Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds

The Good
I'm a fan of Star Wars (I'm sure you are all aware of that now) and I'm also a fan of Age of Empires. So I was expecting big things from this after it was announced a while back.

I'm glad to say, that after a few weeks of playing, it's a very clean package, with everything a Star Wars fan could want. A chance to lead the Rebellion and the Imperial march. Recreations of the movies most important scenes (like the battle of hoth) thanks to the multiplayer options. And, what I believe is the most important of all: An easy way to kill Jar Jar over, and over, and over, and over ......

Where was I. Oh yes. GB is fun for all the above reasons. The single player campaign's are actually very well put together. Similar to AoE they go by the timeline. So the you will start with the battle for Naboo and work your way through to the Battle of Endor.

And since its AoE all over again, controlling each unit and maintaining each area of the game is very easy indeed. It helps greatly if you have played AoE before. Even then, newcomers will find things simple to accomplish at first, then gradually increase in difficulty.

The Bad
Although its an easy game to get into, and there is plenty to do, its still AoE. And the fact that the graphics and gameplay are basically the same won't help the cause for those looking for something new. I did enjoy playing as each race in the galaxy that I love, but I found it wasn't a real challenge thanks to my many days with AoE.

The thing that hurt the most was the graphics. AoE was never a marvel to look at. Simple, yes, but nothing compared to say Battle Realms. Here's the killer though. Ensemble studios are working on Age of Mythology (i.e. AoE3), and so far the screenshots look very good indeed. The question is, why wasn't the same graphical engine used for this. Surely some of the new techniques in the engine could have been tweaked in.

The only other problem I found came from the AI. At times some troops will find themselves stuck at bad times during a fight, meaning I had to spend hard earned money to replace someone I shouldn't have had to replace.

The Bottom Line
As a whole. Galactic Battlegrounds is a solid title that is hard not to like. But there is nothing here that will make it a huge title for everyone to sit up and look at, since AoM, Empire Earth and Battle Realms has this covered.

Still, it's always good to log on and relive some of the best moments of the movies with pals. And a laugh is always had with Jar Jar (not of the movie kind!)

The Good
Very addicting game with a Warcraft III like feel to it, gathering resources and building an empire that will eventually strike at the enemy. There's a lot of options to choose from, lots of maps and so many different units to research and build. The graphics are pretty good, the character animations are really good. (ex. When the Gungans fish (food gathering) they jump into the water repeatedly until they fill their quota and make a drop off) it was rather amusing the first time i saw that.

The Bad
There seems to be no way to rotate the map, buildings, walls, etc which can make building a bit difficult at times. [If there is a way someone PLEASE let me know]. The game doesn't require much PC resources to run, however when you play a big game (200 characters max per team) the game slows down considerably, even freezes up for a short period too, it's really annoying! [i'm sure of course a better PC would correct that particular annoyance]. The attack units (Turrets mainly) can be really "dumb" at times. (ex. When built close enough to enemy units (buildings) they will fire at will (good thing) however when the enemy attack units become aware of this (foot soldiers, siths, etc) they will attack the turrets now rather than stop firing at the buildings and attack the soldiers they continue to fire at the buildings, in turn they take extensive damage, eventually the turrets will "wise up" and do the right thing, too little too late sometimes. All in all though it's a minor flaw. i still love the damn game!

The Bottom Line
Galactic Battlegrounds is a very addictive game, if you like games of this genre than give this one a shot, you'll love it.

The Good
Well, the idea of a Star Wars RTS is certainly cool. The controls are simple and serve their purpose. Nothing here stands out as amazingly good. The graphic animations are competent. The interface has an appropriate "Star Warsy" feel.

The Bad
The game is essentially a (if you will excuse the expression) clone of Age of Kings. Almost all of the techs are the same, with different names and icons. All the buildings have their AOK clones, most of the units are pretty standard etc.

The engine (which uses the AOK engine) is frankly, outdated and old, even at the time it was released. The game's graphics are ok, but nothing to look at. Sometimes the scale and overall look of the game creates a rather gaudy atmosphere, in contrast to the more laid-back, eye pleasing style of AOK.

The game's strategy element is poor compared to that of AOK. Air units are really the game breaker here. Air units being overpowered and difficult to destroy, it just adds another annoying level to the elegant strategy of AOK.

The sounds are also often overpowering, with blood curdling, melodramatic screams. It's extremely annoying not to mention somewhat tacky.

The campaigns that comes with the game are pathetic compared to the ones in AOK.

The Bottom Line
This game is a cheap Star Wars cash in on Age of Empire 2.