Republic: The Revolution Review - A Roleplaying Strategy Game for the PC

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The review

Republic: The Revolution takes places after the fall of the Soviet Union, in a fictional break away country known as Novistrana.

The opening cut scene paints the scene of the character being out for revenge after his parents were arrested by a Soviet Secret Police Officer. However, he, the character, doesn’t follow the cliché route of picking up a weapon and seeking revenge. However, he follows a somewhat political route into toppling the Officer come President.

‘Somewhat Political’ is the best way to phrase how things happen in this game. From the character ideology creation screen, the player’s choices and selections crafts how the political party forms, behaves and also how the public sees the political party. For example, conducting beatings or killings of rival party members draws the player’s party deeper into the more violent options of making a change. Whereas a party that holds speeches and demonstrations will have a whole different range of options open to them.

Unfortunately, this game at times feels like it is a political version of paper, rocks, scissors, but more of force, influence and wealth. While it does make things easy, it can become a bit of a hassle trying to balance the income level when trying to specialise in one area. However, for a party that tries to stay neutral to these three areas, then it works rather well.

However, it is possible to end up being bullied by the other political parties. For example, if you play a thuggish party and vandalise cars and signs that belong to a faction, then they will issue a warning. If it is done again, then they will send a threat, stating that they will destroy the player’s faction. This doesn’t simply apply to thuggish groups, but also any other choice. A rival faction will send a warning if you create slander with false information.

However, the government of Novistrana shows up early and shows its brutality early, too. If the player’s character isn’t careful, then he can attract the government’s interest and end up being killed or arrested by the Secret Police.

While the game may have been made in 2004, it still offers somewhat respectable graphics. The characters all look different to each other, and so do majority of the buildings. There is also a considerable amount coded into the actions, that will see more thuggish henchmen bashing on a car or spraying graffiti onto a wall, and influential ones actually standing up on a soapbox and delivering a speech to the Novistrana masses. Unfortunately, the 3 dimensional environment can’t be interacted with, outside of issuing commands. This could cause some grief for some players who like being able to micromanage.

Republic also has some RPG aspects, where activities performed in-game are rewarded with experience points. When enough experience is acquired, then the characters in the player’s political party can be leveled up.

Republic is a very long game, and it can take a considerable amount of time to pass the first level. This is certainly a game that time needs to be invested into, just to see the next level or the next level up for the characters. With each level, there are points to be added into the five different areas, and also a selection of skills to be either upgraded or brought.