If the Star Wars movies are typically shown from the high-falootin' view of the Jedi Knights, then the hard-working Clone Troopers of Star Wars Republic Commando are your tour guides to the grittier, more brutal facets of the franchise. Republic Commando is a first-person shooter that lets you command a quartet of "deluxe model" Troopers on a variety of missions set in the movie timeline between Episode II and Episode III. Think early Stormtroopers, but they're the good guys at this point in the timeline and they can actually hit something when they shoot at it. The game is set in the Star Wars universe, but it lets you experience it in new ways.

Besides the Star Wars license, the game's main catch is that you're not one man against an entire army. You're ... well, four men against an entire army! Okay, technically you're four clones of one man against an entire army. But any way you tally it up, you take direct control of an elite squad leader and then command his three mates by using context-sensitive orders and global commands. Your squadmates do okay on their own, but if you see, for example, a spot suitable for sniping, you can point your crosshairs at it to bring up the "Engage Snipe Maneuver" command. Then, simply press the A button and one of your fellow commandos will rush to that spot and start picking off enemies until you either leave the area or tell him to stop. The system is simple, functional, and works well with other commands like "breach that door" or "man that turret."

You can also give global commands to all three troopers, like "go on the offense" or "group up around me" or "defend this spot." This level of control brings tactics to the forefront of the game, and along with some good-looking artificial intelligence and scripted sequences, really makes you feel like you're in control of a squad of highly trained military specialists. It's a welcome change of pace from the pure run-'n-gun or pure stealth approaches that shooters usually take.

In fact, this simple but effective manipulation of the Delta Squad was easily my favorite part of the game. The artificial intelligence for your teammates isn't infallible (once or twice they went ahead and did bone-headed things that got themselves killed), but it is very good. One of my favorite moments in the game was when I tossed a grenade at a pack of enemies, but one of them picked it up and threw it at one of my squadmates, who then picked it up and threw it at another enemy who was finally caught with it when the fuse ran out.

There are also several frenzied set pieces where skillful deployment and command of your troopers is required for victory -- you just can't do it all by yourself. But if you do goof things up and get yourself riddled with blaster fire, your teammates are there to help you out. Instead of "game over" when your health runs out, you can command your teammates to come to your rescue and revive you. You can also return the favor when they're down for the count, which makes what can be a difficult game (in this preview build, anyway) much less frustrating and more intense.