LucasArts have been trying to make a decent Star Wars strategy game for years but at last, with Empire at War, it looks like they???ve cracked it. Aiming to erase unpleasant memories of the likes of Force Commander and Galactic Battlegrounds, this allows you to take control of the forces of either the Empire or the Rebel Alliance ??? both in space and on the ground.

The space battles in the game are the most immediately impressive element with some stunning graphics and a hugely impressive sense of scale. It???s much easier to control than similar titles such as Homeworld though and the developer???s previous experience with user friendly strategy games such as Command & Conquer is very evident.

The ground battles may at first seem slightly more mundane but you get all the classic trilogy technology to use, including outdated (in terms of the Star Wars timeline) leftovers from Revenge of the Sith). There???s no boring resource management either though which lets you get on with the actual strategy rather than the book keeping.

Your success or failure in either type of battle directly affects the rest of your campaign, including your ability to construct more units and their morale. There are also "hero" units for both sides, including Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi, for that extra boost when your troops most need it. Quite frankly with graphics this good the game is already a must have for any Star Wars fan, but the gameplay is looking equally as good ??? making this one to watch for everyone. -- Harrison Dent

This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game.

There are mixed reviews over this game, but as someone who has played this game through and through allow me to give a fresh account.

The game split into 3 different levels of play and appeals to different people depending on your tastes. There is the land combat to secure a planets surface and ultimately the planet, there is space combat to secure the space above a planet or if it is an area of space to control the region, and the galactic map where you command all of your forces.

Now the campaign is long enough to keep thing interesting with a decent storyline, varied missions and the possibility for longer gametime should you wish to conquer more planets outside of the actual missions.
Galactic Conquest forms the mode whereby you are simply put, conquering the galaxy. You build your own style of fleet and landing forces and set about taking one planet at a time. The control you have in this mode is extremely simple to use and has enough depth to keep most interested and online it is a brilliant expansive challenge provided your opponent knows what they are doing.

Space Battles are by far my favourite, people complain about the lack of units in the battles but I feel this is perfectly acceptable as you MUST choose well what you introduce into your fleet. Stacking up captiol ships as some like to leaves you horribly exposed to certain attacks and likewise for other bias fleets. Either getting a balance or a certain style of fleet you can work well with is crucial.
Land Battles in my opinion are not so encouraging but ive met a lot of people online who love them and cant get enough. However for those who do not enjoy land or indeed the space battles there is in the conquest games the option to automatically resolve them, thus meaning you can get right to what you enjoy doing.

Those who complain about the missing units are/were being premature as the expansion Forces of Corruption introduces a whole host of wonderful new units which broaden the tactics needed and excitement to the battles and is largely the units people were complaining about.

So its more a case of with this game, if you enjoy star wars and strategy try it and make up your own mind. The space battles are visually stimulating, full of often fast paced combat needing quick decisions (where do I hyper in my reinforcements? Should I attack their space station now? Do I attack their money source but leave my own exposed to do so?). The land battles satisfying as you rout the enemies forces and take a whole planet to build on. The Galactic conquest mode where you can create the death star and destroy whole planets, or indeed stop the beast from taking you down with Red Squadron.
I feel those who dislike this game made up their minds far too quickly as it has something for everyone.
4 stars, always room for improvement but most certainly enjoyable, be sure to get online.

This game is great!

The coolest thing is that you get to control a ground squd and a space squd the actul game is quite diffecult.

Empire at War reminds me a little bit of Star Trek: Armada, as well as Star Craft, with elements of Master of Orion thrown in too. You control star systems and build ships, train troops, build mines and weapons etc, then you lead your fleets into battle against enemy fleets, and if you are successful in space, you can launch a ground assault.

Taking charge of space and land battles is optional- you can let the computer automatically decide the fate of the battle for you, though be warned, you will lose more engagements that way.

The detail is wonderful. You can see TIE fighters dogfight with X-Wings and watch as huge Star Destroyers pummel everything around them. Stormtroopers march with discipline and tanks and speeders blast each other to pieces as you try to control the map. You can even lead Darth Vader and Obi-wan Kenobi into a duel!

The game is fun, but what makes it greater is the fact that it's easily modded and Lucas Arts make it easy for people to mod it. This increases the scope of the game still further, to the point where you have Clonetroopers fighting Separatist droids in your own recreation of the Clone Wars!

It's a great game and I recommend it to any Star Wars fan.

When i have bought this game i was excited: a star wars game finally. The begin was in line with my expectations: the glorious prologue is astononishing!
But....
the game is well done both in space and on the planets but after 5 days i begun to feel a sense of boring.. the game is the same as many titles... it is nothin revolutionary. it is the same feeling i had with War of the rings game: the game is based on a loved world but it is nothing special...

This game has an interesting blend of graphics and playability. the space battles are excellent and the ground battles are slightly lacking. the empire are by far the better side in the game and in the movies and should win every time.