One of the perks of reviewing is that you get the chance to review games you wouldn’t normally get to play for whatever reason. It might be that it’s a popular game from a certain format that you don’t normally game on, such as PC or mobile, that finds its way to a format you already use, such as the PS4. The positive is that, as both a reviewer and video game enthusiast, you get to broaden your horizons and try something you might not if there weren’t a game to review. The negative is that you might run afoul of fans who played the game on the other formats who might be more forgiving of any particular faults the game has on the new format. Being that you don’t have the previous connection with the series that these people do, you will be less inclined to show that same leniency and it might lead to you ending up in some hot water.
I open with that explanation as a way to assuage some of the hate that might come my way when I type up the next statement. I didn’t particularly enjoy République Remastered.
I don’t think it’s an overly bad game by any means, but it just didn’t grab me and there’s one particular reason why. That reason is also what gives the game its uniqueness and vast potential, but the potential just isn’t realised for me.
République Remastered follows the story of a young woman named Hope, who is being held captive by a sinister totalitarian state called Metamorphosis, headed by the mysterious “Overseer”. You play the role of a hacker, who has managed to break into the state’s omnipresent and Orwellian styled surveillance system. You have the ability to access any camera you wish within the facility, which allows you to scout ahead for Hope and make sure she avoids the untended intentions of the many patrolling guards. You can also assist Hope by locking guards in rooms and setting off specific traps which cause a momentary distraction for Hope to sneak away unnoticed.
Stealth is very much the order of the day here, and I mean proper stealth. Hope is no Solid Snake though. Outside of a limited amount of pepper spray, Hope can do little against the guards other than run away and hide. If you get spotted here, you can’t just run up and snap the offending guard’s neck. Oh no, you have to use your noodle and ideally avoid getting spotted in the first place. This adds a layer of tension to the gameplay that builds ever so slightly the further you advance onward. There are numerous lockers and alcoves that Hope can hide in to avoid detection, and she can also crouch behind walls while you can have a goosey gander at the guards on CCTV to see what their patrol pattern is.
As you advance through the game, you can locate specific information that you can then sell on the black market to unlock new abilities. These abilities include a way to predict a guard’s patrol route as well as the ability to listen in on voicemails and read encrypted emails. To use one of these abilities burns out your batteries though, which means Hope will occasionally have to charge back up at designated charging areas.
You use the left analogue stick to control Hope while using the right analogue stick to control the camera currently under your command. Using the d-pad you can zoom in and out to get a better look at a certain area. By pressing R1, the game will freeze allowing you to get a look at what you can interact with in the room, as well as giving you a chance to switch between the other cameras on offer. It’s a system that in theory should make for an interesting and fun game, but sadly it falls down in one critical area.
When you enter a room as Hope, the camera will sometimes automatically switch without your say so. This, I can only guess, is done to load the new area while also moving your viewpoint to the one the game assumes that you’d most want. However, this can happen at very inopportune moments and causes no end of frustration.
On more than one occasion, I’d left Hope safely behind a wall while I scouted the room ahead until I was happy to proceed with tackling it. Even if Hope is behind a wall, you can see her outline in the form of a purple shadow, thus you can still navigate her where you want to with relative ease. So I was all set up, I waited patiently for the guard to move where I needed him to and, once he started his route, I sent Hope in to tackle the room. It was at this point that the camera decided on its own to switch to another camera nearest the door. In a flash, all of the hard work I’d put into scouting the room was completely for naught.
As a result, Hope was left there standing in the open sticking out like a sore thumb. What made the situation even more embarrassing was that, due to the camera changing, the left stick movement I began was now the wrong direction. This meant that as I continued moving the stick in the direction I originally intended, Hope did an immediate about turn and started to walk out of the room again! By this point, the guard had already seen me and was advancing with nothing but horrendous intentions.
This happened with such vulgar regularity that it drove me to the point of near madness and turned what should have been an exciting and innovative experience into a downright frustrating one. It’s a massive shame as well, as developers Camouflaj have the germ of a very interesting idea here, but they sadly just don’t stick the landing when it comes to the gameplay.
The game is very good in other areas at least, which only makes it all the more frustrating that the core focus is lacking. The voice acting is very good and the story is well layered and continuously leaves you thirsting for more. It’s no surprise to me that Camouflaj won an award for “Excellence in Storytelling” from the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA), as this game has a coruscating narrative that really draws the player in.
But alas, I’m afraid I’m unable to really look over the issue with the camera. If this were a game in a different genre, I might be more willing to overlook it. But a stealth game is a type of genre that requires precision, so narrow are the lines between success and failure. In a world where Metal Gear Solid has given the player full control of the camera, to have control ripped from you in critical moments as République Remastered does is no longer something I can just waive away, especially when Hope herself is so underpowered in comparison to her tormentors.
Again, I want to stress that I don’t think this game is bad. It’s certainly flawed, but it does a lot of things right. If you can put up with the camera issue and love yourself some stealth, then this could still be a game that would be worth your time and money. If you’re an existing fan of the series, first off I’d like to apologise, and secondly if you’re a PS4 owner and would like to own all 5 episodes in one convenient place while trying one of your favourites in a new way, you might want to give this a look. For non-stealth fans, this isn’t going to convert you, so you’d be best suited to stay clear.