Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
A 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
The destiny of a galaxy hangs in the balance, and you're in command. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds lets you lead Star Wars armies to victory in intense real-time strategy clashes. Enter the fray as the Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, Trade Federation, Wookiees, and other civilizations or organizations in campaigns that will determine the final outcome of the Galactic Civil War. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds is an epic real-time strategy set against a backdrop of the entire Star Wars saga. The conflicts involve six key civilizations: Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, Wookiees, Gungans, Royal Naboo, and the Trade Federation. Execute your campaign over land, sea, and air with more than 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. Deploy vast legions of units into battle--up to 200 per side--with groups that include bounty hunters, Jedi Knights, stormtroopers, X-Wings, AT-ATs, snowspeeders, AT-STs, Wookiee Kas tanks, and droids. Manage your resources and integrate the power of upgradable technology into your strategy, such as Wookiee ingenuity, advanced Gungan biotechnology, and Jedi stamina. Each technology level brings new wonders and new forces. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds features accessible gameplay built upon the familiar RTS engine adapted from Ensemble's popular Age of Empires series. Use the scenario editor to create custom single- or multiplayer battlegrounds with virtually any Star Wars units and settings.
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Accessories
 Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns (Expansion Pack)
Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds Saga
Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds Saga (Jewel Case)
Star Wars: Empire at War
Star Wars Republic Commando
Age of Empires: Collectors Edition (Jewel Case)
Emperor: Battle for Dune
Betrayal (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 1)
Star Wars Empire At War Gold Pack (PC DVD)
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Reviews
The troops are as big as some of the mechs. This is bs. A lot of people think this is just a copy of age of empires. The graphics are pretty good. This game is built on the same engine, but it features ALOT more units, and it's just a better game than age of empires. The only problem with this games is the scaling. It includes a series of fun campaigns and an incredible scenario editor.
they teach you how to play in the menu. the game has good grafics and is fun to play. to make it better you should get an expantion like star wars galactic battlegrounds the clone compainion. Star wars galactic battlegrounds is awsome.
The flying units are a mere annoyance, lacking any real power when faced with anti-aircraft, and a sheild generators and towers make uber-strong defensive combos that take eons to remove, especially in the face of defensive siege weapon emplacements. To summarize: This is a good game, but if you are playing someone who has a similar skill level, prepare to be playing a LONG time. Let me preface my review by stating that I am an enthusiastic Star Wars fan, and bought this game because of it. The gameplay is fun and interesting and the SW locals are great; however, when compared to AOE II (the game from which this is derived), there is a slight lack of cohesion and balance. It is harder to find unit combos that work seamlessly together, and there are too many top-heavy units (AT-AT and the rebellion tank, for example) which don't cost enough to make (it is VERY easy to build 15-20 AT-AT's and steamroller across a map).
For example, there is a unit in AoE that is called the ram, it is resitant to arrows and destroys buildings. It is the AoE game engine set in a Star Wars galaxy. The units are exactly the same.
This would be that it is a total clone of Age of Empires 2. It is resitant to lasers and destroys sturctures. I had a lot of fun playing this game.
You should try AoE out first. There really was only one problem. This sounds pretty similar, right.
I suggest that you buy Age of Empires, and you love it, to buy this game. In Star Wars there is a unit called a pummel.
But alas, unit limits keep you from doing such a thing. I always wanted to load up with 100 or so carriers and raid someone's base. But SC does have its faults, namely the biggest one being it was too limited. I am an avid RTS gamer, and of course I fell in love with Starcraft the first time I played it.
Of course, its challenging to keep your base going long enough to do this, so the difficulty I had at playing SC never really left either. Of course, you could sit around and complain that the graphics arent 3d, the story mode doesnt have Starcraft's excellent cutscenes, well, to that I say, hard cheese. It has an even more detailed tech tree then Starcraft, and of course the unit limits were more forgiving, so I was able to take 150 at-ats and raid bases at my whim. If you like Starcraft, Star Wars games, or just strategy games in general, this is worth the cash.
But then I discovered Battlegrounds, and was satisfied.
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