History VideoGame / StarWarsRepublicCommando

* AwesomeYetPractical: The BladeBelowTheShoulder melee attack can kill lesser enemies in one hit, and if you don't have any anti-armor rounds or EMP grenades it is ''the'' most efficient way to kill Super Battle Droids (especially as they won't shoot at you when you're close).

* EmergencyWeapon: The pistol. It has just about everything you hate about the DC-17 "assault rifle", and replaces the AwesomeYetPractical melee attack with a slower, weaker {{Pistol Whip|ping}}.

One of the most well-received games to come out of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy, ''Republic Commando'' puts you in the shoes of RC-1138 "Boss", leader of Delta Squad ([[VideoGame/GearsOfWar No, not that one]]), a [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous special forces unit]] in the [[RedshirtArmy Clone Army]].

One of the most well-received games to come out of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy, ''Republic Commando'' puts you in the shoes of RC-1138 "Boss", leader of Delta Squad ([[VideoGame/GearsOfWar No, not that one]]), one of the most {{Badass}} units in the [[RedshirtArmy Clone Army]] ever created.

Republic Commando is surprising to some in that the creators went a long way to give the four clones depth with their voice interactions. Also, despite containing only three missions, each is worthy of being called as long as any one of VideoGame/DeusEx's "missions". It's over quickly and leaves you wishing for more, especially with the {{Cliffhanger}} ending.

Karen Traviss wrote a book series by the same name, in which Delta Squad played a supporting role, save for the first one, in which they just had a one-scene cameo. The books are ''Hard Contact'', ''Triple Zero'', ''True Colors'' and ''Order Sixty-Six'', as well as ''501st'', the first (and possibly only because Traviss has ceased to write ''Star Wars'' books) of the "Imperial Commando" series. This series is dealt with in [[Literature/RepublicCommandoSeries a separate article]].

* ArtificialStupidity: Despite the above, however, it is usually best for you to stay out of the line of fire between your squad mates and the enemy, especially when one is stationed at a sniper position since no member of your squad is FriendlyFireProof. If you do not take this precaution, you can expect to see a blue energy trail passing through your torso on its way to intersect with the enemy and a commensurate drain on your shields and/or health bar.
** And things don't always end well when they start throwing grenades. Bouncing off the door back toward the squad during a door breech, or using them on enemies that have charged into melee with you.

* {{BFG}}: The bizarre Wookiee Missile Launcher definitely qualifies.

* BlatantItemPlacement:
** Item placement is sometimes justified, such as being in friendly or once-friendly territory. In fact, in one case, during the Geonosis campaign, a Republic gunship drops some ammo and an important component for your SwissArmyGun.
** Other times, enemy installations are inexplicably stocked with decent supplies of ammo for Republic-issue weapons. The [[HealThyself bacta tanks]] are justified when storming Geonisian and Trandoshan emplacements, but they're also strewn throughout a ship crewed ''entirely by droids''. It's even {{lampshaded}} by Scorch:
--->'''Scorch:''' Whoever put these bacta tanks here deserves a medal.

** The [[SpiderTank Advanced Dwarf Spider Droid]], an absolutely deadly four-legged thingie that usually takes the entire squad to kill properly, or some very big guns. You run into all of half a dozen mind you.

** General Grievous's bodyguards. They're crazy fast and have an ''insane'' amount of health, being able to withstand multiple anti-armor grenades (a single anti-armor grenade will destroy a Super Battle Droid with a direct hit, which itself is capable of withstanding about 150 blaster bolts).

* CallForward:

** When fighting hordes of battle droids Scorch will sometimes say, "These must be the droids we're looking for."
** He also will sometimes call out, "Look sir, droids!"
** Upon seeing the droid control ship on Geonosis, Sev exclaims "Look at the size of that thing," echoing Wedge in ''ANewHope''.
** At one point Fixer will tell Scorch to "Cut the chatter," echoing Red Leader in ''ANewHope''.
** The cell in which Scorch is held aboard the ''Prosecutor'' is 2187 - a reference to the cell in which Princess Leia was imprisoned aboard the Death Star in ''ANewHope''.
** A few sections later you're ambushed in the detention level. The first set piece is forcing your way out the elevator while the enemies take cover behind familiar-looking consoles and in the corridor alcoves, and you exit the level by [[StuffBlowingUp blowing a grate]] and descending into what looks like a garbage pit.

