AbstractThe destiny of a galaxy hangs in the balance and you're in command. STAR WARS: Galactic Battlegrounds lets you lead the armies of Star Wars to victory in intense, real-time strategy clashes. Enter the fray as Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance with a legion of Jedi, the greedy Trade Federation, the Royal Naboo and other civilizations in campaigns that will determine the final outcome of the Galactic Civil War.
ESRB rating
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Violence |
Full descriptionGuide the Rebel Alliance to fend off the invading Empire or lead the Trade Federation to conquer the Naboo in this Star Wars real-time strategy built on Ensemble Studio's Age of Empires II game engine. Though the fundamentals and mechanics of play are similar to those of Ensemble's popular 1999 war game LucasArts brings a new look and style to the structure, with a developed single-player campaign and units, civilizations, and settings taken directly from the Star Wars stories.
The player begins in an untamed land with a small number of worker units, then must guide the faction to develop thriving communities and eventually a powerful military to defend the realm and conquer those of his or her rivals. As in Age of Empires and most other real-time strategies, computer and human opponents begin under similar circumstances and players race together to develop and expand their territories while keeping them defensible against one another's encroachment. As players gain control over more territory they find new sources of raw materials, which in turn provide them the means for further expansion and larger armies.
Six civilizations from the Star Wars universe are available for play, including the Wookies and the Gungans. While there is more apparent diversity in unit types between the various factions than in Age of Empires II, each Galactic Battlegrounds civ has its own equally powerful versions of infantry, aircraft, and siege weapons to maintain balance. The variety among the different cultures is evident in the distinct artwork used for each, but similar buildings have similar silhouette shapes, allowing players familiar with one civilization to quickly recognize the facilities of any of the other five races.
Editorial reviewSource:
AmazonA long time ago, an awesome real-time strategy game set in Earth's past named
Age of Empires II was unleashed on an unwitting public. Almost immediately, it took its place among the best games of its genre.
Galactic Battlegrounds takes many of the elements that made
Age of Empires II so good and gives them a complete
Star Wars makeover. The gameplay is so similar, it's hard to recommend it to anyone with a copy of
AOE II. However, if you haven't played
AOE II, or you're a hard-core
Star Wars fan, you might just find this game to be strong in the Force.
Battlegrounds offers you the chance to become a leader in deciding some of the most important battles of the Star Wars mythology. As in other real-time strategy games, you'll concern yourself with such things as keeping your troops fed, advancing technology, and trade. And, of course, keeping your base from getting completely wiped out is generally considered a plus.
Among the few enhancements Battlegrounds makes to the Age of Empires II engine is the bigger technology tree (more stuff to invent and play with) and air and anti-air units (TIE fighters, X-wings, etc.). Most of the favorite races, machinery, and characters of the films are also well represented. Wookiees, Jedi, the Trade Federation, Darth Vader, Luke, and the rest of the gang (including Jar Jar) are all there for you to command in the campaign mode. Those looking to wage war in the battles seen in the films might be somewhat disappointed, as many of the missions, while no less important, take place parallel (and usually very close to) those shown in movies.
Thankfully, a few of the better-known skirmishes have been incorporated in the game--just don't expect to significantly alter Star Wars history. For example, when controlling Imperial forces in the Battle of Hoth (the snow battle from The Empire Strikes Back), you lead your troops in an effort to annihilate Rebel scum before they can flee the planet. Can you change the outcome of the battle seen in the films? Aside from losing your commander and immediately losing the game, no. But the stories behind the skirmishes depicted throughout Battlegrounds do fit well into the Star Wars myth and are usually fun. There are also quite a few standalone missions, a random map generator, and tools for creating your own battles. It's enough to keep hard-core Star Wars fans ignoring their earthly responsibilities for a good long time.
Battlegrounds is, at its core, a modification of Age of Empires II and it plays about as well as can be expected. Fortunately, despite its somewhat outdated graphics, Battlegrounds' famous characters and locales add just enough Star Wars flavor to help make it a solid game in its own right.
Pros:
- Puts you in command of AT-ATs, stormtroopers, and Jedi
- Familiar Star Wars locales, characters, and music
- Uses the familiar (and very good) Age of Empires II interface
- Interesting main campaign that spans the films and goes beyond Return of the Jedi
Cons: - Outdated graphics lack definition and are rather flat
- AT-ATs too small, TIEs and X-wings hover instead of fly
Conflicts involve six key civilizations: Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, Wookiees, Gungans, Royal Naboo and Trade Federation
Execute your campaign over land, sea and air with over 300 different units and structures in single player campaigns, skirmishes and multiplayer battles
Combat arenas extend from interstellar asteroids and aerial encounters to submerged cities and ground battles
Accessible gameplay built upon the familiar RTS engine adapted from ensemble's popular Age of Empires II series
Use the scenario editor to create custom single or multiplayer battlegrounds with virtually any Star Wars units and settings
- Portions of content provided by Rovi Data Solutions, Inc. and IGN Entertainment, Inc.