Call of Duty and Rainbow Six: Star Wars Style
With the original Xbox, there is little doubt that the definitive Star Wars game for the system is KOTOR, however Republic Commando gives it a decent run for it's money.
Republic Commando is set during the Clone Wars, taking place between Episodes II and III. During the course of the game, the player assumes control of a squad of highly trained Clone Commandoes, known as Delta Squad, and you are plunged into the thick of the front lines of the Clone Wars, a far cry from previous Star Wars games which have you taking on the role of a Jedi or Sith Apprentice.
The graphics of Republic Commando are fantastic, rivialing the best of the Call of Duty and Rainbow Six series, adding detail right down to the kinks in the Clone Trooper Armor. The gameplay is fairly straight forward, you lead Delta squad through a varitey of Call of Duty and Rainbow Six esque missions, ranging from the carnage of the Battle of Geonosis to investigating a derlic Republic warship.
The controls though can at times be a problem, especally when it comes to issuing orders, in order to plant demolition charges you must place the cursor in the right spot and press the A button, this can actually become quite annoying, especally if your under attack by a lot of enemies, but over all the controls are fairly functional.
The game's major flaw though, lies in it's game play. While the environment changes through out the game, it boggs down to being just another FPS with a been there done that feel. The enemies you encounter are standard Battle Droids, Super Battle Droids, Destroyer Droids, Geonosians, and Trandoshian slavers, with the occasonal Spider Droid appear for a boss battle. The worst feature of the game is that it's once again set in the Clone Wars, which will probably aleanate gamers who were looking forward to being able to play as Imperial Stromtroopers during the Galactic Civil War.
Overall Republic Commando is a very entertaing game, and will appeal not only to Star Wars Fans, but to fans of Call of Duty and Rainbow Six style shooters