With Republic Commando, Close Combat: First to Fight, Brothers in Arms, Rainbow Six: Lockdown and SWAT 4 all arriving in the next couple of months, PC gaming appears to be fixated on squad tactical shooters for the moment. Which is fine by me, as long as they’re offering something more than genre lip service.

I guess it wasn’t much of a stretch for LucasArts to develop its own take on the genre with Republic Commando: take the nameless, faceless clone troopers from Episode II: Attack of the Clones and put them in close combat engagements, picking and choosing from the featuresets of games to come before it, and creating what can only be called a mediocre first person shooter.

I downloaded the demo last week after hearing a mixed bag of opinions. I was interested to see if LucasArts could tackle the squad tactics genre on its own, as this would be the first Star Wars game in some time that was actually developed-in house. The first thing I noticed was only one of the four squad members actually sounded like Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett). They also had their own “nicknames”, and different personalities. I thought they were supposed to be a cross section of an army of clones? Why get tied up in things like “cameraderie” and “sassy one liners” when you’re essentially a one man army multiplied a thousand times?

LucasArts definitely took some liberties with the character design, but everything ended up looking like Galactic Heroes. Of course, it’s up to the player whether they like this interpretation or not. As someone who enjoys employing precision tactics when facing my enemy, I’d rather not be looking at a chunky, obtrusive interface and even chunkier avatars. I’m really not a fan of the “visor view” either, and in my mind it goes down in history with the likes of Deus Ex: Invisible War’s HUD. I can only imagine what this view will be like in Rainbow Six: Lockdown.

I liked the way squad commands felt intuitive, but I wouldn’t call it tactics. It doesn’t require any real problem solving by the player: simply mousing over points on the map will show “hot” areas, or actions a squad member can complete. Clicking on these points will issue the associated command, but it’s not like you get the option of storming a room with thermal detonators or sneaking in quietly. The objectives and their solutions are completely transparent. In the demo’s mission, Republic Commando does a good job of making you feel surrounded and overwhelmed, but I never feared for my life. There’s a pretty good chance when you go down with 0 health a squad mate will be by to heal you up with seemingly unlimited medkits.

All the weapons felt insubstantial, like toys. I’ve played Star Wars FPS before, and I know what a repeater blaster should “feel” like. I also find it hard to believe that every character has the entire Republic arsenal at their disposal. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the squad to have a Heavy Blaster unit, a sniper unit and a support unit? That way your men become indispensable – not interchangeable. In the face of existing and soon to be released squad tactical shooters, the whole game feels like a toy. More like squad tactical action figures.

The biggest thing this game has going for it is that it’s suprisingly polished given LucasArts’ past foray into 3D. Perhaps the campaign is really interesting, and eclipses the shortfalls of the game’s core mechanics. However I’m not willing to take the time to find out. If you’re looking for another Star Wars FPS that doesn’t involve the words “Jedi Knight”, then I suppose Republic Commando is for you.

Now I’d like to talk about Ash. Ash is a band from Ireland that was introduced to me during the end credits/blooper scenes from the North American release of Rumble in the Bronx. Their catchy tribute to old martial arts films, the aptly named “Kung Fu”, played in the background. The next day I bought the album it was from, “1977″. Opening with the sound of a tie fighter flying by, and later learning that the album was named after the year Star Wars was released (despite any of the members not being born yet), I knew these guys were for real. I even had the chance to meet them when they came to Toronto back in 1996 to promote that album.

This week I found that one of the songs off of their upcoming album was selected to be on the Republic Commando soundtrack. Once again falling back on their clever songwriting skills, “Clones” will also appear on an exclusive EP called “Commando” which includes a playable demo for the game. I can’t vouch for their popularity at the moment, as I’ve been into Ash for years. Though if anyone will benefit from this multi-media promotion it will be the band. Incidentally, Ash will be back in Toronto at the Opera House April 13th. I will be there.

I don’t know if you knew that