Why Republic Commando Still Holds Up

In a world with more and more video games releasing each year (with some arguing that the quality of games has recently been diminishing), it’s sometimes important to go back and appreciate the classics. As a fan of Star Wars, I recently played Republic Commando for the first time after hearing rave reviews about the game. Personally, after fully completing it, I definitely understand the hype it’s garnered. Today, I want to explain some reasons why you should check out this game for yourself.

REASON ONE: THE GAMEPLAY

This might be obvious to some, but the main appeal of this game will likely be its FPS gameplay. Released in 2005, it’s pretty clear that this game takes heavy inspiration from the Halo series (specifically Combat Evolved and Halo 2, which were both released a few years prior to Republic Commando). When I played the game, the overall gunplay and enemy variety just FELT like Halo to me. You can only hold a few weapons at a time, with certain enemies dropping their own exclusive weapons. Ammo is also scattered about through levels. All of this, combined with the fact that your character starts with a few grenades, a primary weapon, and a pistol, makes it clear what inspired this game. Honestly, before I did any research, I even thought the game was made using Halo’s Blam engine, when in reality it was made using Unreal Engine. I don’t really know how to describe it, but there’s just something about the weight of gunplay that the dev team of Republic Commando nailed in a similar vein to Halo. Ironically, the squad mechanics utilized in this game would eventually be implemented into future Halo games, such as Halo 5.

REASON TWO: THE CHARACTERS

While Republic Commando doesn’t have a large cast of characters, it does feature a well-written team of clones with believable (and sometimes, even funny) banter between them. The game excels at making you feel immersed in its world due to these characters. This is mainly because each member of Delta Squad has their own defined personality and characteristics. Boss, the playable main character, is the strategic team leader. Fixer is the tech expert/hacker of the group. Scorch excels in causing as much chaos as possible with explosions and grenades. Finally, Sev is the more serious and skilled sniper of the group. To be honest, the game feels like a progenitor to the Bad Batch show, which probably adds to my enjoyment of the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers of that show took inspiration from this game. All of these factors listed above help Republic Commando to stand out amongst other Star Wars games and even other FPSs.

REASON THREE: THE QUALITY

It’s clear that the developers of Republic Commando are real fans of Star Wars, especially the Prequel films. From the intro scene with the “birth” of the clones to the detailed planets Delta Squads explore, the game’s atmosphere feels perfect. There are even some cameos from major Clone Wars characters that help the game to feel connected to the overall series! Overall, there’s a general level of care and detail not often seen in more modern and AAA games.