Republic commando

This is a rough first draft. If I decide that I care, I might edit, or rewrite
this.

Republic commando

-Videogame review

I just finished Republic Commando on the PC. I played the demo and fell in love with the game play, so I had to pick this one up. Obviously I took my own sweet time doing so, and it actually took Steven dropping it in my lap, but I finally got it. For those of you unfamiliar with title, or more likely, don't give a
crap about video games in general, Republic Commando is an 8-10 hour long, mixed-difficulty, squad based 1st person shooter title that revolves around a squad of elite clone troopers in days between Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3.
You are the squad leader and can command your team. There are only 4 commands that you can give your squad from the keyboard, and some others that are contextual. You can point at a turret and tell the next clone up in the order to man it. This contextual command system really pissed me off at times. For example, I would want the trooper that I just opened up on with a grenade launcher to go get some help, but to do so, I would have to run to wherever I can see the Bacta
dispenser and point at it, to make it happen. I am sure that the need for this
limited command system is due directly to the limitations of the console gamepads.
PC gamers are really spoiled by the mouse and keyboard gaming setup. You have a control interface with 108 or more different buttons and a mouse to look around. As nice as some of the 3d control methods are on the consoles, it is very difficult to match keyboard and mouse gaming on gamepad. Still somehow manufacturers and game publishers keep forgetting this. Has any console system since the Dreamcast enabled us to use a keyboard and mouse for our FPS? I guess the Xbox has, but I haven't seen many games that list support for this type of gameplay.
If I am wrong about this, please let me know, I hope it is really there and I am just not observant enough.
Since I got this as a hand me down, I didn't have to pay anything for it. If I
had bought this as a new title, sometime near it's launch, I would would be pissed off that I paid fifty-some bucks for an approximately 8 hour long game (including retries for some of the very difficult levels). The difficulty of this game really seems to vary. It might just be that I am more of a run and gun type player when it comes to FPS games, but some of these levels are pretty tough. There are some well designed bottlenecks, where you have to work smart and fast to clear a room of droids and then blow up the droid dispensers, a multi-level attack that is impossible to accomplish alone, you have to use your squad, but not
let giving them orders keep you from helping out in the fight.
As you play through, and complete “levels,” you will be awarded “bonus content.” As nice as the it sounds to earn bonus content, it is just the special edition stuff that I love to see on a Special Edition DVD, but in a video game? Not so much...
This game looks good, plays fast, and sounds like a Star Wars game. Star Wars as a genre has some excellent titles, like the X-wing and KOTOR series and the classic stand up arcade game. On the other hand, it also has to claim some real stinkers, like any of the direct movie tie-in games for episodes 1-3. Luckily for us who love Star Wars games, this is a good one. I would recommend it to anyone who likes squad based FPS games, most general FPS gamers and anyone who loves Star Wars and Gaming like others love the moon and stars.

I give this game a 7/10. I give this Star Wars game 9/10
PROS:
Star Wars done well
fast paced action.
Squad commands done to about 90% of perfect. (I would just like to be able to tell my team to do something without having to point at it.)

CONS:
Short gameplay with limited replay potential.
Rule 66 in Episode 3

I am sure that sometimes I can be pretty anoying with constantly acting like I know everything. It has to piss off my roommate, Steven, that I point out "how things work." I am sure that he is close to the point that my telling him "I told you so" will lead to my death.

This is the way that I remember the whole "cat story."

Steven wanted to get a cat. Cassidy, my dog, was already living with us, and Steven just wanted a cat. He is, afterall, a cat person. So, he started pitching the idea to me. I told him that it would be fine, but he had to make sure that he took care of the cat and all of it's needs. I even went so far as to play the asshole card and say "if I ever come home and can smell the cat's litter box from my room, I will empty it in your bed." I also said that the before he brought home the cat, that Cassidy and the cat would have to meet, oh and that he would have to have it fixed before it went into heat and went insane.
Well, Cassidy didn't meet the cat until the day that she moved in. I wanted Cassidy and Durka to meet so that we could make sure that they would get along, they didn't. It didn't take too long before they got used to each other, and now they do cute things like nap together and clean each other. I think that this all changed when Cassidy go Pregnant and had pups. See, I don't know everything, and sometimes I don't even listen to my own advice. With the pups in the house, the two females bonded and became fast friends. Well, when I finally called to make an appointment for Cassidy to get fixed, I was told that they couldn't even make an appointment for 2 months. So, they put my name on a list and called me in early April to make an appointment. When I was fighting to make the appointment, I told Steven that he should go ahead and make an appointment for Durka as well, so that she wouldn't go insane in heat.
Well, my appointment is for tomorrow, and Durka is in heat, and insane. This damn cat has been a pain in my ass since she moved in. Her temporary cuteness just masks her evil. I might post in the future about everything that she has done to piss me off, but right now, I will leave it at her howling. I got almost NO sleep last night, as I was kept awake by it. MRROOWWW MMMRRRAHHHHOOWW . . .
So, the cat is in heat, it is keeping me from sleeping and, the worst part is that it is exactly how I told Steven it would be. So, now he said that he is going to make an appointment fo her to get fixed, a term that seems oddly appropriate when it comes to that damn cat. He said that as he got home from the 24hr diner where he was writing all night. He said it as the sun was coming up. Now, he will be going to sleep, and the cat will be quiet until dusk. It just isn't fair. But then, I knew this would happen, and I am a pretty anoying whiner.

Ciao

Scott