Quick Look: Republique

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@cooljammer00:

If I had to guess, it sounded like he was probably answering a question from anmicless Drew about whether the TTS was voice acting or not.

@velamo05: So she should do what instead, go around beating up all these guards like she's a superhero and not a regular kid? Yeah that's so much more realistic. Damsel in distress? I don't see her waiting around for someone to save her, yeah she needs help, but that has nothing to do with her gender - plenty of protagonists have support. For her age and the situation in which she's placed, her character and actions are believable. You seem like you wouldn't have been satisfied by her being anything less than Batwoman or something. That isn't believable.

Yup. With that they made sure there's no chance I'll ever buy this. The advertisements and the "can't access this unless you buy the Season Pass!" stuff is particularly awful. Don't fucking tell me what I can't access when I just gave you money for a product.

I believe they said it was just audio commentary you can turn off. The game also works the exact same way as The Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us....so no you give them money for one episode and keep going or buy the season pass.

Wow, that's great. I emphasized the one letter in "awful" that isn't supposed to be there.

I'm smart.

@deathfromace:

When I just paid for the first episode, I don't want to see "can't access that" messages all over the place. Even with the possibilty to turn them off, that stuff is being displayed by default which they did to make sure people see it when they first start the game. And it's a sure way to turn me off the game. Instead, what they should've done is place a note on the main menu screen or whatever, somewhere not in the actual game where it annoys me.

I think (or I hope) that is because Brad looked at his ID in the introduction, which showed that as being his alias, and thus not being an unknown contact to the player.

No, the whole intro cutscene that shows him taking the phone from the room and getting it to the girl clearly establishes his identity. He also tells you his name in the first message. I think he's texting because talking aloud would be too conspicuous (hypothetically he's near to other soldiers); he's not trying to hide his identity from the player IMO.

Brad suggests that this was a surprise but I think that was a standard case of not paying enough attention the first time around.

Uhm, I don't think their point in any way is that specficially the United States of America is a surveillance state. I think you are projecting. There's nothing here that wouldn't apply to the UK (in fact it would be more relevant applied to the UK or Russia), pinning it as nothing more than a criticism of the current administration is not reasonable.

It is a criticism of why surveillance states are bad, it is not a criticism of any specific country. That's only in your head.

I wounder if it's too late to cancel my kickstarter?

This game seems pretty nifty for an IOS game.

@sweetz said:

You're right that it seems good by the godawful standards of mobile games, but it doesn't exist in a vacuum. This game seems specifically marketed at people who are familiar with console games, so its inadequacy is arguably even more of a problem. It may be a step in the right direction, but as someone who owns consoles and handhelds with abundant good games that don't require a qualifier to praise, why should I care?

@sweetz: I wasn't aware having the ability to defend yourself made you a super hero. I'm just saying people have basic fight-or-flight instincts and her inability to at least knee the guy in the groin (most girls' go-to) is what made her unbelievable for me. I know that what be a hilarious mechanic and would probably take-away from the seriousness of the game, but I can't fathom that if anyone was about to be attacked by guards that have held them captive in some weird totalitarian prison, they would simply stand there because they didn't have pepper spray. Again, I realize it's only the first episode, and it's supposed to be a stealth game, it's merely my opinion. I maintain my damsel in distress comment simply from the grounds that the hacker did totally have to save her and that's basically the main crutch of the game. If she didn't have the hacker to open her cell door none of this would be happening. Yeah, it would seem overly-idyllic if she managed to puzzle her way out of a locked rom and past obstacles she can't see, but my real complaint didn't lie in the fact they tried to make her believable. My complaint is that to them believable means she can't really do much of anything...There are a lot of other female protagonists I would find believable way before Hope, and Batwoman would not be on that list either.

This seemed really cool till I remembered I would have to play it on a touch screen. Pass.

I know this was Kickstarter, but this seems made on a budget.

