République – Hacking into an Episodic, iOS Dystopia

Even if République wasn’t developed by Camouflaj , consisting of a team of industry veterans known for F.E.A. R, Halo 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4 – which you already know, having most definitely read my article on the release of Episode Two – it would be an interesting one to watch.

– it would be an interesting one to watch. It is a third-person stealth game, set in a near-future, dystopian world in which all controversial books that don’t fit into the Orwellian regime are banned, and those found reading them captured and contained, their memories erased.

While I originally set out to review only Metamorphosis, the second episode of République , both the first and the second episode share the same overarching narrative, strengths and weaknesses, with strengths being extremely more prominent. Don’t worry about any spoilers, though – there’s far too much to talk about to even get to any such business.

When we meet Hope, she is being retained in one of the Orwellian holding cells, calling out for help on a video message via her phone. However, before she can finish, Hope’s ‘mentor’, who also seems dangerously close to the game’s ‘villain’ at first, Mireille Prideaux, marches into the room and tells her lackeys to escort her to another area. After a brief walk, Cooper – a guard seemingly on Hope’s side – brings her phone from underneath her pillow to the room that she has been moved to. Before long, it’s time to get involved yourself.

Gamers join the world of République via its CCTV, and are able to do a number of things with its ‘one touch’ control scheme; think a more compact, mobile Watch_Dogs, and you’re starting to understand what the developers have created here.

To navigate through the environment, the player switches from one camera to the next, shown by a blue eye when in the game’s ‘hacking’ vision. Moving between the different cameras allows the player to see down the next corridor, or into the next room, to see whether it is safe for Hope to continue, or whether she will need to hide in a locker or behind a statue, etc.

When using this vision mode, there are also multitudes of actions that you can take to help Hope advance, such as unlocking doors, or scanning a number of symbols which give more insight in the world around you. It not only paints an increasingly oppressive picture of this dystopian future, but also gives access to ‘Development Diaries’, which show off the area you’re in during development, along with the developers chatting casually about their processes.

In addition to these already helpful actions, the hacking system, known as ‘OMNI’, can also be upgraded, bringing more abilities to the table. Using the currency that is earned when finding collectibles around the environment, new skills can be unlocked, such as predicting the path that a guard will take, or distracting them while you sneak past. Each new ability adds another layer to the game’s unique stealth mechanics, and enables you to create your own style of play.

Oh, and have I mentioned how great this game looks and sounds? Whether Hope is creeping through smaller rooms and corridors, or the grander halls and library expanse (of Episode Two), République brings a visual experience that tries to compete with that of its console brethren, and succeeds. As for sound, it’s hardly surprising that this game raises the bar, considering that its boasts an extremely impressive cast of voice actors, including Jennifer Hale (Commander Shepard in Mass Effect ) and David Hayter, (Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid ), amongst a number of other assorted – and talented – voice actors.

As refined a game as République is, though, it still has one or two minor issues. Well, one…

Tapping the screen to interact with the world works extremely well, for the most part – it’s smooth, intuitive and fits into the futuristic theme of the narrative, in which you would expect technology to be sleek and minimal, like the control scheme itself. However, I often found that my pudgy fingers weren’t able to tap the specific part of the screen needed to interact with the object in question. For example, I’d have to tap a few different areas around a camera before I actually switched to it. Or, in other instances, I ended up tapping an area for Hope to move twice, resulting in her switching from crouching to running and alerting nearby guards.

If I didn’t already, I have to emphasis just how minor these issues are. Not only do such moments barely take you out of the narrative and world that Camouflaj has created, but may honestly be nothing more than my own personal heavy-handed gaming style. I blame Angry Birds .

All in all, République brings another level of mobile gaming to iOS devices, information that needs to be known before I’m sent off to be erased for sharing contraband with you all. While the game looks and sounds amazing, this could almost be expected from an indie-studio with the inclusion and backing of a team with years of experience in AAA development. What sets République apart is that the already promising plot – only two episodes in – is set in a believably bleak dystopian world, brought together piece by piece as you try to free Hope from her captivity.

If you’re feeling ready to put Hope’s life in your hands, République is available on all iOS devices from the App Store, with three more episodes still to come. Stick around; things are just getting interesting.