The Star Wars franchise chugs along, expanding its universe during a post-Skywalker Saga world, and the gaming space is seeing some fast-moving developments. Ubisoft through Massive Entertainment announced they're working on a story-driven, open-world Star Wars game, while Aspyr Media is being heavily suggested to be working on a remake of the acclaimed Knights of the Old Republic series.
The latter also recently confirmed to be porting a classic original Xbox console exclusive in Republic Commando to PS4 and Nintendo Switch. While the smallest gaming news of the recent bunch, Republic Commando is a fan-favorite. It would be great for this to be the start of something more - e.g. a remaster, remake, or both - so here are a few things that should be updated eventually, and things it should keep at its core.
Update: More Tactical Variety
Something that sets Republic Commando apart from other shooters that are the typical modern blockbusters is the use of the tactical shooter genre. It adds another layer to - in this case - the first-person shooter genre by having players rely more on squad-based strategy, with the player character as a leader. Some shooters suffer from being formulaic in the sense that, in their campaigns, players can easily melt AI enemies without much thought, unless the difficulty gets cranked.
Republic Commando injected doses of tension into story missions by having the player consistently manage Delta Squad's health, positioning, formation, and combat-tactics to deal with intensifying threats. The commands at players' disposal offered great options, though some kind of update/continuation should work to add more variety into commands and the environments they'd be executed in.
Best Parts: User-Friendly Command Inputs
Something that should be carried forward into the upcoming port and anything Aspyr--or any other developer now that EA's exclusivity is ending--might decide to do with this game going forward is maintaining user-friendliness in command inputs. The game as is has several options and they're all fairly straightforward to execute.
Control configuration makes making on-the-fly tactical commands to Delta Squad with single button presses, which is one of the game's mechanical strengths. Applying this in the upcoming ports should be simple enough, but some kind of remaster/remake should keep this at the core of development.
Update: Visual Enhancements
It seems the upcoming Switch and PS4 ports of the game are just that--not remastering visuals. It's definitely a game from the 2000s, but despite being from 2005, it holds up well as a retro classic. That being said, upgrading the game's graphics would be more than welcome.
Since it looks like it'll be digital on PS4 and Switch--unless Limited Run publishes physical copies--a fresh coat of paint in the form of a remaster could be a sizeable optional patch in the future. Though, if there are only two options, fans would definitely welcome a full-blown remake, bringing the story back into canon.
Best Parts: Gritty, Atypical Story Perspective
This would definitely apply in the case of a remake, but one of the refreshing aspects of Republic Commando aside from gameplay was the story. Star Wars stories generally do excellent jobs of appealing to literally any demographic, but this game took things to gritty places it generally avoids in big-budget projects.
It took a darker, more behind-the-scenes/unsung heroes-style war story and coated it with a Star Wars theme, though didn't feel cheap in the slightest. Likewise, it told a story from the perspective of the Commandos of the Republic's Clone army, something atypical to the franchise narratively.
Update: Address The Cliffhanger Ending
The plot is understandably beloved, but something that's simultaneously a great and painful aspect of the game is the cliffhanger ending. It ends with Sev (Delta-07) going missing in action on the Battle of Kashyyyk after he reports into the comms that he's under heavy attack. Before the credits roll, a three-man Delta Squad is debriefed by Jedi Grand Master Yoda for their next mission.
It was a cruel ending because the game's sequel (Imperial Commando) was canceled. Given the IP is in the revitalization process in games as well, with a KotOR remake reportedly on the horizon, now would be a perfect time for a remake that addresses this cliffhanger in a remake--or a sequel to a remake.
Best Parts: Delta Squad
Part of the story being good, but Delta Squad deserves its own entry for being one of the game's several boons. Not only are Clones the focus of the plot, but they're Clone Commandos--the elite troopers of the Clone army and the cast of Republic Commando are a tight crew of four.
Each has its own distinctive personality. Sure, the character traits are definitely tropes, but the performances and writing make their respective personalities endearing and not over-the-top. As a result, the Band of Brothers-style approach keeps fans even more emotionally invested in Delta Squad--though, that makes the ending that much more cruel without Imperial Commando.
Update: Expansive Levels
The original game, including what'll be ported over, does a solid job at having tight levels that serve their gameplay and narrative purposes. Especially so since this was a 2005 shooter, which means there must have been some technological and creative restraints with that genre. However, a remake/reboot of some kind would need to work on expanding upon the levels in the game.
Even modern-day shooters like Wolfenstein and the Doom reboots to great jobs with the hardware and software used to make some expansive, creative level designs. A remake wouldn't need to go open-world either.
Best Parts: Concise Story
While the same length shouldn't be kept--in this case--for a remake, Republic Commando--for a 2005 game--did a fairly good job at making a concise story. Some modern-day games struggle with the two extremes in terms of length: unsatisfyingly brief or bloated. Should this game get some sort of creative touch-up, concision is another core concept that developers need to keep in mind.
It's the same principle as a movie or TV show. Fans don't want something that stops short of delivering a narrative experience that gives ample time for emotional investment, nor do they want something that blatantly overstays its welcome.
Update: Modestly Increase Length
With that in mind, from a gameplay perspective, Republic Commando could use expanded levels in terms of duration. Certainly, should the game get a facelift later on, but the aforementioned Doom and Wolfenstein are good, more direct examples of how long levels/stories could last, given they're all shooters.
Games like Call of Duty typically don't put much into their stories, but a fleshed-out, story-focused first-person shooter can be done, and a Republic Commando revival could afford the length the former two-game series has with the content available in their stories to flesh out game time in a satisfying way. Something on the scale of Jedi: Fallen Order could also work, as reference for a Star Wars-specific template.
Best Parts: Threatening Enemies
Republic Commando fantastically turned some enemies from the Star Wars movies that felt underwhelming into proper, lethal threats. Even the standard Battle Droids used as comic relief are more intimidating, even if they're still the easiest of them. Super Battle Droids genuinely seem frightening, especially in pairs and flanked by several smaller foes.
Of course, this is in part not being able to play as a space wizard with psychic powers and laser swords, but the gritty atmosphere/story and AI have parts to play. Geonosian Elites are also worthy adversaries, Trandoshan's inject horror vibes in their intro level, and the Magna Droids also have their uniquely-dangerous qualities that expanded on them from Revenge of the Sith.