From the Expanded Universe
The Kaminoans encountered a great deal of difficulty with the independent and hard-to-command ARC troopers. Eventually the experimental soldiers were relegated to stasis fields and work was begun on a new type of warrior: the clone commando.
Veering away from rogue clone individuals, the Kaminoans took as their example the fiercely efficient hunting pods of the native aiwha. Candidates were plucked from the regular clone batch, and segregated into groups of four. During their training and education, these "pods" were kept together, forced to depend upon each other, and pitted against other pods in combat. The Kaminoans soon found they had a number of small squads, each highly-trained and fiercely-cohesive, yet divisible into smaller units for varied mission profiles. Ultimately, neither the regular army clones nor the ARC troopers could match them when it came to organization and team-work. The experiment was a success.
The Jedi Generals and the Republic leadership immediately identified the potential of these strike teams, and set them to work at flash-points across the galaxy. Equipped with specialized weaponry like the DC-17m rifle, special tactical visors, and Katarn-class body armor, the commandos infiltrated the deepest, darkest reaches of the Separatist strongholds. The Clone Wars were won or lost, more often than not, due to the efforts of small, anonymous squads of Republic commandos, working behind the scenes and deep behind enemy lines to do what larger armies could not.
Behind the Scenes
When the designers of LucasArts'
Star Wars Republic Commando sat down to design their main character, they they knew he wouldn't be a regular clone, nor would he be a "super-soldier." They hit on the idea of a "clone commando," with beefed-up armor and more specialized training than his trooper counterparts. But they didn't want a Superhero. The team agreed that the commando's world and his motivation must be gritty and realistic. Game Director Tim Longo noted: "You are not predestined to be a hero, you do not choose to be one, you must be one. And when the dust settles, and you have made the choices you have made, if you have survived, then that will be your only reward. Then it's on to your next mission. "
The clone commando emerged as something "in-between" the two extremes of ARC trooper and clone trooper. Writer Justin Lambros summarized the relationship like this: "If you've got a problem, you can send one ARC trooper, you can send one hundred clone troopers, or you can send a squad of four clone commandos."
Team artists developed a bulkier look for the commando, to reflect his need for protection and stream-lined efficiency. The DC-17m rifle became a smaller weapon, suitable for close-quarters combat, and easy to battlefield-strip and reconfigure into a sniper-rifle or grenade launcher.