** Delta 40's nickname, "Fixer" is a reference to a character who appeared in a deleted scene from ''ANewHope''.

* CameraAbuse: Most commonly, your helmet will jitter as you move or look around. Blood, droid fluid and water will splatter against your helmet's faceplate if you opt to get up close and personal with your enemies or stand out in the rain, but a convenient wiper system eliminates it to give you an unobstructed view after a while. Laser blasts and tiny objects traveling at high speed will warp or cause holes in your face plate, which the wiper also conveniently [[AWizardDidIt and inexplicably]] repairs. Finally, the scav droids make a habit of [[FridgeHorror trying to drill]] [[EyeScream through your faceplate]].

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The commandos have painted armor so you can tell them apart: red for Sev, yellow for Scorch, green for Fixer. Orange is for Boss himself, though it's only seen in various artworks and promotional material.
** It's also included on the interface to distinguish which commando is where by coloring their numeric designations. Interestingly, WordOfGod says this was George Lucas' suggestion when he was reviewing the game so the player could tell the characters apart.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Republic Commando is basically a grunt's view of ''Star Wars'', where the Force is nowhere to be seen or felt and [[HighPressureBlood spurts of blood and droid oil]] from your enemies have to be [[CameraAbuse cleaned off of your visor]] when fighting up-close.

* DeflectorShields: The members of Delta Squad are equipped with personal shields (which, curiously, never seem to be employed in the novels). Destroyer Droids/Droidekas have their signature bubble shields. Super battle droids can also occasionally be seen employing what appears to be a personal shield from their arm, usually when faced with grenades.

** Trandoshan drop ships also appear in a couple of levels, where they serve as [[MookMaker Mook Makers]].
* DummiedOut: Subtitle files indicate that the developers originally intended for Delta Squad to encounter a Clone Medic and a commando called Delta 36 whose designation (01/136) makes it apparent that Darman from the ''Republic Commando'' novels was based upon him (he does get mentioned in the game proper, but was merely another commando squad leader who was killed in action).
** Even better was the part on the Prosecutor where Boss was to observe a meeting between the Trandoshans and General Grievous (then unknown to the Clones), which would culminate in the General's revelation on Kashyyyk.
** Additionally on Geonosis, Fixer was to have a scene involving an anti-air turret:

* EliteMooks: Super Battle Droids, amongst others. They start out sporadic and vaguely challenging but once you get the anti-armor attachment for you DC-17, they're a cakewalk. That is, until you run out of its very limited supply of ammo, [[DemonicSpiders then...]]

* EmergencyWeapon: The pistol. It has just about everything you hate about the DC-17 "assault rifle" (see GunsAreUseless below), and replaces the AwesomeYetPractical melee attack with a slower, weaker {{Pistol Whip|ping}}.

** A rendition of the "Emperor's Theme" is also sung by an EtherealChoir during title card sequences prior to each campaign.

** Save for a few clone troopers, it appears that all Republic personnel aboard the "Prosecutor" were killed.
*** Even worse: by the end of the mission it is pretty clear that even the clones you encounter alive are dead before you beat back the droids.

* FantasticSlurs: Delta Squad uses the terms "clankers" and "mechanicals" to refer to droids, while Trandoshans are "scalies" or "Trandos". For their part, droids will call Delta Squad "meatbags."

* FoeTossingCharge: The enemy-to-enemy version occurs when Super battle droids sometimes take a whack at lesser battle droids in an apparent ShoutOut to a shot in AttackOfTheClones where an [=SBD=] was seen smacking some battle droids out of the way in order to get them out of its field of fire.

* GoForTheEye: The suggested strategy in dealing with [[BossInMookClothing Advanced Dwarf Spider Droids]], as it's the droid's [[AttackItsWeakPoint only known weak point]].

* TheGoomba: Battle droids, of course. They die after only a few shots, have below average aim and a slow rate of fire, and while reasonably manueverable they lack the ability to do things like sprint or dive away from grenades, as well as being unable to use grenades themselves. Trandoshan mercs prove to be much better fighters compared to battle droids when they show up later in the game.

** Quite literally, and possibly lampshaded during the opening sequences with practicing clone-troopers that shoot ''terribly'', and your allies are not spectacular either...
*** Until placed in sniper positions. This seems to make them much more efficient.

* InstantWinCondition: If you make it to the level exit while the rest of your squad is incapacitated and surrounded by enemies, the entire squad starts the next area on their feet, albeit with half of their total health left.
** There are rare exceptions, usually involving elevators, which won't leave without all of your squad.

