A resurrection of the legendary squad-based fps.
Very crisp graphics gives this Star Wars FPS a very futuristic feel to the game. Add that to the plethora of innovative Star Wars weaponry, alien species, and armor, and you get a wholy fresh and new experience in the genre of the FPS. On a high quality video setting, this game produces a vivid picture that captures the Star Wars atmosphere perfectly. Unlike the realistic shooters such as Battlefield 2 and Day of Defeat, this game doesn't try to make the environment blend in at all. Instead, everything stands out, making the gameplay very easy to grasp. Whereas in other FPS, you're constantly trying to find where dropped ammo, dropped weaponry, accessible items, and the enemies themselves are located, Republic Commando makes no mistake by having an interactive overlay whenever your crosshair is over an interactive item, whether it is ammo, weapons, machinery, enemies, or even hideaway spots. The graphics for the helmet is superb as well. When in tactical mode, there are semi-holographic overlays on the screen of the helmet very much like the HUD on an aircraft, putting on that Star Wars final touch.
A small problem could be for those who strive for realistic scenery, which, quite frankly, you're not going to get, thus the imperfect score of 9.
Sound: 9/10
An excellent voice cast makes each of your teammates stand out. For experienced players, you may actually be able to differentiate between your teammates simply by listening to their voices. The stereo is excellent, as is usually the case with new games nowadays (didn't test surround sound). The music soundtrack is straight from the movies, so a feeling of nostalgia is unavoidable for those Star Wars fans. There really is no fault in the sound other than the fact that sometimes it tends to intrude on your gameplay experience. For example, a music score may be playing when you're trying to go covert, which sort of defeats the purpose of the mission; you wouldn't be listening to music when you're laying an ambush. However, that could all be credited to being uniquely a Star Wars game, so the unrealistic factor in it could be excused.
Gameplay: 10/10
The BIG reason for the perfect score is because I feel that the interface for squad commands is simply the best in squad-based games. An easy comparison would be Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. In Ghost Recon, to command a unit to perform an action, you have to memorize the buttons for the command, and that's sort of difficult when you're all tensed up in the middle of a firefight. For Republic Commando however, a large symbol pops up whenever your crosshair is pointed at an interactable object and you could command your team to perform an action simply by pressing the use button. So for example, you want your teammate to attack a specific target, just point at the target (which you're shooting at anyways) and press the use button, which is conveniently programmable. That makes it almost instinct for you to press the use button whenever you're firing at a target, thus concentrating fire on it and probably destroying it in seconds. Then, the innovative command interface also adapts for other manouvers as well. For example, you could command your squad to blow open a door with 2 members covering, or you could do it yourself. In the case of sending in a squad, just stand back and press use at the door. In the other choice, simply walk up to the door and press use, and you will be the one to blow open the door yourself. So this sort of interface makes firefights truly instinctive and efficient, where decisions are made in the blink of an eye. In a real firefight, you wouldn't THINK how to call for support, would you? Instead, you'd simply scream for help, so in games why should this be any different? Republic Commando brings the command interface closer to this instinctive reaction than any other game because of it's simple and logical command system.
Another big plus to Republic Commando's gameplay is the smart(er) AI than in other squad-based games. At least the AI doesn't stand in your way, or stand like a rock in the face of oncoming fire whilst slowly returning fire. Instead, the AI acts pretty much like a few humans with truly slow reactions, which is already a step up from previous games. The AI in Republic Commando is quite similar to Battlefield 2's AI, except for one difference: Battlefield 2's AI tends to treat you like dirt and tends to teamkill alot whereas in Republic Commando, you're their "boss", so they act like they would to their company CEO.
Value: 8/10
Some missions tend to be very repetitive, so although missions are quite long, the new ideas are few and far between. However, each new mission does bring new weaponry and alien classes to join the fray. So in that way, Republic Commando still manages to keep the interest level high along the storyline.