As stated many times before, Star Wars has been known to have a history when it comes to video games.
Around 2005 however, there was a time where Star Wars media peaked.
Not only was 2005 the year Revenge of the Sith came out, but it was also the year many well known Star Wars games were released such as Star Wars: Battlefront II, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Lego Star Wars.
One Star Wars game released that year which was obscure compared to others was Star Wars: Republic Commando, a first-person shooter which was recently re-released on PS4 and Switch on April 6 of this year and published by Aspyr, who have also helped port previous classic Star Wars games such as Jedi Knight and Episode I Racer.
Originally released in 2005 for Microsoft’s original Xbox and Windows PC and developed and published by LucasArts, Republic Commando was unique among other Star Wars games at the time as the game put players into the perspective of the Clone Troopers of the Galactic Republic.
In Republic Commando, players don’t just play as any normal Clone Trooper, but a Clone Commando, one of the highest ranking soldiers of the Clone Army.
Far superior than the average Clone Trooper in multiple ways, Commandos are an elite unit of Clone Troopers working in squads who specialize in advanced operations such as covert ops, assassinations and infiltration.
Republic Commando puts players in the role of Clone Commando RC-1138, who goes by his squad name “Boss,” and the leader of Delta Squad along with his squadmates “Scorch,” “Fixer,” and “Sev.”
Republic Commando|eShop
The levels in the game have players lead Delta Squad as they complete various missions on the planet they are on while fighting against enemies throughout the game such as Separatist Droids, Trandoshan Mercenaries, Geonosians, MagnaGuards and more.
Players have a variety of weapons at their disposal, with an assault rifle that can be taken apart and replaced with attachments making it into weapons such as a grenade launcher or a sniper rifle in addition to a pistol which acts as their secondary weapon and a mini vibroblade under their sleeve which is used as a melee weapon.
In addition, other weapons can be accessed in the game depending on the levels and enemies in said levels such as a Geonosian beam weapon carried by Elite Geonosian Warriors, Wookie bowcasters, weapons used by the Trandoshan Mercenaries and more.
However, although the player has access to a variety of weapons throughout the game, Republic Commando has one unique weapon for players that rivals any other, their squad.
With the use of squad team tactics, players command their squad with various orders when fighting enemies and going through missions such as ordering a squadmate to get into a sniping position to provide covering fire, have the whole squad focus fire on one specific enemy, ordering a squadmate to hack into a terminal and even issue an order for the squad to get into a breach formation where once the door is breached, a grenade is thrown by another squad member and clears the room of enemies among other commands.
Each squadmate also has their own distinct personality as well which makes them unique and likeable, with them having banters that can be humorous and full of charm.
Even the player character “Boss” voiced by Temuera Morrison, who played Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones, Clone Troopers in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and most recently Boba Fett in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, adds more to the feeling of playing a Clone Trooper.
Republic Commando is a hidden gem of a Star Wars game and even after 15 years still holds up as a unique Star Wars title ahead of its time.
Very rarely do Star Wars games explore the story of the Clone Wars through the Clones perspective and Star Wars fans do not want to miss out on this obscure title.
Republic Commando is now available on PS4 and Switch and the PS4 version can also be played on the PS5.
As for Xbox players, although the game did not receive an Xbox One or Series X/S re-release, the original Xbox version of the game can still be played on said systems via backwards compatibility and can be purchased digitally through the Microsoft Store or if players own the disc.
