In all there'll be different land, air and sea units and structures for you to research and construct. This large diversity of units will allow you to take part in epic battles, based on any number of battlegrounds, be they an asteroid belt or an underwater city, with armies reaching sizes of up to units.
LucasArts has likened the gameplay to AOE2, so hopefully all the depth and charm from that game will also be present in Galactic Battlegrounds.
There'll be plenty of races and units that will be instantly familiar to any Star Wars fan. No doubt ankle-biting and lightsabre kneecapping will come into the equation at some point. Each side will have a unique collection of upgradeable technology. They'll also have special skills, such as Jedi stamina. As well as the individual campaigns, Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds will ship with a scenario editor that will let you create your own single or multiplayer levels to kick the force out of your mates on.
You'll be able to throw in any combination of sides, settings and units into your creations, which will give you a near infinite amount of possibilities when making your ideal map. It's still early days for this project, but the Star Wars licence will undoubtedly guarantee its popularity.
As for the game itself, it's too early to make a judgement, but the fact it runs on the Age Of Empires engine certainly bodes well, even if it's already showing its age. Let's hope LucasArts makes a better job of this than it did with the dire Force Commander. Although, that's hardly going to be difficult, is it? Learning from previous mistakes that may or may not involve the words 'Force' and 'Commander', LucasArts has taken the unprecedented step of using someone else's technology to get back on track in their latest foray into the Star Wars universe.
And quite a tidy little job it is too. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds combines Ensemble's Age Of Kings engine with the most popular sci-fi brand on the planet, to produce a real-time strategy experience fit for Yoda himself. If you're a Star Wars fan, it's sheer heaven. Name a character from any of the films - Galactic Battlegrounds has them. Name your favourite battle scene - GB has it.
In fact, just to prove that they've left nothing out there's a handy databank on the main menu which contains details on everybody and everything in the game, not to mention profiles of all the races. No doubt about it, LucasArts has crammed in every last detail, but it didn't have an engine to program so it had some time to play with. And time is what GB is all about.
This epic journey through the history of the Star Wars universe contains six campaigns that each focus on a particular race. One thing we were promised with GB was that each civilisation would have unique tactical strengths and weaknesses.
Thankfully we haven't been disappointed. The Gungans for example are not the greatest of flyers and don't pack anywhere near the overall high-tech strike power of the Trade Federation. When it comes to long-range artillery attacks though, the sneaky Gungans are the undisputed masters. These irritating floppy-eared kids' favourite are also the only race capable of building underwater cities. While this proves handy in setting up the ultimate secret base, it also means the Gungans possess wicked Bongo submarine stealth units, by far the best Naval force in the game.
And then you have the air superiority of the Empire. Any Star Wars fan knows the Empire has no equal when it comes to flying around hurting people. The Rebel Alliance meanwhile can produce Jedi Knights who are fearsome in close-combat situations and also act as priests by converting enemies. Only Wookiee berserkers and Sith Lords come close to matching the Jedi's fighting prowess. It would have been nice to see a few multi-map missions; alas the toft technology doesn't appear to allow it.
With this being such a massive feature of Earth and more recently Conquest: Frontier Wars you have to say it's a major failing. Supply routes and ammunition refills are also nonexistent; yet this is another angle more ambitious RTS developers have been experimenting with for quite a while.
Finally pathfinding on large groups of slow-moving units and for some reason artillery in particular is often quite wayward. Why does this keep happening? Surely developers have sussed the art of moving a blob safely from one side of the screen to the other by now.
You may also be interested to know that your units can occasionally get blocked in by computer-controlled allies. At one point a Gungan grenade-thrower stood frozen for about half an hour between two buildings before letting my Jedi Knight pass.
As well as tactical differences, GB has plenty of graphical variety between the races. Building architecture epitomises this by emphasising the personality of its home race. All Empire constructions for example are very angular. Rebel buildings have very soft edges, and Gungan cities all have a kind of ethereal, bubbly look to them that makes you want to punch them repeatedly over and over again until they fall down.
That said, the graphics are not particularly pleasant. LucasArts has opted for only colours in order to have more units on screen at once. While on one hand this allows for the kind of battles Star Wars is famous for without your processor grinding to a halt and screaming for sweet mercy, the downside is that frankly it can look a bit shit -even if there are more than different unit types.
