Republique Remastered Reviews
Republique tries to do something different… it's got a few hooks to keep you playing; eager to find out more about Hope and her strange surroundings
Republique is a unique mobile experience that feels a bit antiquated on PS4, including a less satisfying control scheme and an unimpressive visual aesthetic.
Republique is filled with interesting ideas about the very real fear of modern-day fascism and the omnipresence of privacy-killing technology, concepts that are more often found in literature than video games, and the way it approaches its themes through the security cameras of a dystopian nightmare is admirable. But all the interesting ideas in the world are moot if the game can't make a satisfying experience out of them, and sadly, Republique fails to stick the landing.
There is a very solid idea and set up behind Republique but it's one that I'm constantly pulling my hair to get through. The camera angles I can usually deal with but with the required accuracy for stealth and needing to control both Hope and the static cameras prove to be too infuriating. Republique has a great dystopian style world and a set up that had me hoping to overlook its simpler graphics, dated animations, and odd stuttering moments but the one thing that could have pushed this over the edge is fun factor, and that simply wasn't there.
Republique first surfaced as an iOS game and the mechanics involved in this new PS4 version seem like the developer did a straight port, rather than take the time to sharpen anything other than the graphics.
As obvious as the game's criticisms are about the encroachment of the police state or the ease of character assassination in the digital age, they're worth reiterating until we, in the real world, find a way out of our predicament. That doesn't make me fault the game less for its heavy-handedness, but I give it credit for having arguments to make.