 This
is the beginning of a two-part series discussing the upcoming titles in
store for us from Lucas Arts. Lucas Arts, known for creating Star Wars
themed games, returns to its roots by having three out of the company's
next four releases Star Wars themed. The games will hit the shelves in
the following order: 'Star Wars: Battlefront', 'Star Wars: Republic Commando',
'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2', and then 'Mercenaries.' In
each part of our series we will discuss two of the upcoming four releases
in order of their release date. Therefore, for this article we will be
discussing 'Star Wars: Battlefront' and 'Star Wars: Republic Commando.'
Star
Wars Battlefront gives you the chance to play as a soldier in intense
multiplayer battles with up to 32 people. Choose your allegiance and pick
a soldier from one of four different armies. Fight on ten legendary planets
and use a variety of weapons and vehicles, including X-wings, snowspeeders
and AT-ST’s. Keep your wits about you and victory may be within your reach.
Experience the chaos of battle as you fight the greatest wars in the Star
Wars universe.
The
game allows you to play any of the six Star Wars episodes including
Episode 3 [which doesn't hit theatres till 2005]. Because of
this, there are four main armies you can fight for depending on the time
period in which the battle is taking place. If you decide to play within
the more infamous battles included in Episodes IV-VI, then you
will have to decide between being part of the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic
Empire. Each side has its advantages including accuracy, movement, power,
versatility, and rate of fire. If you choose to be the alliance, you will
have unit options such as rebel soldier, rebel vanguard, rebel marksman
and more. The Empire will offer units such as the Imperial soldier.
If
you decide to join a battle from Episodes I-III, your army choices
are different. Instead of Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire, you are
offered the Republican Clone Army or the Separatist Battle Droids. Lucas
Arts has yet to show what the clone army should look like or its advantages
but the Separatist Battle Droids look sweet. 
You will be able to play as Super Battle Droids or even Destroyer Droids.
There will be other droids offered as well in order to maintain game balance.
Each of these units will offer their own unique abilities to the game.
*It
may be possible to have all units from all episodes in the same battles
depending on game settings.
One-Millionth
Rock from the Sun
The
planets currently being offered for battles to take place are Endor, Geonosis,
Yavin IV, and Naboo 2. However, count on probably seeing others as well
including Hoth [the snow battle from Episode V with the Walkers,
aka AT-ATs]. I have seen game play footage from the planets Yavin IV and
Naboo 2 and can easily say that the combat footage looks awesome. I personally
cannot wait to re-live the Battle of Hoth through multiplayer.
 Details
The
game will probably be used for mostly online gaming in large multiplayer
arenas. This means you will need to have a broadband connection for your
PC, Playstation 2, or X-Box. However, PC has a favorable advantage as
it can handle up to thirty-two players online while the other platforms
can only handle sixteen.
There
will also be a single player mode as well. This mode will act similar
to multiplayer with AI controlling other players.
The
game is set for release on September 21, 2004.
 Enter
the dark military side of the Star Wars® universe as a squad leader
of a Republic Special Operations unit. You are a Republic Commando. You
must infiltrate deep behind enemy lines and lead your elite team on precision
operations – lurking in the shadows, striking at will...
In this game you
will take control of squads that will use squad tactics which requires
you to use multiple commands to keep your squad efficient and in-line.
You will lead your squad against enemies such as Geonosians, Trandoshans,
and the Separatists. Each enemy consists of units of various classes and
powers. Lucas Arts promises that the combat between these enemies will
be challenging and fierce but, have no fear, the game also supports a
huge arsenal as well.
Is
that a Blaster in Your Pocket or are You Just Happy to See Me.
The
game offers a minimum of twelve Star Wars weapons including the DC-17m
Repeating Blaster, DC-15s Blaster Pistol, Thermal Detonator, Trandoshan
Slaver Shotgun, and the Geonosian Elite Beam Weapon just to name a few.
The weapons will vary depending on the race you must encounter.
Game
play
The
game is currently still in development and, therefore offers no game play
footage as of yet. However, judging by the screenshots, this games graphics
are going to be extremely crisp as the new engine takes advantage of a
more interactive environment.
Your
missions will include hostage rescue, infiltration/data retrieval, assassination,
assault, sabotage and reconnaissance objectives. You will be able to play
these missions either through single or multi-player. Multi-player will
also include games such as deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the
flag.
'Star
Wars: Republic Commando' will be released Fall 2004
Part 2 of this series coming
soon
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