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Opening with a Hans Zimmer-like score of operatic vocals and a synthesized orchestra, Republic takes place in a fictitious ex-Soviet state, where a tyrannical dictator has taken power and exercises ruthless absolute rule. During one of the government’s raids, your parents and family are taken away from you, further increasing your resolve to foment a revolution within the new post-communist age of Novistrana. Republic centers around a nameless male protagonist, whom you will name and whose character you will mold. Taking a page out of the Ultima series, a series of moral questions are posed to you at the onset of the game. These will help shape the hero of Novistrana. If, for example, he is a Josef Stalin type, security and brute force will be his primary ways of political coercion. If, on the other hand, he is a Josef Goebbels, propaganda, speeches and influence will be his primary weapons. Whether you lead a Velvet Revolution or a Beer Hall Putsch is really up to you and the people you surround yourselves with.
  
At the beginning of Republic, you’ll start out returning to your hometown where you’ll have the chance to recruit some childhood friends to become the left and right hands in your faction. Republic models a city right down to the individual citizens walking the street. Each city is separated into different zones. Industrial annexes will produce Force. Civic areas, like those surrounding a church, will produce Influence. Mercantilist dwellings will produce Wealth. Gaining support in these areas will mean contributions of that currency will flow into your faction. To gain support, however, you’ll have to task your operatives to do a variety of things to persuade the public. Some are political, such as a poster campaign which will use Wealth. Some are seditious and violent, such as vandalism, graffiti and crime. Each character is capable of actions within Force, Influence or Wealth. A priest will be able to use his evangelical abilities. A salesman, on the other hand, will leverage his business skills. Each expertise, moreover, will have offensive/defensive actions. For a Wealth member, the dubious term of ‘debt collection’ is used against rival faction members.   
Republic operates on a strict daily schedule: morning, afternoon and night. If I ask one of my lieutenants to collect debts and canvass, it will take two units of his time that day. Everyone in the faction must rest once a day but you’re able to configure so that one of your agents will be on the street at every time period. (The leader is tireless and never rests apparently) Scheduling can get fairly complex. For example, you might want to backstab a faction in an area to free up people’s minds and then immediately hold a rally afterwards to convince them that you’re the better political party. This requires co-ordination that only the leader can provide.   
On a macro level, Republic is all about gaining influence in areas, thereby gaining currency and gaining the perks and experience that come with it to upgrade your party members. I came to find that a party must have a good mix. If you have a crew who are all drawing from the Force well to slap people around and cause havoc, you’ll find yourself centralized and fighting vicious propaganda battles in industrial areas. While Republic emphasizes the 3D engine, it’s not as complex as something like Grand Theft Auto. The rain, for example, is hardly as dramatic. It looks and feels more like Operation Flashpoint or last year’s Mafia, perhaps because of the Eastern European setting. I found myself spending most of my time in the 2D satellite view of the city with pie charts showing the influence in each sector as well as icons for the agents and their current actions (friend or foe). From the high up level, it plays similarly to Ruthless.com or an old favorite of mine, Shadow President.
  
That’s not to say the 3D can’t stand on it’s own. It’s used to mark dramatic events and you can set reminders on actions so the floating camera focuses on the principals of the action; like a speech or a prison escape. The dialogue is the Slavic equivalent of Sim-lish. It’s gibberish but intonations by the speech actors give some meaning to it. One neat thing about the conversations: instead of scripted branches, you compete with each other in a type of paper, rocks and scissors game to persuade the other side. All of this sounds pretty complex. And after playing Republic, to be quite honest, it is. There are brief help screens that explain how the game menus work. But there are few elements to guide you. The tutorial, for example, simply refers you back to the help screens. Nothing is really mentioned about strategy: I finally realized mid-way through the game I wasn’t getting enough currency to spend because I was attacking the wrong sectors and employing the wrong skilled people to do it. Some of it has to do with the English in the game and I’m sure these can be brushed up for the final release.
  
If the learning curve could be shortened, more people will be able to get into the game. I like the fact that much of the game is unscripted. So depending on which character you take into the game, your approach to persuading the public and establishing your faction will be different. Also, because of the dynamic nature of the game, you won’t have to go through the same conversations over and over again. While you are given set tasks at every juncture in the game, most of the objectives are free form. For example, to make a political statement, you might have to gather support in a set number of districts. Whether you do this violently, subversively or righteously is up to you. That makes the game all the more appealing and they give the overall game some direction beyond simply brainwashing the public with your political ideas.  
Republic has depth but manages to avoid the trap of being too much like a board game. Neither does it play like the statistical nightmare of a political commentator’s spreadsheet on campaign night. This should be an interesting title to look out for, especially if you’re one who frowns when you see a Warcraft clone classified as a “strategy” game. Will you embrace the ideal liberté, égalité et fraternité? Or will you adopt the rule of the pragmatic panis et circenses? The choice will be yours when Republic hits the streets.
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