Republic: The Revolution - PC Game | Political Strategy Simulation | Build Your Empire & Overthrow the Government | Perfect for Strategy Gamers & Political Simulation Enthusiasts

More of a collectors item but not really. The case on the screen is not what you get.You get like some weird plastic case with the words PCGAMER and 80% plastered on it.The CD is real and contains the Republic program, but it is difficult to set up. took me like an hour or so to get the hang of it.----------------------------------------------------Game play wise?You shouldn't buy this game unless you know what it is.if you've heard of it, know its reputation, or even played it in the past you know it kinda sucks.However that's not important it's a piece of nostalgia and worth the buy for the 10 minute amusement and trip down memory lane.or simply to say "Hey I own a Russian Political Simulator".I've not gotten used to the fast-paced play yet (I'm up to 10 years behind technology,) but the struggle seems legit. Allahu Gaybar!Will not run on my computer. I think it is a European release. I was looking forward to playing the game.This game isn't for everyone it is slow but very good. It reminds me more of a political simulator than a game. The graphics are outdated but the story is really compelling.I bought this game once before and really didn't know what to do, but after getting it again and reading the manual I started liking it.I bought this game as soon as it was in store. After crashing for about three hours, I finally got it running. What I saw was disappointing.There is no tutorial, but there is six (count-em, six) poorly compressed images that pop up at inconvenient times explaining a very, very clumsy interface. I bought the strategy guide with this as well, but even then the learning curve has a tangent line with slope of infinity!! (Calculus 1 is haunting me, help!)This could have all been redeemed with an immersive gameplay that immediately draws you in and leaves you playing until two in the morning without realizing this. Instead, you must settle for less. Way less.It's supposed to be real time, but it's most definetly turn based, and giving actions is about ten times harder than it needs to be. Keeping track of where you are in the city (whatever one of the THREE you're in) is hard, the camera controls are clumsy, and the different views can become absolutely worthless.Maybe it could still redeem itself if it was a game where you have completely free reign over how to accomplish your goals. Not so. You pick right from the start which one of the three routes you will take... either through force, wealth, or influence. The inability to cobble your own rise to power from scratch is incredibly lame and disappointing. If the next part of your plan requires you to "gain 50% support in this district", you can forget about doing anything until you gain 50% support in the said district.That isn't to say it's without pleasentries. The "argument" system, the way you battle opposition and your own party members in order to convince them to join you, or bolster their resolve, is pretty neat when you figure it out. The music fits well, the graphics are gorgeous (if haunted by a poor camera system), and watching and listening to someone argue in a Baltic language is just plain funny.Still, I only recommend this to the most hardcore of hardcore strategy fans... if you liked Master of Orion 3 (Oh, who am I kidding), you will like this.This may go down as one of the most over-hyped computer games in history. Don't get me wrong, the game is pretty good, but it has been touted for so long, and delayed so many times; various reviewers over the last few years have carried on about its remarkable flexibility and wonderful graphics and game engine. In the end, it's good, but doesn't quite live up to the hype.The game is intended to be a political simulator. You play an insurgent or visionary in an Eastern European country, part of the former USSR. The aim is to overthrow the President and become president yourself. You do this by recruiting helpers with various skills and abilities, and putting them to use in turning the population of various cities to support you. Amongst other things, you can leaflet a district, arrange for the bashing of a rival to weaken their resolve, vandalise an opposing factions' district to weaken their support, and hold public rallies to build up popular support. In this way, it is quite flexible.However, this is essentially a turn-based game; the ever-running clock merely limits the time you have to decide on your actions in each turn. Also, the manual and `tutorial' in the game are not well written and therefore not very helpful. As such, you'll find yourself learning as you play and it will probably take some time before you find all the commands and options you have access to.Perhaps my biggest gripe is that the ideology model is quite one dimensional, with anti capitalism/pro-union on the left, freedom/democracy in the centre, and capitalism/free-market on the right. Then again, while real world politics has many more dimensions, this is probably a relatively accurate portrayal of major parties in many countries.Overall, if you are interested in politics and want to try a very different sort of game from your average first person shooter or RTS, I'd heartily recommend it, but don't be fooled by all the hype from the last few years.It appears to me as if this game is a step in the right direction. Street level diplomacy and harsh, even illegal tactics combine to create a game about wooing the crowds and intimidating them at times.This is a game which employs approaches of combat, cheap espionage, and polemic approach. The stuff of legends could've been done with this theme and gameplay idea, but regrettably the game does not have sufficient variety.On the other hand, this game offers much of what web-browser games could and should permit in terms of thought provoking theme and game approach.Production values and variety could've been better, is all.