Star Wars: Republic Commando trailer
Six minutes, with a voice-over from producer Chris Williams, who reckons the commandos are the republic's 'Navy SEALs'. Trailer available now from Eurofiles.
LucasArts has released a six-minute trailer for Star Wars: Republic Commando, which introduces us to what narrator Chris Williams describes as the Star Wars galaxy's equivalent of Navy SEALs. With the game set between Episodes II and III of the movie, the trailer focuses on an incursion into the depths of the planet Geonosis. You can download the trailer now from Eurofiles.
It's immediately obvious that the developer is focusing heavily on the squad experience, rather than just delivering another first-person shooter with expendable allies. Similar to Gearbox's Brothers In Arms, most of the squad control is handled via one-touch point and click mechanics, and your squad mates are also perfectly capable of seeking our cover positions by themselves.
During the trailer you'll see things from behind the commando's Metroid Prime-esque visor view, witnessing demonstrations of tactics, splitting the squad up so one commando with a sniper rifle covers the others, scripted events like a bridge crumbling under weight of fire and sending the Geonosians on top plummeting into the depths below, and you'll also get a good handle on the squad control mechanics, which producer Williams insists are key to making progress. "The squad is the weapon" seems to be the mantra.
However, for those of you concerned about spoilers, there is one point about two thirds of the way through when Williams mentions the name of one of the key characters in Episode III, and while we weren't altogether bothered to hear it, you might want to mute the sound if you're trying to preserve yourself for the cinematic unveiling.
As we're told towards the end of the trailer, Star Wars: Republic Commando is due out towards the end of the year on PC and Xbox. Both versions will feature online multiplayer with deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture-the-flag modes.