A young girl’s face stared down at me from my phone, her eyes pleading for help. “They want to erase me,” she said. Fear bloomed in her voice as she whispered, “They’re coming.” From there, I tapped the security camera in the corner of the room and took control of it. I watched while some gestapo-like soldiers came into the girl’s room, questioned her harshly, and took her away for further interrogation. I also saw one guard, Cooper, find the phone the girl hid under her bedspread.
This moment of sadistic voyeurism was my welcome to République. Did you think you downloaded a game? Well gird your loins; developer Camouflaj has delivered something more like an interactive film. The app is a window into the totalitarian facility called Metamorphosis, controlled by the mysterious Headmaster. Thanks to Cooper’s kindness, I soon found myself reunited with Hope, or Pre-Cal 390-H, guiding her on a stealthy path through the underground base toward freedom or, at least, away from “re-calibration.”
To start, République is one of the best looking Android games I have ever played. It looks like something that would have been $60 on a console not too many years ago. It makes sense, then, that it’s nearly the size of a console game at over a gigabyte. Be sure that you have the space before you buy, but it’s worth erasing a few lesser apps to make some space for this superb game.
The world is designed to be frighteningly similar to our own society. Certainly privacy, observation and information control are hot topics these days, but visually and conceptually I felt like I was examining a combination of the Vaults of Fallout and the megalomania of BioShock. These aren’t negative comparisons and République isn’t a clone of these titles by any measure. On the contrary, Metamorphosis dwarfs the Vaults, and the ideology of its totalitarian regime focuses on a radical form of equality, rather than separatism or elitism. I came away feeling like Hope existed in a real place. With voice acting by such greats as David Hayter (Solid Snake) and Dwight Schultz (the original A-Team’s Murdock, or Reginald Barclay from Star Trek TNG), in addition to such crisp, clear environments, I found the overall presentation avoided the sterility from which so many indoor stealth games suffer. To be sure, République is a pleasure to the senses.
The game itself plays like a cross between a point and click adventure — where a tap of the screen commands your avatar to go to a particular spot or interact with a given item – and a stealth game, where the challenge is to get around guards and other obstacles. What makes République unique is that there is no avatar. Each episode (so far) opens with an incoming call that makes it seem, at least for an instant, like your phone is actually ringing. When you hit “Accept,” it is Hope’s face you see.
I was able to help Hope avoid re-capture by looking through security cameras and directing her around the various guards on patrol, as well as by manipulating other electronic devices such as body scanners. This method of control works incredibly well; the cameras’ eye mode – or OMNI view — allows users to see through walls to other connection points, i.e. other cameras, as well as detect email and phone ports for hacks and locked objects that can be opened for Hope. While you can’t control her directly, Hope will go where you tell her when you tell her (even if that means being spotted or setting off an alarm), but if you do nothing, she will do her best to avoid being seen – if you sent her to hide behind a planter, for example, she will skooch around its corner when the guard moves to keep out of his line of sight.
It’s worth noting the guards themselves are scannable, and from their reports – which outline their medical conditions and criminal history, they are almost all completely insane. These men, or Prizraks, are afflicted by everything from allergies to tinnitus and have been convicted of enough crimes to make it clear that no girl should end up in their hands. The fact that their faces are photos of Kickstarter backers adds another uncanny layer of reality to the game. Games cost money to make, and this was one of the less annoying ways I’ve seen developers thank their contributors (with the exception of cartoon images, like Tycho, which pulled me out of the suspension of disbelief otherwise so artfully achieved).
Those who bought the season pass for 99 cents got an excellent deal – it’s currently $14.99. Episode one lures you in at $2.99, but the subsequent four episodes are going for $4.99 a-piece. Unlike with Telltale Games’ Walking Dead series, I was not able to download a demo and then spend the $14.99 on the whole season – I would have liked the opportunity to save the $2.99 on République and go straight for a season pass in the app store. Luckily, République‘s narrative has the addictive quality of a Pringle. I popped, and now I can’t stop. I want to find every tape, listen in on every conversation, read every email. That will require downloading episodes four and five, when they become available. Until then, I will hide in a locker or behind a potted plant and wait.
When I first opened République and had that split second of confused annoyance at the incoming call screen – why didn’t it look like it always did, who was calling me from an unknown number, and why they chose to call just when I started playing a game — I found myself immediately sucked in. Having braved the totalitarian regime, read its missives, and weaved my way through the base, I already suspect Hope, or 390-H, is not exactly what she appears. I can’t wait to get a good look at the Headmaster, whose face remains permanently blurred. There are still two more episodes before the full scope of Hope’s story is revealed. So much to look forward to.
Hardcore?
Yes.
One of the best stealth games available for Android.