Republique Episode 4: God's Acre

While the previous episodes haven’t been revolutionary in their appearance, this one nearly derailed the whole thing. It is not a demanding game and yet on my machine the framerate frequently stayed in the single digits. It hardly improved when I turned the graphics settings down, which is strange because the other episodes all worked fine (and were played on the same machine). I tried other tweaks based on advice from the devs at their forums, with little success. There were also a host of visual artifacts, especially distorted shadowing.

Sound quality remains high, particularly in the voice acting. Hope’s personality comes through more strongly in this episode, giving her actor a chance to deliver more lines, which she does with aplomb. The other actors also give admirable performances, particularly Mammoth and his dual personalities. Sound effects are clear, and I noticed no artifacts.

'God’s Acre' continues to provide a great story for the overall 'Republique' title, but has some major flaws with its technical presentation. They are not game-breaking but definitely drag down what otherwise would have been a very sharp episode. I still heartily recommend the series, but players should expect to notice some touche engine level changes in the fourth episode.