Not many games touch on the totalitarianism setting. It’s a setting that requires smart writers and a solid atmosphere. Luckily République manages to do the setting right with an engaging mystery and interesting characters.

You have something I want.

The game starts off with a girl named Hope addressing the player directly who is hacking into the cameras of a totalitarianism haven only known as République. When the game starts off Hope is in a cell being interrogated by a woman about some contraband. After the woman leaves, she is aided by the player and a man who is also trapped in the installation by the name of Cooper. Immediately it isn’t really known what is going on or where you are. République likes to keep its cards close to the chest only revealing things a tiny bit at the time. Most of the history and characters are fleshed out through its audio-logs. The solid voice acting from several industry veterans really makes the story more enjoyable. It’s top-notch voice acting with a well-written dialogue. République has a great story but manages to hastily tie all ends together sloppily

All the cut scenes are done trough camera’s and Hope’s phone.

All he does is spread lies.

In République the player takes control of both Hope and the camera systems all across the installation. Players will control Hope through the facility while keeping an eye out with the cameras. The player can only see from the cameras but can control them to a certain degree. The fixed camera angle idea is a neat one. Not only does it work well from a narrative perspective but it gives players a challenge to pick the right cameras at the right time. The AI seems fairly dumb. If a guard notices Hope they will go to where they’ve last seen her. If Hope is not there and not in plain sight of the guard however, the guards will almost immediately stop looking for her. If Hope does manage to get captured she can use a self-defense item to evade capture. The game is almost littered with these self-defense items so being captured is actually pretty hard. Once Hope effectively gets captured she will be escorted to a cell from which she has to escape and continue her journey from that point. There are upgrades that can be bought that will help you get through levels easier. These upgrades can be bought through points the player accumulates when they collect information and collectibles. In République you can collect banned books, Video games and audio tapes. Just like games like Resident Evil and Bioshock République likes to tell most of its story through files and audio logs. Things do get kind of weird when listening to the banned books and the video game floppy discs. All the books and floppies collected are actual real books and games, and hearing the character talk about the books or games as if they are reviewing them is incredibly weird. It feels like a developer or Neogaf user decided to do a quick review of these games and books and put it in the game. République plays fairly unique but is not as engaging as it could be due to the slow patrols and dumb A.I. but then again the game’s strongest points are in its writing and the audio logs.

While interesting, the gameplay lacks a certain something to make it truly shine.

Looks nice all things considering.

Visually République looks nice. The locations you visit all have a very different look to them. The areas in episode one, for instance, look sterile and sharp while the areas in episode three look like an industrial plant. The game makes sure you won’t see the same thing twice and you won’t get bored from the environments. Character designs look just like they’re supposed to considering the setting. Every character wears this collar with lights on giving off a sense that everyone is under the ownership and is always monitored no matter who you are. All the cut scenes are presented through the cameras and Hope’s phone which keeps you immersed in the setting and looks good to boot. Graphically République looks amazing on mobile devices. On Playstation 4… it’s serviceable. It certainly doesn’t look bad or anything but considering it comes from tablets and phones and was ported to a home console it looks nice. Even though the music doesn’t leave that much of an impact the rest of the game is a neat package.

Graphically the game looks good considering it came from mobile devices.

Closing note:

République is a good game with a setting that isn’t explored too much in video games. From a narrative standpoint, it manages to do it very well, bar some problems near the end. Gameplay wise it’s unique but the A.I. and limited options make it miss that punch that makes it great. The designs are great and nail the setting and style of the game.
République fumbles here and there but ultimately manages to deliver a solid story with serviceable gameplay that misses that zest to make it amazing.

7/10