République Remastered Review (PS4)
Originally released on the iOS, the République finally concluded with its fifth episode this month. Now it’s made its way to the PlayStation 4 in the form of a Remastered edition which holds up well on its new platform.
The game takes place in a depressive fascist state where every aspect of a citizens life is under strict control. The story is centered around 390-H, a young girl who calls herself Hope. You contact her through her phone and help her escape by manipulating the systems all while monitoring the situation through the security tapes.
Upon first hearing about République, I couldn’t help but be reminded of other similar innovative games in the past where the player plays as him/herself all while looking through security cameras and ordering the characters around indirectly. Despite its set-up, it plays neither like spy simulator Industrial Spy: Operation Espionage for the Sega Dreamcast, nor Lifeline, the infamous PlayStation 2 game which has you giving orders to a girl via USB microphone. République does its own thing, for better or worse.
The best way to describe République would be Ghost Trick with cameras and security systems. You can take control of any camera as long as you don’t wander too far off from Hope. Using security cameras lets you scout up ahead in order to prepare Hope for any danger that might be lurking just behind the corner. You assist Hope by opening and closing security doors, to let Hope pass and block any enemy that might have noticed you.
Hope is mainly helpless, with her only two options being running and hiding. Hope can hop in lockers, hide behind statues or even duck near flower pots. From time to time you will stumble across a P-Zero pepper spray which will temporarily stun your opponents giving you just enough time to escape, or even a Taser C2 which can knock out your opponents. Both of these are few and far between so you will have to make use of your other gadgets to get by. Be warned, as you progress, the game will spruce things up with enemies that are immune to tasers and that randomly change their patrol route.
Instead of just sneaking past enemies, République rewards players who play it risky. Hope can pickpocket pretty much every enemy in the game, rewarding you with various items including floppy disks of other indie games which serve as a shout out to fellow indie developers.
Any items or logs you found along the way can be sold at data broker terminals. This in turn allows you to purchase additional skills such as the ability to scan emails, eavesdrop on voice mail, distract guards and even predict their routes.
At times the game almost feels like the old Resident Evil titles. Aside from the fixed camera angles, expect a handful of lightweight puzzles in each chapter. The map opens up as the story progresses and as you acquired higher security clearance to access new areas. This promotes exploration and encourages collectibles hunting.
Unlike the aforementioned titles here you actually get to control Hope directly, which has to be the worst part of République Remastered on the PlayStation 4. It took me hours just to get used to the confusing control scheme but even then there were times when the controls just got in the way. You use the right stick to pan the camera around zooming with the D-pad. You can move Hope directly via the left stick. Having direct control over Hope can feel clunky more often than not. While getting around isn’t too challenging the frustration almost always kicks in when the action starts. Getting stuck on objects in the scene and wasting multiple important items instead of pickpocketing from an enemy are common occurrences. At times I wish the game had a co-op mode where one player controlled Hope while the other jumped from camera to camera.
This isn’t a challenging game by any means. You are never left in a helpless situation. And even when you are ultimately caught by a guard, Hope is just locked up in a nearby confinement room from which you can effortlessly get her out of. Despite this, République does what few games manage to do. It keeps the stealth segments tense and nerve-racking. Every time you are caught that guard takes away all of your possessions and you can go and steal them back risking to be caught again.
République was originally a game for iOS and Android, but you would have a hard time guessing it since it just holds up so well. Whereas the game was initially made using the Unity 4 engine, the PlayStation 4 version now makes use of Unity 5 meaning you can expect better lighting, textures and models. And despite the majority of the game being set in cold and sterile corridors, the game manages to be a looker.
If there is one complaint, it has to be the bafflingly ridiculous long loading times. While changing cameras generally takes just a moment or two, when you exit a room you are greeted with frozen screen that lasts upward of 10 seconds until the next scene loads. This is particularly annoying when you just want to quickly get from one point to another.
The game has three DLC costumes available, and players will be able to grab them for free until the 4th of April. One of these costumes is directly inspired by Kat’s attire from Gravity Rush. Each of these give Hope different abilities, but you can only change outfits during the first chapter of the game. There is even a school girl outfit which enables the game’s hard mode. With this costume things play out like a survival horror, since you will have a limited amount of inventory and will be able to save only by using up rare tapes you find in the game.
République Remastered is a interesting title that manages to feel fresh in this day and age. The story may be hit or miss and the controls can get frustrating at times, but the stealth gameplay is solid. The game ultimately ends up being an enjoyable experience. All of its five chapters are available at an affordable price so those searching for something different might want to take a look at this game.
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