Comments on: Thoughts: Republic Commando.

By: psyman

psyman — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 18:19:08 +0000

I have to disagree with criticism of the mission design. The very long levels are what made RC so special and unique even to this day.

Each ~2.5 hour mission really allows players to immerse themselves; I felt such a grand sense of achievement from overcoming adversity with my squad due to the epic uninterrupted level design.

It’s so satisfying and genuinely emotionally moving being able to trace back over all the highs & lows of the journey that my squad had slogged through.

Those same feelings just wouldn’t be evoked if RC had a dozen brief missions instead. So many action games have short levels these days, I would love for more to be like RC. The only other similar game I’ve played is Mass Effect 1, while ME2 & 3 both had very short missions.

By: hentzau

hentzau — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:25:44 +0000

Those were definitely the best parts of the game, and the reason why I’m not calling Republic Commando a dreary slog through a series of identikit grey corridors and brown canyons. It’s a game with one good idea which would normally doom it to mediocrity, but in this case that idea is just about strong enough to carry the whole weight of the rest of it on its shoulders.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:04:09 +0000

I must admit that I didn’t struggle with the scavanger droids, however annoying they were. But yes, it is a hard game, and the satisfactory kind of hard and I think that even the rinse-repeat of the situations you found yourself in and how you solved them with your squad kept it going again and again. I’ve re-played it a few times now and I still enjoy that comforting almost puzzle-like challenge.

Yes, when it becomes a plain shooter it is not hugely remarkable, but as a whole it does work.

Still, looks like you enjoyed it despite the flaws. It would be pretty nice if those mechanics were used again somewhere. Sadly Imperial Commando has never turned up…

By: Masked Dave

Masked Dave — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:03:53 +0000

Pretty fair I suppose, but I think the lows you mention mattered more to you than me for hampering of enjoyment.

My overriding memory is laying on the floor staring through a red tinted view at a wall as the sounds of massive combat went on around me, willing my team through to victory so they could some and save me. Something about the squad dynamic made every moment like that feel very powerful emotionally.

By: innokenti

innokenti — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:01:50 +0000

I think the original Jedi Knight is quite solid, but just the light-saber play in JK2 and Jedi Academy I think manages to carry those games further in terms of replayability. I think the the Dark Forces games are superior, but I will replay JK2 and JA rather than them.

By: hentzau

hentzau — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:39:09 +0000

I think I played a demo of Mysteries of the Sith when I was 13.

(I actually have all of them on Steam but while I enjoyed Dark Forces, the rest of them have not aged well at all.)

By: Josher

Josher — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:17:03 +0000

Did you ever play the Jedi Knight games?