Republic: The Revolution

daedalus · 09-03-2003, 02:39 AM

Apparently, this political sim has recently been released.

Bill Harris did a brief take on the game in his Night Call on GoneGold today (09/02). There is also a fairly lengthy discussion in the forum about it.

The interesting thing I've found in reading about people's impression so far is that I see a lot of "I've put X hours into the game and I can't decide if I like it. But I keep going back to it." Is this a good or a bad thing?

Since a number of people on this forum seems to favour political-type stuff and were looking for games that relates to it, has anyone tinker with it? Any impression?

sterlingice · 09-03-2003, 03:23 AM

I'm kindof curious so I ran across these:

IGN Review
Gamespot Review

SI

Marc Vaughan · 09-03-2003, 05:13 AM

I scrounged a copy of Republic a couple of days ago actually (our producer at Eidos also worked on Republic) .... haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I will say that the specs are rather high (512Mb RAM - I thought CM4 had high requirements at 128Mb).

Critch · 09-03-2003, 08:21 AM

I've been playing it a bit.

It's interesting and different. That's the plus side, the downsides are that it's fairly linear and I'm not to sure it'll have much replayability. Also the manual and the "tutorial" stink.

Critch · 09-03-2003, 09:03 AM

Dola.

If people are looking for thinkie games, it might be worth buying the Europa 1400/War and Peace/Cultures 2 triple pack from Best Buy. It's only $20, so it's half the price of Republic, and it's worth that much for Europa 1400 alone.

Calis · 09-03-2003, 11:53 AM

Not impressed with the game really.

I was really enjoying it for the first few hours, and then it kinda hit me...the game just isn't well done.

Actions get very very repetive imo, and really I don't see it having any replayability value.

It does however have a great soundtrack, and it's pretty neat watching your guys perform their actions the first couple of times, then it just gets plain tiresome. Speaking of which, am I crazy or does speeding up the time do absolutely nothing? I click and I click to speed it up, it SAYS it's sped up, but it doesn't move any faster.

Overall I wouldn't say it's a bad game exactly, but then again I wouldn't recommend anyone buying it, at least not until the price drops.

I really think the case was they spent too much time working on making it look good(which it does), and didn't leave enough time to tweak the actual gameplay mechanics.

Critch · 09-03-2003, 12:25 PM

I agree with that, Calis.

It's a pretty straightforward game that looks deep for the first couple of hours, but you slowly realize there's not that much to it. It's a pale shadow of the game the developers originally promised before they realized they would never release that version. The nicest bit of the game is the 3d representation of the cities, but almost all of the game is run from the cluttered 2d planning map, so the 3d seems a bit wasted.

Likewise, I wouldn't say it's a bad game. I had fun with it, completed the first city, but since then I've not really felt the urge to go back and try the 2nd (much larger) city.

As for the speeding up button, it does work, just not very staightforwardly. You need to click the + button then move the pointer off the clock. If the pointer is anywhere near the clock, it the game goes back to the normal speed.

andy m · 09-03-2003, 01:55 PM

i am rather enjoying it so far, but my thoughts pretty much echo Critch's first post - it's not the sort of game you can come back to again and again, but then i would rather play a new game than replay one i had completed. i give it extra bonus marks for being original and fun, a breath of fresh air in the often stale pc gaming scene.

plus i get to smash the state.

daedalus · 09-03-2003, 07:16 PM

That's too bad. It sounds like such an intriguing concept. Like, something new and different.

sterlingice · 09-03-2003, 07:46 PM

Gamespot echoed the sentiment that they spent too much time making it look pretty.

SI

Critch · 09-04-2003, 10:13 AM

As a little update to the linearity (if that's a word) and replayability of Republic, I messed about a little in the second city last night and the plot branches slightly. There are three paths to power using Wealth, Influence or Power. I guess this means there's some reason to replay the game after finishing it once.

The path chosen affects the missions that have to be attempted to take control in the city. Wealth is all taking over businesses, Influence is charity events and Power is beating people up and organizing a soccer riot. So Power it is.

andy m · 09-04-2003, 06:19 PM

at the soccer riot do you get to send a bunch of guys onto the pitch to tear up the goalposts?