* LadderPhysics: Handily averted in that the player is not able to use any of the ladders present in the game.

* LifeMeter: Your LifeMeter is shown to be part of your helmet's {{HUD}}. Once your shields are beaten down, it goes from green to yellow to orange (during which the interior of your helmet takes on a pulsing orange hue and a flashing text message helpfully informs you "HEALTH CRITICAL").

* MookMaker: Present in the form of droid dispensers - machines that are capable of deploying a seemingly infinite number of battle droids until they are destroyed with a detonation charge. Trandoshan [[DropShip dropships]] serve this purpose in a couple of levels.
* {{Mooks}}:
** Hundreds upon thousands of them, namely the [[MechaMooks fodder Trade Federation battle droids]].
** You don't see very many of them in later levels, where they are replaced with hordes of Trandoshans instead. They're a whole lot tougher.

* NonLethalKO: This is usually what happens to a member of the squad once his LifeMeter reaches zero and at least one other member of the squad is still active, resulting in a state of ControllableHelplessness. {{Handwaved}} by mentioning that the commandos have bacta processing implants, which for some reason require external assistance to kick start. [[FinalDeath The game ends]] if the squad fails an objective, all of the other squad members are incapacitated when the player's LifeMeter reaches zero, he falls into a BottomlessPit, or has been killed by his squadmates for opening fire on them.

* OpeningScroll: A notable aversion for a ''StarWars'' game. This is jettisoned in favor of an OpeningMonologue by a Kaminoan scientist, underlying a TrainingMontage from your character's perspective, followed by your squad's deployment from Kamino. After this, a series of expository title cards are displayed while a variation of the "Emperor's Theme" is played just before you make the drop to Geonosis.
* OperationBlank: The StrategyGuide. A few examples: "Operation Bug Hunt," "Operation Hammer Fist," "Operation GhostShip," and "Operation Fur Ball."

* RedshirtArmy: Just about everyone besides you and your teammates is cannon-fodder, though admittedly you don't run into any other Republic Commandos, let alone ARC troopers or Jedi. On Geonosis, there are two squads of troopers that you can rescue, and on the Prosecuter, there's one squad, plus a lone soldier in close vicinity to the squad, and you can only save them if you're either very good at the game or you blow up all of the defense turrets before they're hacked.
** Or alternatively not let the turrets get hacked in the first place.

-->'''Sev:''' Flying is easy, landing is hard.

* ShoutOut: Scorch does this a lot. While they're mostly ''StarWars'' related, there are a couple for things ranging from ''Creator/MontyPython'' to ''Franchise/{{X-Men}}''.

-->'''Sev:''' [[Film/{{Predator}} We ain't got time to bleed, sir.]]\\
\\
'''Scorch''': [[AustinPowers Watch out for the frikkin' laser beams]]!\\
\\
'''Scorch:''' [[Series/{{Farscape}} Get off of me, you frelling bag of bolts!]]

* TheSiege: The roaring final battle aboard the ''Prosecutor'' against the Separatist forces about to steal it qualifies.

* SociopathicHero: Sev, as the below quote makes clear.

'''Sev:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Yes. you are.]]

'''Scorch:''' Hope it's not a [[BossInMookClothing spider droid]].\\

* TimedMission: The final Geonosis segment sees Delta Squad running and gunning through the corridors of a Trade Federation core ship with 5 minutes to make it to its bridge in order to access a computer and [[OutrunTheFireball get out alive before it explodes]].

** In addition, the ending of the second section of the game requires your team to slice automated defenses in order to hold off a Separatist frigate. Constant attacks from battle droids make this difficult, and if you don't slice all four consoles in time the ship is destroyed--a fact that the ship's computer reminds you of by constantly chiming in with how much shield and hull strength remains (although the last 25% of the countdown takes much longer than the rest).

-->You know, I gotta thank whoever designed this Katarn-class armor for us. It's great stuff. But obviously, they never thought we'd need to sit down. Ouch.

* ColdSniper: Sev. ''By the Force'', Sev.

* GunsAreUseless: The basic assault rifle feels like this, what with its horrid accuracy[[note]]statistically its accuracy is actually good, but it has absolutely terrible heuristics that makes it feel like you're wasting bullets by the dozen[[/note]], pathetic damage, and -- given the previous -- small ammo capacity. Even with all the crates of it lying around. The sniper rifle and grenade launcher attachments rectify the damage and accuracy issues at the expense of barely having any ammo at all. Further following the trope, the melee attack - usually a gauntlet-mounted vibroblade - one- or two-hit kills most mooks. You can also attack with it in rapid succession, to the point where stabbing a super battle droid until his face plate falls off actually becomes a valid tactic.

