Posted August 04, 2009
Republic: The Revolution is a simulation strategy game which gives you a glimpse into the ruthless and morally ambiguous world of hardball politics. Game developed by Elixir Studio, you know them by their later game - Evil Genius presented in GOG catalogue.
The basic principle behind Republic is actually quite a simple one; you play the leader of a revolutionary faction in the fictional Eastern European state of Novistrania, and must increase your power base by recruiting competent minions and sending them around performing a variety of tasks ranging from support-gathering political actions to violent or dirty tricks on your opponents. All of this is achieved in broadly the same way - you set up tasks for your lieutenants, persuade key community figures to aid your cause, to perform on a timeline.
This gameplay mechanic would, quite probably, work very well in a more like sandbox environment - however, Elixir have chosen instead to lead you through the game by the nose, with a sequence of mission objectives which you must achieve. Some people probably won't like this aspect of the game, but we felt that it gave the experience much-needed structure and a concrete set of goals to achieve - and to be fair, you are given a massive degree of freedom in between goals, and can go off and do whatever you like on the map before coming back and completing the objective in question.
Make no mistake about it, the rather clunky and standoffish interface, combined with the fact that gamers will be required to actually learn things before they are comfortable with the game might put off a fair amount of people who were initially excited about the game. Republic's AI is very good, so the game will become increasingly challenging as you reach the capital of Novistrana. You'll actually be required to think ahead and plan your moves; and the moves of the opposition; before allocating action points. In addition, the gameplay itself might seem a bit too dry and too intellectual at times. Kind of like chess...
Game can get addictive after you've gotten to grips with all its intricacies, but I doubt that, on the whole, many people will be patient enough to give Republic the time it deserves. In short, a smart gameplay concept, coupled with some nice 3D visuals and awesome music is severely disadvantaged by the rather steep learning curve and lack of more personality.
I have this weird feeling that halfway through the development the team at Elixir got so involved in making sure all the rules and basic concepts are working that they forgot they aren't making this game for themselves, but for the people out there who aren't all that anxious to devote as much time or attention to their product as they would surely like them to.
The basic principle behind Republic is actually quite a simple one; you play the leader of a revolutionary faction in the fictional Eastern European state of Novistrania, and must increase your power base by recruiting competent minions and sending them around performing a variety of tasks ranging from support-gathering political actions to violent or dirty tricks on your opponents. All of this is achieved in broadly the same way - you set up tasks for your lieutenants, persuade key community figures to aid your cause, to perform on a timeline.
This gameplay mechanic would, quite probably, work very well in a more like sandbox environment - however, Elixir have chosen instead to lead you through the game by the nose, with a sequence of mission objectives which you must achieve. Some people probably won't like this aspect of the game, but we felt that it gave the experience much-needed structure and a concrete set of goals to achieve - and to be fair, you are given a massive degree of freedom in between goals, and can go off and do whatever you like on the map before coming back and completing the objective in question.
Make no mistake about it, the rather clunky and standoffish interface, combined with the fact that gamers will be required to actually learn things before they are comfortable with the game might put off a fair amount of people who were initially excited about the game. Republic's AI is very good, so the game will become increasingly challenging as you reach the capital of Novistrana. You'll actually be required to think ahead and plan your moves; and the moves of the opposition; before allocating action points. In addition, the gameplay itself might seem a bit too dry and too intellectual at times. Kind of like chess...
Game can get addictive after you've gotten to grips with all its intricacies, but I doubt that, on the whole, many people will be patient enough to give Republic the time it deserves. In short, a smart gameplay concept, coupled with some nice 3D visuals and awesome music is severely disadvantaged by the rather steep learning curve and lack of more personality.
I have this weird feeling that halfway through the development the team at Elixir got so involved in making sure all the rules and basic concepts are working that they forgot they aren't making this game for themselves, but for the people out there who aren't all that anxious to devote as much time or attention to their product as they would surely like them to.
