One Star Wars Game Desperately Needs to Be Revived (Just Like KOTOR Is)

A cult-classic Star Wars game deserves to be brought back in the same way as Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. The Star Wars franchise is responsible for some really iconic games. This isn’t a foregone conclusion for beloved properties, as sometimes it takes decades for a big IP to get a single good game out, let alone just one. However, Star Wars cracked the code early on with Lucasarts crafting not just great Star Wars games, but great games in general. They took on almost every genre under the sun, allowing the sci-fi franchise the opportunity to explore all kinds of stories.

Games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic serve as highlights for the franchise and it’s a big reason why they also seem to be making a comeback. Disney is working on remakes of both Knights of the Old Republic games, but is also developing a spiritual successor with Fate of the Old Republic. It’s not necessarily a sequel, but more of a return to the spirit of those games. It’s a huge win for fans of the franchise, but is also a sign that other games should get that same treatment.

Why Star Wars Republic Commando Deserves a Comeback

In my opinion, Star Wars Republic Commando is one of the most underrated Star Wars games of all time. It’s a first-person shooter that places you in the shoes of Delta Squad, an elite group of clones, between the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I’ve always appreciated this game because it does a great job of legitimizing The Clone War, allowing us to see just how horrifying it really is. It’s raw, brutal, and feels like an epic, grounded military shooter in the Star Wars universe. While there have been books and shows that tell stories like this, Republic Commando is one of the earliest examples of it.

The game got mixed or middling reviews upon its release, but I have always found it to be a tremendous game. Battle droids are incredibly menacing and feel like competent threats rather than something to slice through with a lightsaber and other lesser-used enemy times like Geonosians make for unique canon fodder for a Star Wars game. The game’s gritty tone also allowed it to really soak in the darker elements of this universe. Your visor would periodically wipe off any enemy blood/fluids, highlighting the real damage you’re doing in battle, and you even had a small knife that could stab enemies.

You’d think a dark and gritty Star Wars FPS game would have at least an entire trilogy, but it never got a sequel. There were concepts for a sequel, but it was cancelled early on, like many other Star Wars games. However, now seems like the perfect time to revisit this franchise, even if it means being a spiritual successor. It can feature new characters and even be set in a totally different era if necessary, but there’s absolutely more juice to be squeezed here.

This could follow a group of clones turned stormtroopers during or shortly after Order 66, allowing you to kill Jedi in boss battles while also cleaning up the Separatists’ droid army. There is still a lot of interest from Star Wars fans in exploring the prequel era and this would be the perfect lens to do it through. However, if Disney was interested in pushing forward, doing something with an elite squad of First Order troops could also be compelling. We got a glimpse into that army in the sequel trilogy and learned that children were kidnapped and turned into soldiers.

That’s a dark subject that is worth digging into through a new Republic Commando game. Disney also has the luxury of working with many of the best studios across the industry as they have been licensing the franchise out to anyone with a good idea. Bungie, 343 Industries, id Software, and Respawn are all good picks for such a game, especially since the latter has experience with the franchise. Tactical shooters are all the rage these days as well, so maybe Ready or Not studio VOID Interactive could take a compelling crack at a new Republic Commando game, especially if they built it with co-op in mind.

Will this ever happen? It’s hard to say, but Fate of the Old Republic gives me some hope that Disney is interested in circling back to dormant Star Wars subfranchises and putting a new spin on them. Given Battlefront seems to be dead again, there’s room for another kind of Star Wars shooter and Republic Commando seems like a great place to start.

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