Stop Cloning Around!

Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox; $49.99; Rated T; lucasarts.com)

(two and a half stars)

On May 19th, when “Star Wars, Episode III” debuts, the Sith will have their Revenge, and all hope will be lost. And if Episodes I & II are any indication of what the latest prequel will be like, fans don't really have much hope left to cling to anyway.

Until that time when fans get to see the birth of Darth Vader, and the end of Hayden Christensen's career, they can whet their whistle with this completely mediocre sci-fi shooter.

"Commando" puts players in the role of one of the Galactic Republic's special operatives during the Clone Wars. As the battle between the Republic and Separatist forces rages on, you and three of your identical brothers are sent to slip behind enemy lines and get deeper into the Bantha poo-doo than any normal clone trooper could.

Which is where the first flaw of the game lies: if they're all clones, shouldn't they be exactly the same in skills and abilities?

According to the game, one clone out of every few thousand comes out mutated and more skilled than the other troopers. The "super trooper" is sealed off from the regular clones and trained as a specialist for a Special Forces squad.

The concept of "Commando" seems to be a sure-fire hit: take one part squad-based gameplay ala "Rainbow Six," simplify it, add a dash of "Halo" first-person shooting, a pinch of "Metroid's" Heads-Up Display (HUD), set to bake in the "Star Wars" universe and... Voila!

Well I think someone took the soufflé out too early.

Although squad-commanding is as simple as point-and-click- it is a crutch of Wookie-like proportions. Never in the game do players have to think about what to do next, it's all projected out for with ghost-like images depicting where teammates will go. And, though the idea of having specialists on your team is a good one, your brothers all snipe, hack, or demolish with the same speed and ability as the "specialist" on the team. There's no need to actually get Fixer, the hacker, to splice open blast doors in a pinch, because anyone closer to the door can splice just as quickly. Which, of course, is inconsistent with the “super special non-clone” premise of the game.

When I play a "Star Wars" game, I expect three things: fantastic cinematics, amazing sound, and a "Star Wars" feel. In "Commando" I get none.

There are no cutscenes, only static mission briefings which mildly showcase the personalities of your brothers through their interactions with one another, but that's it- no amazing special-effect laden sequence. If the developers want to envelope the player in the sense of this galactic war, why not show it to us?

How could George Lucas, the creator of THX sound, pump this game with such a lackluster aural experience? Everything sounds like it is coming through tin cans. There seems to be no low-frequency bass response in any of the weapons (including cannons), the music is not memorable, and the repetitive voice-interactions between troopers become tired.

But most of all, this game just does not feel like a "Star Wars" movie. The color palette is brown, grey, and bland; everything seems flat and muddy on-screen, and nothing really pops with visual flair. Moreover, the entire concept of the game- which has such potential- is anchored to a part of the "Star Wars" story that has an abundance of easily forgettable characters waging war against even more forgettable enemies.

Normally, I'd give a game like this a solid middle-of-the-road score, but because it can draw so much from being a part of the "Star Wars" franchise, a game like this should have higher expectations from critics, and should exceed those expectations.