Intense, Immersive, Tactical and Excellent
Ever get tired of all the voodoo mysticism in Star Wars? Massive scale futuristic wars, and yet most of the time your stuck behind the rose colored glasses of a Jedi. Well, prepare to enter the blood-soaked helmet of an elite republic commando, bred and trained for the grittiest, most difficult missions any clone soldier would ever face. You look through the eyes of RC-1138, nicknamed Boss. You are the leader of Delta Squad, the Republic Commando squad consisting of four members. Each of your other three members have their own voice and personality that, throughout their many one liners through the game, give extra atmosphere while playing.
Gameplay:
Probably the best part of the game, and something that made me buy it over Doom 3. The enemies, though many would disagree on whether they're that powerful in the movies, are well balanced and force you to think about how you use your squad. Realistically, this game is much more difficult than Halo, and at times you're frightened trying to think of how to overcome the impossible odds, luckily, you have other people to do the dirty work. This game utilized quick tactics, nothing too complicated, to ease the trip and in fact if you use your squad correctly, the game practically plays it self. Unlike most games in which winning and losing are set on how well you can aim and which weapon you're using, in this game battles are won and lost by your decisions as Delta Leader.
Although the maps are rather linear, this is a good and bad thing. The developers had very limited time in putting this game together, so when making the maps instead of focusing on making them open, they focused on more important things, like arranging what little map space they had in such a way that the atmosphere you feel when you're being attacked is unique and intense. They arranged the levels economically so you had a feeling that where you positioned your squad had a direct effect on the battle's outcome. All in all it makes for very intense battles, and a very war torn, brink-of-despair atmosphere.
Graphics:
Saying they're probably the best graphics LucasArts has ever had isn't saying much. They're great, the explosions are excellent, the physics are eye candy (especially when you shoot the gas-packs on the trandoshans) and I've already mentions how cool the atmosphere is. One thing I have to mention while I'm talking about graphics are there were no cut scenes, and frankly I didn't mind. There are still some very excellent images to see, such as the destruction of ships, the republic fleet moving in, etcetera. The developers didn't rely on cutscenes to show you what you were looking at, you could see everything you needed to see from your visor.
Sound:
The sound, again like everything else, had an impact on atmostphere. First of all, the music they chose enforced certain feelings throughout the game. During battles, loop-songs could be heard, sang in ancient Mandalorian funnily enough. I personally got the feeling like I was a hero in an anime movie.
Apart from music was foley, something no one pays attention to that has a subtle but powerful impact on the game. When you hear your character moving, you get an impression of the texture of the jungle floor, when you here yourself being surounded by insects, the sounds are realistic. It was a nice touch if nothing else.
Story:
Staying with the current trend, the game ended abruptly. There are three campaigns, and althrough the first two progressed well with absolutely explosive climaxes that made you gasping for air. The ending of the third, and therefore the ending of the game left you puzzled, and all though the last level was very difficult, the last five minutes were a breeze. All in all, it makes you hope they come out with a sequel.
Multiplayer:
These days it seems developers can spend a couple days and make a playable multiplayer. The multiplayer at times seems like it's just a rush to get the BFG, camp up on a wall and blow everyone up who comes close. It's not all that bad, and in fact Capture the Flag and Assault are very fun. It also utilizes blast shield and elevators which can come in strategically handy. At its potential the multiplayer is very enjoyable and intense, but at regular use your teammates are found screwing with the elevator, people are opening the blast shields when you'd be most vulnerable, and the only reason you can't score is because there's a guy perched up top with an AA gun.
All in all, I'd saying this is one of the best games to come out this year despite what I've mentioned above. And I am hoping for an expansion.