Hacking It: Republique Remastered On PC This Month
Now on Unity 5 and prettier
It's been, ooh, nearly three years since we last posted about République. Last time we looked in, the dystopian third-person sneaker had squeezed past its Kickstarter goal. What's happened since then? Well, developers Camouflaj have released the first three episodes on pocket telephones and digital slates, and now they're almost ready for a PC release. République Remastered has upgraded its engine to Unity 5, with all the bells and whistles that brings, and is generally prettied-up too. It'll arrive on February 26th.
République is set in one of those grim futures, where a futureteen with a virtuous name (Hope) who's been raised in a government facility is trying to escape. Technically players are a mysterious hacker helping her by scouting ahead, distracting enemies, and generally hacking the planet, but we also tell Hope where to go so, y'know, we are controlling her too really.
As it's been a fair while, here's a trailer from the first episode on iThings in 2013:
It's changed a bit since then. Here, check this comparison screenshot (PC on the right, obvs, and click to see the big version):
Unity 5 brings exciting phrases like "physically based shading" and "real-time global illumination" but Camouflaj have also rebuilt a lot of art assets. These words link to more comparisons.
République Remastered will be sold as a season pass sort of thing, launching with the first three episodes and receiving the last two when they're done. It'll cost $19.99 (£13) for the first week after launch, then go up to $24.99 (£16-ish). Windows and Mac; Steam, Humble, and GOG.
Say, perhaps some of you who played the pocket version might tell us a little about République?