Brian 5
Sami PetrosStar Wars, Empire at War
Questionably delicious game chef, Lucas Arts, throws us yet another Star Wars title and this time it appears to have actually been cooked through.
The storyline featured in Empire at War is the same one they have been pounding out in the majority of their games. This is, in my opinion, not necessarily the wisest thing to do when such good materials can be brought from pre episode I and post episode VI…but that’s another discussion entirely. Suffice to say it doesn’t seem to detract all that much from the game experience. The gamer is served up steaming portions of timeline only hinted at in the movies; starting from the rebellions’ attempts to acquire the, then prototype, X-Wing star fighters.
Now let us turn to game mechanics. The game consists of two portions; one, a galactic management system similar to what you would expect from your traditional turn based galactic conquest style game or Sid Meiers’ civilisation; the second consists of your more traditional RTS style game where you are put in command of the units you have built or been given in the galactic management screen and tasked with completing mission objectives, usually capturing or defending a planet either in space or on the ground.
The galactic management system seems complicated at first but the learning curve for familiarisation with the system is quite gentle and it is actually quite a simple interface. One difference with the system in star wars to the examples mentioned above is the fact that it is not turn based but real-time, time expressing itself as months and this translates to revenue at the end of each month. Each world you hold has several build pads which allow you to build improvements for that world; these can include structures for recruiting infantry, tanks, improving land and space defences, income for the world and so on. Basically this section of the game consists of building structures, fleets and armies and then hopping them around the galaxy to where they are needed. Most of the units will be familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of the Star Wars universe; one can build imperial AT-AT’s and Star Destroyers or Corellion Corvettes and Rebel Infiltrators.
The RTS portion of the game takes up the majority of the experience and is where the game shines, particularly the space battles. Interface consists of simple point and click commands; clicking on a unit’s special ability icon activates it and large targets such as capital ships and space stations will have targetable hard points such as ion cannons or shields. Space battles usually consist of an assaulting team and a defending team, the winner being the one to wipe out the others forces. The defending team will often have a space station to defend, if one has been built for the planet in the management portion of the game, this station will periodically launch fighters and bombers and hyper space in small star ships. Land battles consist of much the same fare with a few exceptions; one takes control of points on the map and this allows you to land more troops at one time; buildings on the map will correspond to those built on the planet; finally, several build pads exist on each map that, when captured, allow you to build several improvements including anti-infantry and tank guns.
The game can get a bit slow, especially during land battles, which can oft times become extremely protracted due to specific units types being so weak against one another. Another point to be made is that the galactic management system can perhaps be too simplistic for some people who want more depth from this aspect. Graphics wise it’s fairly pretty, nothing mind blowing but certainly adequate. Simply put Star Wars Empire at War certainly caters to those who have not been satisfied in their itch to crush rebel bases or imperial battle fleets in previous Lucas Arts titles, I believe they have finally captured this in a respectable title.
Alskreek, out.
The storyline featured in Empire at War is the same one they have been pounding out in the majority of their games. This is, in my opinion, not necessarily the wisest thing to do when such good materials can be brought from pre episode I and post episode VI…but that’s another discussion entirely. Suffice to say it doesn’t seem to detract all that much from the game experience. The gamer is served up steaming portions of timeline only hinted at in the movies; starting from the rebellions’ attempts to acquire the, then prototype, X-Wing star fighters.
Now let us turn to game mechanics. The game consists of two portions; one, a galactic management system similar to what you would expect from your traditional turn based galactic conquest style game or Sid Meiers’ civilisation; the second consists of your more traditional RTS style game where you are put in command of the units you have built or been given in the galactic management screen and tasked with completing mission objectives, usually capturing or defending a planet either in space or on the ground.
The galactic management system seems complicated at first but the learning curve for familiarisation with the system is quite gentle and it is actually quite a simple interface. One difference with the system in star wars to the examples mentioned above is the fact that it is not turn based but real-time, time expressing itself as months and this translates to revenue at the end of each month. Each world you hold has several build pads which allow you to build improvements for that world; these can include structures for recruiting infantry, tanks, improving land and space defences, income for the world and so on. Basically this section of the game consists of building structures, fleets and armies and then hopping them around the galaxy to where they are needed. Most of the units will be familiar to anyone with a passing knowledge of the Star Wars universe; one can build imperial AT-AT’s and Star Destroyers or Corellion Corvettes and Rebel Infiltrators.
The RTS portion of the game takes up the majority of the experience and is where the game shines, particularly the space battles. Interface consists of simple point and click commands; clicking on a unit’s special ability icon activates it and large targets such as capital ships and space stations will have targetable hard points such as ion cannons or shields. Space battles usually consist of an assaulting team and a defending team, the winner being the one to wipe out the others forces. The defending team will often have a space station to defend, if one has been built for the planet in the management portion of the game, this station will periodically launch fighters and bombers and hyper space in small star ships. Land battles consist of much the same fare with a few exceptions; one takes control of points on the map and this allows you to land more troops at one time; buildings on the map will correspond to those built on the planet; finally, several build pads exist on each map that, when captured, allow you to build several improvements including anti-infantry and tank guns.
The game can get a bit slow, especially during land battles, which can oft times become extremely protracted due to specific units types being so weak against one another. Another point to be made is that the galactic management system can perhaps be too simplistic for some people who want more depth from this aspect. Graphics wise it’s fairly pretty, nothing mind blowing but certainly adequate. Simply put Star Wars Empire at War certainly caters to those who have not been satisfied in their itch to crush rebel bases or imperial battle fleets in previous Lucas Arts titles, I believe they have finally captured this in a respectable title.
Alskreek, out.
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak