Its that time of year, my exams are just ahead and beyond that is glorious sunny refreshing holidays. This is my dilemma. As a gamer I am somewhat allergic to sunlight and so I need a game to tide me over for those 2 weeks.

So far I am considering:

1. Star Wars Republic Commando
2. Mech Assault 2

Please recommend any other new release games keeping in mind I do prefer shoot em ups and first person shooters. I will also already be getting Splinter Cell 3 which is why it isnt on the list.

I'm yet to play Mech Assault 2, but I've heard good things about it. On the other hand, I've played the PC demo of SW: RC and felt it was a pretty cool game. Of those two I'd personally wind up choosing SW: RC methinks. Although it's a close call.

Out of interest, have you played the original Mech Assault?

I played the original MechAssault and thought it was great. But I was more leaning toward Republic Commando because its first person, and its squad based. I just wanted to get everyones opinion before I go jumping into things.

The squad based action in RC is pretty good. It's a nice simple interface and fun to use. Using the helmet as the Visor was a great idea, I think it's something more FPS should do.

How about you skip both and get Stranger's Wrath instead. You'll be much happier for your purchase.

Isn't that the little game where you use live creatures as ammunition? While I've heard good things about it, I do prefer a more realistic shooter, I'm all about plausibility.

I'm just about done downloading the Republic Commando demo so I'll give that a whirl and see how it rates.

Republic Commando, without doubt.

:nuke:

You're all about Plausiblity so you are considering a Star Wars game as a worthy purchase? Am I the only one seeing the irony here. :P

Yeah Republic Commando, although I don't think either are worth purchasing at full-price.

I didn't say realistic, I said plausible... it makes sense.

Anyways I played the demo last night, whilst being quite linear I found the squad based action very enjoyable. I felt immersed in the world around me, and the hand actions for squad commands is definitely a nice touch. However the shootouts were quite short and uninspiring. So far RC is ahead...

Oh, I forgot to recommend Brothers in Arms. Squad based and tactical FPS. :thumbsup:

Well Live probably makes MA2 worth buying, but you probably wouldn't want it for just the single player. It's over in about 5-6 hours.

I know you said plausible.

How plausible is it that a Star Wars game will be good? :P

It was a joke y'see. Way to spoil my fun Mr. Make-Me-Explain_It.

Bah, it was a crap joke anyway. :P

Though if I recall, MA2 comes with a $20 cash back from Microsoft

Get Vampire: The masquerade - Bloodlines for PC, `tis a great game, you won't regret it. :)

He's a good man that Lordage. :P

And I think I may have seen it at EB's 2 for $50 sale

You'd be right Kami, bastards ripped me off when they forgot to tag it, they gave it to my mate in the 2 for $50 deal a week later. :(

I was about to get it, but decided that my PC probably couldn't run it, and it'll be quite a while before I get a new PC. Plus I've already spent $100 last week. Not good for my bank account.

Well I am pretty much settled on Republic Commando, and for the first time in my life I actually sat down and watched the original Star Wars series so now I'm kind of in that state of mind.

Just one last hurdle in the form of a math test before I can play it though...

*gulp*

:argh:

I did some background checks on the game and it looks great! The squad based action is Full Spectrum Warrior meets Brute Force, the first person experience is reminiscent of Halo and everything else is Star Wars in and out. That is one fantastic combination and I can't wait to sink my teeth into it.

Anyone know if there is any chance of a co-op mode?

I got the game around 9am this morning. At have now just completed it almost a solid 12hrs later at almost 9pm. All I have to say about this game is wow. Bring on the sequel! It was all I had hoped for, the squad actions of Full Spectrum Warrior with a command system as easy as Brute Force, the gun fights of Halo with the essence of Star Wars. All up an all round great game. The voice acting was fantastic, and despite the fact that each team member is in a suit of armour, they still superbly express themselves with body language. The action was sustained and tense, made all the more exciting by your squadmates fighting right along side you. It was also suprisingly funny, eg:

*squad get onto elevator*
Fixer: "Woohoo! Lets go! Uh... why aren't we moving?"
Sev: "You haven't pushed the button."
Fixer: "Oh right..."
*pushes button*
Fixer: "Woohoo! Lets go!"

Fixer: "They were no match for my 1337 haxor skills!"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud at those two.

The way you dish out orders makes you really feel like your in control. You walk out into an area and will have several markers on your hud, just look at them and press A and all of your teammates move into position. The action was made very tense by droid deployers, big machine things which constantly spit out super strong droids (think battelstar galactica), the only way to take them out and advance is for you or a squad member spend 20 seconds planting a bomb on it while you provide cover fire, and then you as the squad leader get the remote detonate it, so fun!

The only drawbacks were that when you had to detonate something when there wasn't a firefight, it can get quite boring waiting for it to be armed. The enemies could have been a bit more animated, but it was fun seeing gigantic Wookiee's pilverize super droids. Also watching squad mates lash out in close quarters is also a site to behold, they would grab and enemies sword and thrust it into them sending the enemy into a backflip, or flip out the enemies shotgun and send a round into its brain. The default weapons were also quite ingenious, being 1 weapon with several attachments for assault, sniper and anti-armour. However I found myself going around with a piss-weak pistol most of the time due to a lack of ammo. The grenades were also quite annoying, with like 5 different types, often if you haven't scrolled through to the right one it would have no effect on the enemy. There was a total lack of grenade explanation in the manual so I had no idea what grenade icon represented which grenade. They could have also made it feel more like you were in the world of Star Wars, maybe chucking in Darth Maul or something.

Never the less, all minor quivels, if you enjoyed Halo, and would have liked it with a special-ops twist, then this is the game for you! 9.2/10

Except there's a little bit of a problem with him having died (or at least presumeably died) in Episode I...

Been meaning to give this a hire. Maybe in a couple of weeks.

Yeah i love the demo. I'm picking up the retail version as soon as i get the cash. Commanding your squad is simple, not complicated like alot of other squad-based games.

I played through the hanger sequence again this morning and it was just as good the second time around. I'm getting withdrawal symptoms, need the sequel now.

Though what would be the sequel? Rebel commando?

Empire Commando. :D

And then you have the next sequel: Rebel commando vs Empire commando ^_^

And then you have the next sequel: Rebel commando vs Empire commando ^_^

SPOILERS IN THIS POST

I realise you were joking, but the game ended with the squad being briefed by Yoda and when the next mission would have started it just faded to black and the credits rolled so I presume they would just pick up where they left off.

Ah, I just sort of assumed that it was pretty much covering the gap between episode II and III and ends about roughly the same time period as the start of Ep III.

Still, a rebel/empire commando game might be interesting, particularly if they implement the multiplayer well - you could have various scenarios like blowing up an imperial compound or infiltrating a rebel base.

But then you would get Star Wars loyalists who would refuse to attack a rebel :P

Speaking of multiplayer, I had a (very) short crack at it today and it is well below average. The maps are very blocky and uninspired, and there are no independant bots, however you can control a squad in mulitplayer against another foe with his own squad.

Alrighty, my copy got shipped offf from DVD Crave today so with any luck i should get it tomorrow. :D

I rented it a couple of weeks ago, and whilst it had a couple of fun parts, I did mostly find it to be a rather painful experience. Sure not the most painful, or even one ofthe most painful, but towards the end it was starting to become a bit of a chore to finish the game. The main faults I found with the game (not even taking into consideration the multiplayer) were:

1) The assault rifle - which seems to do very little damage. Consequently, whilst the maximum ammo if I recall is 400, I was often running out of ammo, particularly towards the end of the game. It just feels so woefully underpowered. I mean, as a commando you'd think you'd be given at least somewhat leathal weaponry.

2) The levels:
a) They were just waaaaaay too long and seemed to drag on forever
b) THere were too few. You only ended up getting a slight look at what the commandos did for the republic, not to mention that it meant that the story ended up being rather simplistic.

3) The AI - at best they can help you out though they'd probably be somewhat of a liability if you couldn't revive them. Though for some reason out of the two times a teammate got stuck, it was sev both times.

4) The squad - as far as I could tell, there didn't seem to be any particular reason to get an expert to do a particular job. Slicing computers or setting explosives seem to take the same amount of time regardless of who is doing it. Minor, but I thought the fact that each was a specialty in a certain field seemed rather superfluous.

5) Voice acting - not hoorible, and even amusing at times. But I found the occasional quips to be rather 'un-commando'-ish.

I like the game. I have it and its pretty fun to me(not talking about the multiplayer. one of the worsts ive seen.)
The levels are challenging and fun. whats not to love about it?