* HeyItsThatVoice: Boss is voiced by Temuera Morrison, who is obviously the voice of the clones in the movies, and Scorch is voiced by Raphael Sbarge, who might be recognised from his role as Carth Onasi in KnightsOfTheOldRepublic, amongst others.

* SociopathicHero: Sev, oh yes Sev.

'''Sev:''' Yes you are.

-->You know, I gotta thank whoever designed this [[DarkForcesSaga Katarn]]-[[MemeticBadass class]] armor for us. It's great stuff. But obviously, they never thought we'd need to sit down. Ouch.

* VanHelsingHateCrime: Members of Delta Squad really have it in for Trandoshans. Most notably, Sev and Scorch make declarations that "the only good lizard is a dead lizard" and threaten to [[HumanResources make boots out of them]].
** To be fair, these particular Trandoshans are slavers who had by their first appearance in the game slaughtered an entire ship full of clone troopers, which Delta Squad think of as brothers. On Kashyyyk, they are in fact there for the sole purpose of obtaining slaves.

* WheresTheKaboom: Happens during a mission to destroy a bridge on Kashyyyk. Bad enough to get Boss riled up. Apparently he forgot [[GameplayAndStorySegregation they have a limitless supply of explosives]].
** [[WildMassGuessing But only one single charge powerful enough to blow up the bridge.]]
-->""Boss:"" Misfire? MISFIRE! WHO PACKED THAT CHARGE?!
*** In reality, misfires are incredibly dangerous, as they may explode while trying to recover the unexploded object. This justifies not going anywhere near it, and blowing the bridge from long range.

* AbnormalAmmo: According to the StrategyGuide, the beam weapon used by Geonosian Elites is powered by the internal fluids of its Geonosian user. This means that you can't simply reload an old beam weapon with the ammo of the new one and have to discard the old one once it's spent.

** General Grievous's bodyguards. They're crazy fast and have an ''insane'' amount of health, being able to withstand multiple anti-armor grenades (a single anti-armor grenade will destroy a Super Battle Droid, which itself is capable of withstanding about 150 blaster bolts).

* CloneDegeneration: Although there are no actual examples, Scorch occasionally alludes to this sort of thing if the [[WhatTheHellPlayer player does something stupid]] to get his hit points knocked down to zero.

* CoconutEffect: Invoked in-universe by the Trandoshans, who use energy weapons designed to look, feel, and operate just like classic [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter shotguns]].

** Save for a few clone troopers, it appears that all Republic personnel aboard the "Prosecutor" was killed.

* HeyItsThatVoice: Boss is voiced by Temuera Morrison, who is obviously the voice of the clones in the movies, and Scorch is voiced by Raphael Sbarge, who will be recognised from his role as Carth Onasi in KnightsOfTheOldRepublic

** Also during the ''Prosecutor'' mission, as the Squad is forced to use automated gunnery against a Trade Federation Battlecruiser. Fortunately, another Republic ship is on hand to provide precision fire once the Prosecutor's brute-force volley fire has hammered the Battlecruiser's shields into submission.

* PistolWhipping: The Trandosian weapons deal pretty good damage when Boss whacks said Trandosians over the head with them. The ''actual'' pistol, on the other hand, is a lot weaker as a melee weapon.

'''Scorch:''' Okay, now ''07's giving me the creeps.''

* RedOniBlueOni: Scorch is red to Sev's blue.

** Quite literally, and possibly lampshaded during the opening sequences with practicing clone-troopers that shoot terribly, and your allies are not spectacular either...
*** Until placed in sniper positions. This seems to make them much more efficient.

** Quite literally, and possibly lampshaded during the opening sequences with practicing clone-troopers that shoot terribly, and your allies are not spectacular either.
** Averted with your squad, who seem most efficient when placed in sniper positions.

* GunsAreUseless: The basic assault rifle feels like this, what with its horrid accuracy[[hottip:*:statistically its accuracy is actually good, but it has absolutely terrible heuristics that makes it feel like you're wasting bullets by the dozen]], pathetic damage, and -- given the previous -- small ammo capacity. Even with all the crates of it lying around. The sniper rifle and grenade launcher attachments rectify the damage and accuracy issues at the expense of barely having any ammo at all. Further following the trope, the melee attack - usually a gauntlet-mounted vibroblade - one- or two-hit kills most mooks. You can also attack with it in rapid succession, to the point where stabbing a super battle droid until his face plate falls off actually becomes a valid tactic.

