[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emt01IYhQ-Q]

République (Ch 1)

Release Date: December 19, 2013 (Country)
Developer: Camouflaj
Genre(s): Stealth, Dystopian

Rating: ★★★★★
System: iOS, Windows/Mac [2014] (iPad)
Review Spoilers: Low
IGN | Gamespot | Metacritic | iTunes

I really enjoy stealth games. It’s legitimately one of my favorite types of games. I’m also kind of a francophile. Also, you all know how excited I was/am for Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs. So basically this was my perfect game. I gave it a 5 star review, but if I could take like, a fifth off of that five star it would be because of minute irritations in the controls and the price.

But more on that later. First thing’s first, what I did like. I am a total sucker for dystopian plots, I love fictional totalitarian governments with Big Brother and detainment cells. This has got all of that and more. For a game that was essentially funded on Kickstarter for $500,000, this game has some very solid story writing. But because it was funded by Kickstarter, there are some pretty obvious plugs for the site and for other games. It’s not too distracting, but it is pretty obvious.

“Metamorphosis” is a great setting for the game. The security chambers look like neo-Paris’s Memorize company from Remember Me. The lavish rooms are reminiscent of the chambers in Dishonored. It’s an interesting mix of old and new, which shouldn’t work, but somehow does. “Hope”, the main character that the player is protecting and ‘playing’ is a bright-eyed young woman who is rebellious and courageous.

The game does it’s job gaining your loyalty for Hope and Cooper, who guides you along as the inside man, while turning you against the antagonists with each piece of evidence you find. Hope and Mireille play great opposites, and they dominate the story as solid female characters (something I deeply approve of). So far, chapter one has set up a very exciting storyline for the two characters and their interactions.

The gameplay of this game is the greatest treasure of all. I have to say it right now, this is the perfect game for an iPad. I tried the game on my iPhone and it proved to be just a little too small for my eyes, and I had to strain to focus. Then again, I have to push the brightness way up in video games normally, so maybe it’s just me? But with in-game “phone calls”, text-to-speech dialog, and faux-lag effects, the game is a perfect integration into the digital age.

Navigating the game is exciting, especially being able to jump from room to room via cameras. Often times when you are not in OMNI view, I found myself afraid that Hope would just make a run for it, as she did once in a while. Maybe I accidentally tapped an area I wasn’t suppose to, maybe she was standing too close to a guard, but the few times it happened she ended up in the locker. The punishment ended up helping me out, so I can’t say I was too bothered, though it did spoil some of my plans.

There is a very low action element to the game, and while I do like attacking people from behind and taking them down, it’s pretty unrealistic. Not to say that it isn’t also unrealistic that the guards don’t notice when I open a door and close it right behind their backs. Or when I open the cell door right after they put Hope into it. But, semantics.

Now, the price. $5 an episode, with an additional $15 for episodes 2-5 and some additional content brings the whole game up to $20. For $20, I’d say at this point it’s a worthy investment. I’m not one for playing games when they are $60 (except for a select few), but given how long each chapter is, it might feel like a worthy investment. I can’t imagine it being any cheaper, though the cheapskate in me wishes that it was.

Finishing the game in 2.5 hours, I completed about 56% of the game, meaning I could go back and do more searching for more of the game to complete more of the story. I’d say with ALL of the content, this is well worth the money. I’m normally really dubious of paying for games on mobile devices, and often times I don’t expect too much, but this has really shone through.

Final Thoughts: This game is gorgeous and I’m confident it will get my 100% endorsement after all of the episodes come out. For now, it’s worth the first $5 to play the first episode, at least. It’s a game that could be easily translated into a console, and has intuitive design with a great unique storyline attached.