Star Wars Republic Commando

Star Wars Republic Commando puts you in control of a unit of clones as you execute dangerous missions. The game focuses mainly on tactics and using strategy to take down your enemies, so controlling your units is very easy. Using a one-touch control system, it only takes one button to give commands to each or all of your units.

The unit AI is awesome. If you find something in the environment, you can tell them to take cover and they’ll knock it over and duck behind it. When left without orders to follow, they will immediately find cover on their own. They’ll also hold fire until you shoot your own gun and cover flanking positions to keep you safe from all sides.

Your soldiers can do more than take cover and shoot enemies, they’ll also bust open doors, set demo charges, or assist in laying traps. They do all of this very professionally, and it’s really cool to see Star Wars soldiers act like real soldiers.

The AI isn’t the only thing realistic; the graphics are astounding. You have a flashlight that can be turned on or off, and when on shadows it projects from everything extremely realistically. The HUD is comprised of many different displays, and the whole game is played in first person through a believable helmet visor - much like Metroid Prime. If you kill an enemy up close its blood will even splatter on your visor, prompting a futuristic windshield wiper-type laser to come and dissolve the obstruction. All the usual displays are there, plus dials that show your partners positions in relation to yourself.

The single player campaign will feature 15 missions, and Republic Commando will also have a multiplayer mode. Four players will be allowed per Xbox (one per PC), and up to 16 players can duke it out online. This is definitely not a title to be missed when it hits this fall.

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