Whether a game is worth your time—rather than how much it costs—is increasingly the metric by which you ought to assess whether to get a video game or not. There are way too many free games out there to grab because they’re free.
République, the Kickstarter-funded iOS dark stealth game developed by Camouflaj LLC and Logan Games, is worth both your time and your money. Episode 1, however, will only ask for your time, if you pick it up off the App Store by the end of June 12.
République is a game about a totalitarian state in which citizens can be “recalibrated,” which is ostensibly some sort of psychological control against thinking incorrect thoughts. In Episode 1 of the game, the player helps a woman named Hope to escape from confinement, and hence from her sentence of recalibration.
The graphics in République are fantastic. If anyone ever tells you that iOS games suck and can’t stand up to the titles on video game consoles, you can hold Republique up to their face and ask them to repeat themselves. Then they shut up.
République also stars two of the best-known voice actors in the video game business. Jennifer Hale is famous for her portrayal of the female Commander Shepard, or “femshep” as game geeks know her, in the epic science-fiction Mass Effect series. David Hayter has voiced Solid Snake in the ever-popular and long-running Metal Gear series.
It’s not the production values that make République great, however. The game uses a hacking mechanic in which the player can access cameras to scout the levels ahead of Hope so she can avoid guards. The player switches camera views to find items that Hope needs to escape, like PIN numbers to open doors. And the player is directly addressed by another computer hacker, named Cooper, who accesses your phone during the game. It is as though you are staring into the world of République while you look at your smartphone screen.
In another statement about iOS games standing up to the best of what the mainstream or triple-A video game industry has to offer, the new game Watch Dogs also revolves around a computer hacking mechanic. République, in this writer’s opinion, does a much better job of employing the idea.
Image via Camouflaj LLC