09-03-2003, 03:23 AM	#2
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	I'm kindof curious so I ran across these: IGN Review Gamespot Review SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

09-03-2003, 01:55 PM	#8
andy m High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: norwich, UK	i am rather enjoying it so far, but my thoughts pretty much echo Critch's first post - it's not the sort of game you can come back to again and again, but then i would rather play a new game than replay one i had completed. i give it extra bonus marks for being original and fun, a breath of fresh air in the often stale pc gaming scene. plus i get to smash the state. __________________ mostly harmless FOFL 2009 champs - Norwich Quagmire

09-03-2003, 07:46 PM	#10
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	Gamespot echoed the sentiment that they spent too much time making it look pretty. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

09-04-2003, 06:19 PM	#12
andy m High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: norwich, UK	at the soccer riot do you get to send a bunch of guys onto the pitch to tear up the goalposts? __________________ mostly harmless FOFL 2009 champs - Norwich Quagmire

09-03-2003, 05:13 AM	#3
Marc Vaughan SI Games Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Melbourne, FL	I scrounged a copy of Republic a couple of days ago actually (our producer at Eidos also worked on Republic) .... haven't had a chance to play it yet, but I will say that the specs are rather high (512Mb RAM - I thought CM4 had high requirements at 128Mb).

09-03-2003, 08:21 AM	#4
Critch lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Herndon, VA	I've been playing it a bit. It's interesting and different. That's the plus side, the downsides are that it's fairly linear and I'm not to sure it'll have much replayability. Also the manual and the "tutorial" stink.

09-03-2003, 09:03 AM	#5
Critch lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Herndon, VA	Dola. If people are looking for thinkie games, it might be worth buying the Europa 1400/War and Peace/Cultures 2 triple pack from Best Buy. It's only $20, so it's half the price of Republic, and it's worth that much for Europa 1400 alone.

09-03-2003, 11:53 AM	#6
Calis College Starter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Kansas	Not impressed with the game really. I was really enjoying it for the first few hours, and then it kinda hit me...the game just isn't well done. Actions get very very repetive imo, and really I don't see it having any replayability value. It does however have a great soundtrack, and it's pretty neat watching your guys perform their actions the first couple of times, then it just gets plain tiresome. Speaking of which, am I crazy or does speeding up the time do absolutely nothing? I click and I click to speed it up, it SAYS it's sped up, but it doesn't move any faster. Overall I wouldn't say it's a bad game exactly, but then again I wouldn't recommend anyone buying it, at least not until the price drops. I really think the case was they spent too much time working on making it look good(which it does), and didn't leave enough time to tweak the actual gameplay mechanics.

09-03-2003, 12:25 PM	#7
Critch lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Herndon, VA	I agree with that, Calis. It's a pretty straightforward game that looks deep for the first couple of hours, but you slowly realize there's not that much to it. It's a pale shadow of the game the developers originally promised before they realized they would never release that version. The nicest bit of the game is the 3d representation of the cities, but almost all of the game is run from the cluttered 2d planning map, so the 3d seems a bit wasted. Likewise, I wouldn't say it's a bad game. I had fun with it, completed the first city, but since then I've not really felt the urge to go back and try the 2nd (much larger) city. As for the speeding up button, it does work, just not very staightforwardly. You need to click the + button then move the pointer off the clock. If the pointer is anywhere near the clock, it the game goes back to the normal speed.

09-03-2003, 07:16 PM	#9
daedalus Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000	That's too bad. It sounds like such an intriguing concept. Like, something new and different.

09-04-2003, 10:13 AM	#11
Critch lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Herndon, VA	As a little update to the linearity (if that's a word) and replayability of Republic, I messed about a little in the second city last night and the plot branches slightly. There are three paths to power using Wealth, Influence or Power. I guess this means there's some reason to replay the game after finishing it once. The path chosen affects the missions that have to be attempted to take control in the city. Wealth is all taking over businesses, Influence is charity events and Power is beating people up and organizing a soccer riot. So Power it is.

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