It goes without saying that if you're the kind of person who enjoys rippling water and the odd swaying tree with their strategy games, you'll feel pretty gutted with this. Large explosions are the only real notable graphical wonder, although the shimmering and dazzling display of the shield generator comes a close second.
On the plus side you don't need a graphics accelerator card to play it. Though considerate to those select few who still run their PCs with some kind of medieval configuration, it's basically a hollow gesture for the rest of us who were forced into that essential hardware purchase years ago. You have to say more was expected in terms of scale too.
The AT-ATs are much smaller than they should be compared to stormtroopers and other ground units. There are also no Imperial Star Destroyers, and you can only assume this is in part due to the scale problems such a gigantic spaceship would create. The similarity of some units most notably droid workers and droid troopers is a more serious flaw. Using a magnifying glass to work out who's got a gun and who's got a plum can take up valuable seconds on the battlefield.
If you're sensible you'll assign your troopers to squadrons before you send them into battle. You'll then make use of the rudimentary behavioural commands and hopefully avoid any drag-and-grab calamities.
As you would imagine there are no problems with the sound. The Star Wars theme races along whenever it gets the opportunity and the thousands of voice samples a mixture of original and acted add atmosphere as well as a few unintentional laughs.
Darth Vader gets all the best lines of course. At one point he throttles a particularly dense officer to death for misunderstanding orders and then icily asks: "Does that make things any clearer for you? GB closely tracks major characters and scenes from all tour Star Wars films: Han, Chewie, Luke and all the traditional favourites are there.
LucasArts has also managed to squeeze in some original missions of their own creation. The resulting mix is a pleasant blend of 'fact' and 'fiction'. As well as reliving the exhilarating Battle of Hoth you can enjoy a more rustic experience in the company of Wookiees - an experience that can only be described as 'velvety with a hint of figs'.
Each campaign contains around seven varying missions. Subtler missions such as escorting Naboo's Nibian bombers with a squadron of N1 - starfighters or finding five animals for a Gungan feast sit comfortably alongside the usual fare of resource-collecting and base-building. Add to this the hugely atmospheric ground battles such as the aforementioned scrap on Hoth, as well as the Gungans climatic ruck versus the Trade Federation on Naboo and you've got some fairly interesting scenarios to deal with.
Those with astute eyesight may even notice the larger than necessary gap on the campaign menu screen between Episode I The Phantom Menace? Galactic Battlegrounds is unlikely to win any awards for originality, but that's not what this game is about. GPs strength lies in its tried-and-tested gameplay. Throwing in a scenario and map editor for good measure is also sure to add to the multiplayer side of things, as well as improve the longevity in general. It's also a coup for Star Wars anoraks; if you ever wanted to recreate the Deathstar or pitch an army of Sith against an army of Jedi and we know you're out there now is your chance.
Galactic Battlegrounds GB is the junction of two successful entertainment franchises, one for the PC and one for silver screen. You, the player, will also be happy because you're getting the stability of an established mature game engine and a lush science fiction universe that has become a part of modern folklore. As each community improves builds certain structures and accumulates resources like food and wood the civilization "graduates" to the next of four ages where more advanced structures and units are available.
And for those who may have been encased in carbonite a fate that befalls Han Solo for the past 25 years, Star Wars is a little series of space swashbuckler films cooked up by one George Lucas, founder of LucasArts, the makers of this game.
Publisher: Disney , Lucasfilm , LucasArts. Franchise: Star Wars. Share Embed. Add to Cart. Bundle info. Add to Account.
View Community Hub. About This Game The destiny of a galaxy hangs in the balance, and you are in command! Expand the battlefield with the Clone Campaigns addon. Execute campaigns over land, sea, and air in single-player campaigns, skirmishes, and multiplayer battles. Combat arenas extend from interstellar asteroids to epic ground battles to aquatic realms. Manage resources and upgradable technology into your strategy, such as Wookie ingenuity, advanced Gungan biotechnology and Jedi stamina.
Create custom single or multiplayer campaigns featuring virtually any Star Wars units and settings with the Scenario Editor. See all. Customer reviews. Overall Reviews:. Review Type. All 3, Positive 2, Negative All 3, Steam Purchasers 2, Other All Languages 3, Your Languages 2, Customize. Date Range. To view reviews within a date range, please click and drag a selection on a graph above or click on a specific bar. Show graph.
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