République Episode 2: Metamorphosis (PC) Review

République has been remastered so wonderfully that anyone jumping in without prior knowledge would be completely unaware of its humble mobile beginnings, or the fact that Kickstarter funds were required to give it the beautiful sheen it currently displays, in terms of its user-friendly interface that has been adapted seamlessly to mouse and keyboard controls, the stunning visuals that bring the locations and characters within to life, or the excellence of the voice acting throughout that accentuates the ambience. It is testament of how well Camouflaj has put this all together, and Metamorphosis works as the ideal second chapter, as it not only furthers the tale considerably, unravelling some of the mysteries, yet throwing up more questions for later on, but introduces fresh features that add to the enticing gameplay.

Whilst this is still a mere case of 'dodge the guard' at heart, there is an edge to proceedings that masks the rudimentary core, augmented now by the fact that it is not possible to Taze some of the threats like before as they have had suit upgrades since Exordium's events transpired, plus instead of being too predictable, certain teams take randomised routes to make it that extra bit trickier to bypass them without being spotted and dragged back to the nearest cell. Thankfully, Hope is a touch more responsive than before, meaning less chances of her wandering away unexpectedly arise, and there are lesser moments of clicking on a certain area proves temperamental, not leading to the desired results. Clearly feedback was taken on-board…

The facility Hope is locked within is more sprawling than first imagined, with everything opening up and more floors available to navigate this time round (it is possible to go through the first episode again to collect missed items, if so wished), and there is even a bit more back tracking to up the ante in the tension stakes, especially when having managed to sneak past one of the more observant guards to then realise the same process must be repeated to return once more. Backtracking can be a real bugbear in adventures, but somehow it never quite jars here, perhaps because the locations are never right across the other side of the building, instead only a few corridors away.

As before, the mouse pointer is used for the majority of the journey, both for leaping from camera to camera (and getting ahead to see what lies beyond), as well as guiding the petrified young girl to safety. The keyboard comes into play mainly for 'hot key' commands ('F' to jump back to the camera nearest to Hope, for instance, which is useful for when getting too far ahead and losing track of how to jump back) or to rotate the camera viewpoint to keep an eye out for pesky guards, content that the computer can scan, or spotting objects for Hope to collect en route to the next passageway.

Metamorphosis has the same supply of videogame diskettes (most need to be carefully pick-pocketed from guards, but are well worth taking the risk for since the insight into the real-life indie games is very interesting to listen to), illegal contraband (books seen as unhealthy for people), and other key items to dig out, but there is also the odd brainteaser thrown into the mix, which only adds to the splendour of this fantastic game.