique personality and style. As the team behind Aspyr has been dedicating time to bringing some of the classic Star Wars games to current gen consoles, Republic Commando recently made a comeback on Nintendo Switch and PS4, and although the game has been available for PC on Steam for quite some time, being able to play such an iconic and fun game handheld is a dream come true.

The mission remains the same: infiltrate, dominate, and ultimately annihilate the enemy. But this is no ordinary first-person shooter; Republic Commando’s strongest feature is without a doubt its unique implementation of the squad AI—performing complex commands and strategic maneuvers given by their leader: you. In fact, if you think you can just zoom through each area solo guns blazing, think again; the squad is your weapon.

As mentioned before, although Delta Squad consists of clones, each soldier has unique traits—from color-coated armor to combat specialties to unique voice performances—allowing the player to distinguish one from another. The latter trait is a special one, with Temuera Morrison joining the team voicing the playable character Boss—making the experience all the more authentic. However, his presence within the game does not overshadow the performances of the other voice actors. Andrew Chaikin (Fixer), Raphael Sbarge (Scorch), and Jonathan David Cook (Sev) create entertaining and often hilarious dynamics (and unforgettable one-liners) within Delta Squad, providing some comedy relief from an otherwise very dark game.

From the get go, Republic Commando immediately throws you into the middle of the battle (no cutscenes, except for the occasional short briefings) where you will face countless and deadly enemies—from the flying insectoid warriors of Geonosis to brutal Trandoshan mercenaries. The Geonosians (and their home planet) will make any prequelists feel like they are reliving moments from Attack of the Clones, whereas the inclusion of the Trandos provides a motive for the squad to take on a mission to free the Wookiees from enslavement on Kashyyyk.

If you are familiar with other Star Wars games such as Battlefront, you will be surprised how resilient some of the iconic foes can be (except for the “clankers” B1 droids, who as always are cute and unsurprisingly frail), especially the Super Battle Droids and Droideka; you will find yourself out of ammo in no time trying to bring down each one of them. That is until you figure out the right combination of weapons that works best for each scenario and enemy, but again your greatest weapon comes down to successfully managing the squad, even at the easiest level setting. Despite that, you will soon familiarize yourself with the bacta supplier, which provides a nice breather after each heavy wave of enemies.

Republic Commando’s immersiveness is not just given by its first person point of view or, in the case of the Switch version, by the perfectly integrated HD rumble, but also by the game’s richly detailed and often subtle sound design. Audio Lead David W. Collins and his team created a beautiful (and often unrecognized) layer to the game through entertaining voice performances but most importantly the use of foley, a unique sound effect technique that involves creating and performing everyday sounds. As one of the unlockable extra featurettes, Collins and artist Jana Vance give a glimpse of how foley works, and how some unusual organic material was used to produce footsteps and other environmental effects. The game wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for an epic soundtrack. Republic Commando does not shy away from giving the fans new, prequel-inspired tracks, often accompanied by powerful-yet-hominous choruses—elevating the dramatic tone of the story.

Chaos has erupted throughout the galaxy. Are you ready to join Delta Squad in one hell of a mission? Then make sure to grab your copy today, let us know about your favorite moments of Republic Commando, and don’t forget to share your favorite one-liners using #RepublicCommandoOneLiners.