Keith Pullin struggles to come up with a heading involving the death of Jar Jar Binks, but doesn't manage it in the end
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.
IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING? 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. Wookiees, Rebel Alliance, Gungans, Galactic Empire, Trade Federation and The Royal Naboo all get their share of glory in equal amounts - it's what you might call galactic equality.
SETTING ASIDE DIFFERENCES 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.
ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR But the big question is does it all balance? The only true way to test this is by pitching races from different eras against each other in a multiplayer or skirmish game. Here you get the chance to utterly annihilate every last Gungan with a squadron of TIE fighters, or watch the fur fly as Wookiees and Gungans tear each other to pieces. After numerous tests, the most joyful of which involved painful experiments on Gungans, we concluded the balance was pretty much spot on.
So what of this AoK engine? The truth is, it does the job and nothing more. Food, carbon, ore and Nova Crystals have directly replaced the food, wood, stone and gold resources of AoK. Bases are established by collecting these resources to construct new buildings and units. And again, the familiar process of advancing up through the four tech levels makes for some often frantic yet always focused base expansion.
GB also utilises AoK's superb combat system, which relies heavily on using the right units for the right jobs and not just throwing everything into the mix at once. You also need to think about the numerous unit and building upgrades; decisions on whether to upgrade armour, speed, accuracy or damage are a major part of your tactics. There's also scope for trading resources between allies as well as a bit of light diplomacy thrown in for good measure.
KING FOR A DAY Clearly the AoK engine will bring quality to any RTS game, but there's still plenty lacking. It would have been nice to see a few multi-map missions; alas the AoK technology doesn't appear to allow it. With this being such a massive feature of Earth 2150 and more recently Conquest: Frontier Wars you have to say it's a major failing. Supply routes and ammunition refills are also non-existent; 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.
LUCAS AREN'T EVERYTHING 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 256 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 300 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.
MINIATURE MONSTERS 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?"
STARS IN THEIR EYES GB closely tracks major characters and scenes from all four 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) and Episode IV (Star Wars: A New Hope), so expect a timely add-on pack when the next film instalment hits our cinemas.
STAR WARS MANIA Galactic Battlegrounds is unlikely to win any awards for originality, but that's not what this game is about. GB's strength lies in its tried-and-tested gameplay, massive variety of missions and richly detailed universe. 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. GB may not reach the same levels of depth as Earth 2150 or Conquest: Frontier Wars, but when it comes to sheer playability it's easily up there with Red Alert 2.Galactic Battlegrounds is a fine RTS game and one of the best Star Wars games to grace the PC in a long time.
Keith Pullin
// Overview
Verdict
Star Wars strikes back
Uppers
Tried-and-tested AoE gameplay Hundreds of ground, sea and air units Six hugely interesting and varied races Good mixture of both stealth and base-building Scenario editor
Downers
Functional graphics Pathfinding can prove troublesome Lacks depth in places
One of the fascinating things about Star Wars is the different kind of vehicles used by the various races. Here's a quick look at some of the rarer and more famous transportation methods featured in Galactic Battlegrounds
Queen Amadala's Ship: The big shiny ship from Episode 1 has to be one of the sleekest-looking spacecraft ever seen in the Star Wars universe. Apparently it's also the most advanced ship ever built and can travel faster than even our next offering...
Darth Maul's Ship: Darth Maul turning up in any old banger just wouldn't have been the same. So, the Sith Lord's personal shuttle is just one of the specialist spacecraft included in GB to beef up the atmosphere. This nifty piece of technology is also one of the few spaceships in the game to possess a cloaking device.
Millennium Falcon: As everyone knows, this Corellian class freighter was made famous by Han Solo and his walking carpet sidekick Chewbacca. In early versions of the game Lando Calrissian piloted the Falcon, however after chatting with GB's producer, PC ZONE managed to convince the developers to go with Han instead.
Ewok Glider: It may not be at the forefront of galactic technology but the Ewok Glider still has a role to play. Best employed on home ground from a high elevation, the glider is highly effective as a bomber unit and can even take out powerful battledroid units despite its apparent flimsiness.
AT-AT: Though not quite as impressive as they should be due to the scaled-down size, the AT-ATs in GB are still a handful for any opposing army. However, in homage to the original Star Wars film, a swarm of Rebel snowspeeders can easily dispatch these giant walkers.
TIE defender: The only reason this unit ever made it into the game was because fans demanded it. Apparently LucasArts were so overwhelmed by the number of requests they finally caved in and decided to deliver exactly what the fans wanted. Shame they never capitulated in the same way when it came to including Imperial Star Destroyers. Ho hum.
// CHEWIE NOT CHALKY
One of the tutorial levels requires you to go and destroy an enemy fortress. As usual though, things aren't quite as simple as they seem
First of all you need to build up your base. Make sure you have defences in place before venturing out and if possible set up a shield generator as seen here.
With your base secure you must dispatch a likely-looking army to go and find the enemy fortress. The Wookiees are great hand-to-hand fighters so be prepared to make the most of their strength.
Once you've found the enemy base, break into it by attacking its weakest point. Avoid the gates if you can as they are usually tougher than the surrounding walls and are also well guarded.
Inside the enemy stronghold take out the Command Centre first. This weakens your foes and gives you control of the area. Finally destroy the fortress. With the job done Chewbacca and co should make it home for dinner.
// SHAPE YOUR DESTINY
LucasArts' decision to include a scenario and map editor means that hundreds of Death Stars are about to hit the Internet. Here we attempt to recreate a famous Star Wars scene of our own. Can you guess what it is?
First we shape the hillside and make sure there are plenty of rocks strewn around.
Next we throw in a few Tuscan Raiders as well as a lost droid.
On the other side of the map it's time to build a small farming settlement.
Finally we place C3PO and Luke Skywalker next to the farm ready to go off in search of the aforementioned droid. The rest, as they say, is history...
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Tried-and-tested AoE gameplay
