The Non-Canon Sequel to Star Wars: Republic Commando Was a Game for Nokia phones.
A review of Star Wars: Republic Commando - Order 66. Bet you didn’t know this existed (I sure didn’t).
A review of Star Wars: Republic Commando - Order 66. Bet you didn’t know this existed (I sure didn’t).
I recently played Star Wars: Republic Commando for the first time, and in researching more about that, I dug up this little artifact of a game. What a fun piece of history. If you’re interested, here’s your emulator, and here’s your JAR file. It’s not hard to beat if you have a little over an hour, and are persistent.
The thing I appreciate the most is the crumbs of story. It stokes the fires of imagination. What would Delta Squad do, if given Order 66? Granted, the answers the game provides weren’t even canon when it came out (according to Wookiepedia), but it is definitely a fun thought exercise. I wish we had a proper sequel that went into this narrative, I mean, can you IMAGINE? That would have been cool.
This old-time phone game is fairly simple. You make up a team of units that fire different spreads of bullets through various weapons, and these units can be organized into different formations. Your goal is to shoot your way to the “top” of the level, where a Jedi centered boss battle awaits you. After each boss, you unlock new trooper types to mix and match for the other missions.
Each stage is a small tactical puzzle presented as a shoot ’em up. There are definitely more effective troopers and formations depending on enemy placement and environments. You also need to manage when to use screen wiping special attacks effectively, and be sure to gather health when your squad starts getting low. Your skill at the game is important, but being smart in your strategic decisions makes a huge impact, despite how simply the game presents itself.
The Jedi boss fights are a bit different from the stages previous, you have to pay attention to their attack patterns in order to strike while they’re vulnerable. It can seem difficult, but once you really start to pay attention, it’s easy to spot the telegraphs. They’ll test your skills in this with each new boss you face, and by the end, they’ll be pushing your limits. The last fight in particular is very tricky, but I got it after changing my approach a few times, and keeping with it.
Order 66 is a bit bland around every corner, due to limitations of the phone, but it shows most in the sound design. You got blaster fire, and a little MIDI of “Imperial March”. That’s it. The sprite work, though, is great. It plays pretty okay too. Of course, I’m not going to be itching to open this up instead of Twitter on my lunch break, but if I had this back in 2005, I totally could see myself choosing to play this rather than be bored out of my mind… should I have ever found myself in a situation without my PSP or Nintendo DS, paha. Ahhh man, maybe I’m being too generous…
You can really beat it in an hour without knowing a thing. It was designed with a Leaderboard in mind (the faster you go, and the more units you destroy, the higher your score), so they likely expected players to go through multiple times, optimizing their strategies and such. I’m not sure if it was a limitation of the emulator I used or not, but I couldn’t save my progress in the middle of playing. I’m assuming the phones had it the same way, and would just log your score to the leaderboard on exit, due to one limitation or another.
Ultimately, I honestly enjoyed the time I spent in Star Wars: Republic Commando — Order 66. It was novel, and mostly, a fun historical trip. Might even boot it up again one day randomly for kicks. Have certainly played worse games. But it’s definitely a product of its time, whose age puts it in a place where I don’t see a lot of people enjoying playing it. But maybe you’re in for a little historical trip down phone game lane. Maybe you love Republic Commando or Star Wars in general. If you’re the slightest bit curious, I’ve left you the links you need, and I tell you, “eh, why not?”