* EmergencyWeapon: The pistol. It has just about everything you hate about the DC-17 "assault rifle" (see GunsAreUseless below), and replaces the AwesomeYetPractical melee attack with a slower, weaker {{PistolWhip|ping}}.

* GunsAreUseless: The basic assault rifle feels like this, what with its horrid accuracy[[hottip:*:statistically its accuracy is actually good, but it has absolutely terrible heuristics that makes it feel like you're wasting bullets by the dozen]], pathetic damage, and, given the previous, small ammo capacity, even with all the crates of it lying around. The sniper rifle and grenade launcher attachments rectify the damage and accuracy issues at the expense of barely having any ammo at all. Further following the trope, the melee attack - usually a gauntlet-mounted vibroblade - one- or two-hit kills most mooks. You can also attack with it in rapid succession, to the point where stabbing a super battle droid until his face plate falls off actually becomes a valid tactic.

* GunsAreUseless: The basic assault rifle feels like this, what with its horrid accuracy, pathetic damage, and, given the previous, small ammo capacity. The sniper rifle and grenade launcher attachments rectify the damage and accuracy issues at the expense of barely having any ammo at all. Further following the trope, the melee attack - usually a gauntlet-mounted vibroblade - one- or two-hit kills most mooks. You can also attack with it in rapid succession, to the point where stabbing a super battle droid until his face plate falls off actually becomes a valid tactic.

* KonamiCode: Invoked: If Sev is assigned to slice a terminal, he might be heard muttering "up, down, left" slowly to himself during the process, which corresponds to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th buttons in the KonamiCode.

* SwissArmyGun: Your DC-17m is designed to function as a "normal" blaster rifle, a SniperRifle and a grenade launcher -- provided that you've collected the proper attachments for the latter pair of functions.

* TheUnintelligible: Any Wookiee. Fortunately, however, [[IntelligibleUnintelligible 01/425]] is around to make sure that the player does not miss any essential information they may be giving him.

*** Even worse by the end of the mission its pretty clear even the clones you encounter alive are dead before you beat back the droids.

* To be fair, these particular Trandoshans are slavers who had by their first appearance in the game slaughtered an entire ship full of clone troopers, which Delta Squad think of as brothers. On Kashyyyk, they are in fact there for the sole purpose of obtaining slaves.

-->Misfire? MISFIRE! WHO PACKED THAT CHARGE?!

One of the most well-received games to come out of the ''StarWars'' prequel trilogy, ''Republic Commando'' puts you in the shoes of RC-1138 "Boss", leader of Delta Squad ([[GearsOfWar No, not that one]]), one of the most {{Badass}} units in the [[RedshirtArmy Clone Army]] ever created.

Karen Traviss wrote a book series by the same name, in which Delta Squad played a supporting role, save for the first one, in which they just had a one-scene cameo. The books are ''Hard Contact'', ''Triple Zero'', ''True Colors'' and ''Order Sixty-Six'', as well as ''501st'', the first (and possibly only because Traviss has ceased to write ''Star Wars'' books) of the "Imperial Commando" series. This series is dealt with in [[RepublicCommandoSeries a separate article]].

* ShoutOut: Scorch does this a lot. While they're mostly ''StarWars'' related, there are a couple for things ranging from ''Creator/MontyPython'' to ''XMen''.

* StanleySteamerSpaceship: The "Prosecutor".

* BlackMesaCommute: Your arrival on Geonosis, as well as Kashyyyk.

* LogoJoke: The Lucasarts logo is rendered in monochrome and distorted with static, as radio transmissions can be heard in the background.

* SendInTheSearchTeam: The second campaign begins with Delta Squad boarding a [[GhostShip seemingly abandoned derelict assault ship]] in order to discover what happened to it and salvage data from its computers. Initially they lose contact with [[MissionControl their advisor]] and [[ItGotWorse then from one another]].

** Boss is also a prime example. At one point, he will ''single-handedly''[[hottip:*:Well, there's one other commando with him at that point, but the layout of the arena makes him pretty much useless.]] take down a Dwarf Spider Droid. Without a scripted win scenario. You don't conveniently get to drop anything on it, or slip in behind and damage key components. You do get a ''[[{{BFG}} Wookiee Rocket Launcher]]'' though, to even the odds.