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Born for Wii: Star Wars Republic Commando (page 3)

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 set the bar for shooter controls on the Wii, and Wiimote pointing is ideal for Republic Commando's command system. By taking cues from its predecessors and retaining the feel of the original game, Republic Commando can make the transition and come out the other side as sharp as it was before. On the Xbox controller, the left and right thumbsticks are used to move and look, A is the activate button, B melees, X reloads, and Y jumps. The right trigger fires and the left trigger throws grenades, while the white and black buttons cycle through grenade and visor types. The D-pad is used to switch weapons, but holding down the A button switches each direction into a particular squad command.



Republic Commando was also available for the PC, but a Wii version could potentially offer the best of both worlds: a simplified console interface with a form factor dedicated to gaming without sacrificing the accuracy of aiming on a thumbstick. The D-pad is still available for quick squad commands, and more visceral actions such as melee attacks can be handled by motion control instead of a button. And while a solid, intuitive default control setup is mandatory, the ability to customize is always a blessing, and is especially beneficial for shooters -- gamers are fickle when it comes to commands such as reloading.

Though Republic Commando takes place on several planets in the Star Wars galaxy, most critiques of the game centered on its length. It is pretty short, and the ending only leaves you wanting more. Sure, it's only been three years, but there's no indication Republic Commando is going to get a follow-up, which is a crying shame. There's plenty of material to work with, after all -- author Karen Traviss has written four novels in the Republic Commando series, the latest of which is barely a month old.



Clearly Lucasarts sees potential in the characters and setting of this little piece of the Star Wars timeline. Enough potential to warrant a sequel or an expanded version of Republic Commando, fleshing out the adventures of Delta Squad in their battle against the Separatists? The Wii may seem destined to be the perfect venue for epic lightsaber battles, but The Force Unleashed didn't exactly blow us away and let's not even talk about Lightsaber Duels -- maybe the ivory-clad Republic legions deserve another shot at the spotlight.