Man. . . If you're going to record pseudo text to speak dialogue. Don't record inhale breaks. Looks pretty alright.

Those emots on the A.I. are straight from Waking Mars :)

This seems really cool! Almost like a combination of Ghost Trick and Metal Gear Solid.
It's also definitely giving me a distinct PS1-era survival horror vibe, which is definitely a good thing, but it also seems to be a little more original than that, and doesn't seem to be simply playing off of nostalgia.

Definitely something I'm looking forward to picking up.
I don't have any kind of iOS device, though... so I guess I'll just have to wait for the PC version.

That enemy AI...

Not really the kind of game I want to play on a tablet, but at least they didn't do an Eidos and put a Deus Ex "core" game on the things.

Echoing what others have said, Experience 112 was better. They made way better use of the whole concept. I think the desire to create a cover based stealth game is at odds with the player controlled security cameras in this. The fact you can click on points to move the character just makes no sense and breaks any sense of immersion in the idea that you are behind the security cameras and a distinct character from the girl. Disappointing, but well done to them for getting it this far and releasing something.

This game doesn't look bad, it just looks unpolished. The guards seem dopey and useless, the controls seem just finnicky enough to be a bother, the writing could use some touching-up, so on and so forth. It just needs another layer of polish.

^__^

Totally, this. The devs who made République carried their Kickstarter on the clout of bringing a "core gamer" experience to mobile, so "good for a shitty medium" doesn't even hold up to their own goal.

Giving it credit for not including shitty F2P hooks is really sad. I don't beat my girlfriend, but I shouldn't get a high five for it.

We have no need to encourage devs for taking "a step in the right direction" when they trip and fall. Things like Year Walk and The Room aren't just great in terms of Angry Birds or Candy Crush, they're great as games, period. Defending crappy mobile games like this one seems to be, doesn't further the medium, it just encourages more crappy mobile games.

"They think I'm poisoned because I read something." What is this: babies' first "1984?" Way to take brave strides in the story department.

edit: Ooookay. They just bleeped a voicemail. It's clear who this game is for, and it's not me.

Personally it looks very interesting, a step in the right direction, interesting concept reminiscent of Ghost Trick but set in context of surveillance and tech subterfuge. iOS has become a serious device for games and it is good to see that Giantbomb is getting into showcasing some of the good or not so good on the offer, and hope the trend continues.

Some of the dudes responsible for this game worked on MGS4 it seems, and that vibe carries over so i'll definately check this out... when it comes out on PC.

Yeah, I came here to say that. That's what I was thinking the entire time I watched this. I can't tell if that's great or a really bad sign.

RE 4 Merchant! Have there been other games that paid homage to that dude like in this game?

There's a schedule? I just check the page every few hours to see what's going on.

@schnarf: Yeah, Infinity Blade really needs more exposure.

Yep, that's what it was! My mic just didn't come through in the recording.

@budwyzer: On my frontpage of Giantbomb there is a little box that says "Coming Up on Giantbomb!" and it lists some of the upcoming video/livestreams. It should be right next to the latest stories section of the front page...

Oh, jeez. That A.I. Those in game ads for other games. That 4th wall breaking. That Kickstarter perk implementation. Those screwdrivers? Nothing about this seems good.

Yeah the stuttering is a design choice. It has a lot of intentional digital artifacting throughout but it's all due to style.

Faux-French FemShep. So hot.

I, too, kid.

This reminds me of Lifeline somehow.

I was interested in this. But seeing all the ads and kickstarter tie-ins just ruins the atmosphere for me. It ruins the believability of the world they tried to create.

"Is that a vinegar based republique or are you gonna go with the sweet sauce?"

Hahahaha.

I think I own this game. I remember one of the bombcrew recommending the kickstarter in some way. Or maybe that didn't happen and I just thought it did. Either way, I own it. I am sort of indifferent about playing it though, now that it's here.

OK so this is what Ryan Payton has been working on... will have to give it a shot

Well, this QL just saved me $5.