Galaxy in Turmoil

Republic Commando takes you into the danger zone of the Clone Wars.

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Ever since a holographic Princess Leia spoke of the Clone Wars way back in 1977, millions of Star Wars fans have speculated and fantasized about the epic conflict that shaped the galaxy of their favorite fantasy film series. It's too bad that Attack of the Clones ended just as the Clone Wars were beginning, though, and that it looks like the upcoming Revenge of the Sith will pick up just as they're coming to a close. In March, LucasArts will leap to curious fans' rescue with Star Wars Republic Commando, a tactical first-person shooter that tasks you with carrying out some of the most covert and dangerous missions of the entire Clone Wars.

Attack of the Clones introduced us to the Republic's massive clone armies, all the soldiers of which are exact duplicates of the infamous galactic bounty hunter Jango Fett. The elite troopers that you'll control in Republic Commando are also clones of Mr. Fett, though they've undergone more rigorous training than their comrades in the regular army, and their personalities (and, inexplicably, their voices) are much more unique. You'll play as RC 01/138, the commander of the elite Delta squad, and you'll be joined by three teammates nicknamed Fixer, Scorch, and Sev. Delta is given the toughest missions of the Clone Wars, tasks that require utter precision with no room for error.

Most clone troopers look identical, but your three squadmates are hardly cookie-cutter soldiers. The first thing you'll notice about them is that their armor has unique patterns of battle paint that correspond to their functions and help you easily tell them apart in the thick of battle. Fixer is the hacker of the group, able to slice into computer terminals to access restricted systems; he carries green markings. Scorch bears yellow paint and is the explosion-happy demolitions expert of Delta squad. Finally, Sev is a no-nonsense hunter with exceptional sniping skills that will save you on more than one occasion; his armor has red markings. It's nice to see that the design team has put some thought into differentiating the members of your squad, which translates into a smoother gameplay experience when battle heats up and you don't have much time to think.

At first glance, Republic Commando plays like any regular first-person shooter, but there's a lot going on here that gives it a tight, cohesive feel that really aids the immersive quality of the game. The first thing you'll notice is that the game takes a cue from Metroid Prime by placing you literally inside the helmet of a clone trooper, complete with visor, sensor readouts, and health and ammo displays. You'll even have blood or oil splatter on your faceplate when you kill something up close, and afterward an amusing electric windshield wiper will appear to clean the muck from your view. You can disable the visor if you want more viewing area, which makes the heads-up displays just hang in midair, but we found that the helmet view went a long way toward making us feel just like one of the clones.

Republic Commando features a context-sensitive command system that's both easy to get a handle on and absolutely integral to successfully completing your missions. You'll find a multitude of hotspots throughout each level that represent an action you can assign to a team member. Look at a piece of rubble and you can tell a teammate to provide sniper or grenade cover. Point at a computer terminal and you can order Fixer to slice it and access security functions. Highlight a sealed door, and you can have all three characters perform a breach-and-enter move. You can even target a particularly strong enemy and have your entire squad focus its considerable firepower on that one target until it's defeated.

The game's squad mechanics are easy to get a handle on and they're important to your chances of success.

Some of these contextual actions are mandatory, such as when you need Scorch to blow a hole in a barrier to clear a path; others are optional and will only help you win a battle with greater ease, such as having a soldier man a nearby turret for greater firepower. It might seem constraining that you can only order your teammates around at these hotspots, but so far we've seen so many of them in each level that it rarely feels like you're required to pursue one course of action without any alternatives. To the contrary, it seems like the designers have done a good job of giving you multiple options and letting you pick whichever one suits your preference. You can also assign basic behaviors to the squad at large, such as search and destroy or a defensive posture, to further tailor the team's actions to your own play style.

The way in which you and your squad heal in Republic Commando is pretty interesting. You'll find bacta tanks spread around each level at which everyone can recharge, but you'll also have a portable healing unit to administer aid if someone goes down in battle. You can resuscitate a teammate on the fly by standing over him and holding down the "use" button for a few seconds, and surprisingly enough, your teammates can do the same to you. When you die, you'll go down with a red, blurry filter over your view, but the battle will keep raging, and you'll have only limited head mobility. At this point you're given three options: you can have your team keep fighting with current orders and hope they win out; you can have them abandon current orders and heal you immediately; or you can simply load a previously saved game and try again. So far, we've found the artificial intelligence-controlled squad to be surprisingly competent at getting us back into the action whenever we were taken out.