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SW: Empire at War Released
Posted: 2006-02-16 12:28pm
by Fire Fly
Decent scores so far.
7.6/10 from IGN
7.9/10 from Gamespot
Presentation, audio and visuals all seem to be decent. But gameplay is slightly lower.
Link
8.5 Presentation
A great use of the franchise at nearly every level. It really brings the Galactic Civil War to life.
8.0 Graphics
The space battles are solid and the galactic interface is slick. Planetary battles leave a lot to be desired.
8.0 Sound
As always, the music and effects are straight from the films. The sound-alikes do a good job with the dialogue.
6.5 Gameplay
Not enough variety in terms of the units to really allow for any strategic flexibility.
7.5 Lasting Appeal
Scores high thanks to loads of campaign options. Scores low due to the repetitive nature of the fights.
Posted: 2006-02-16 12:35pm
by Ubiquitous
Urghh, that's not a very good score at all considering the potential that this game had. But then again I have a feeling that because it is SW, it will appeal to many people no matter how crappy it is.
Posted: 2006-02-16 03:40pm
by Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba
To be fair, IGN's a shitty reviewer. Gamespot actually has a good roster of people doing it, so I don't know...
Well, I'll pick it up later today and review it sometime this weekend.
Posted: 2006-02-16 04:29pm
by Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba
Upon further notice, it looks like Gamespot actually hasn't posted any review yet about this game.
Posted: 2006-02-16 04:52pm
by Nephtys
Ubiquitous wrote:Urghh, that's not a very good score at all considering the potential that this game had. But then again I have a feeling that because it is SW, it will appeal to many people no matter how crappy it is.
Potential? The demo showed exactly how wasted 95 percent of that is. No balance, no strategy, and airstrikes that are plain unstoppable.
Posted: 2006-02-16 05:26pm
by Ubiquitous
Nephtys wrote:Ubiquitous wrote:Urghh, that's not a very good score at all considering the potential that this game had. But then again I have a feeling that because it is SW, it will appeal to many people no matter how crappy it is.
Potential? The demo showed exactly how wasted 95 percent of that is. No balance, no strategy, and airstrikes that are plain unstoppable.
Reminds me of ST: Armada 1 + 2 in many ways. Hell, any Trek game for that matter.
Posted: 2006-02-16 05:27pm
by Stark
I'm going to buy (well, briefly rent) this game, because I want to know what their idea of 'brings the Galactic civil war to life' is. For me, that's really not what I saw in the demo.
But maybe it got a high presentation score for using that horrible SW alphabet. It's like a huge NERD sign.
Posted: 2006-02-16 05:42pm
by Spanky The Dolphin
I'll wait and see what Game Revolution has to say.
Posted: 2006-02-16 08:37pm
by Ypoknons
Ubiquitous wrote:Urghh, that's not a very good score at all considering the potential that this game had. But then again I have a feeling that because it is SW, it will appeal to many people no matter how crappy it is.
You know, there definately is that feeling out there these days. TIE Fighter was brilliant, X-Wing Alliance was excellent, and the Jedi Knight series great until Jedi Knight 3, which didn't introduce anything new over JK2 so it was sort of a stand-alone expansion. Since then, Galaxies was buggy on release, both the Battlefronts fairly medicore cross platform, and Empire at War better than force commander but then again, ultimately little better than medicore.
Edit: Hmmm.... Gamespot actually gave it an 8.7. Maybe I'm just sick of the normal RTS genre....
Posted: 2006-02-17 12:47am
by MKSheppard
There's ZERO flexibility in the stock game; there are only FOUR tech levels in land or space; meaning that you've got about four 'big' units, Acclaimator, VSD, then Imp Star, then DS. That's it.
Here's a list of ships that have name lists in the full version Data foldier:
Acclamator Assault Ship
Alliance Assault Frigate
Broadside Class Cruiser
Calamari Cruiser
Corellian Corvette
Corellian Gunboat
Interdictor Cruiser
Marauder Missile Cruiser
Nebulon B Frigate
Star Destroyer
Tartan Patrol Cruiser
Victory Destroyer
Posted: 2006-02-17 12:57am
by MKSheppard
The ISD name list is just pitiful.
Allecto
Avenger
Basilisk
Chimaera
Conquest
Death’s Head
Devastator
Implacable
Judicator
Mathayus
Relentless
Stalker
Thunderflare
Tyrannic
Tyrant
Valorous
Vehement
Vengeance
Visage
That's it. Fuck, I put together a far superior list while in jail working off a dictionary.
Posted: 2006-02-17 01:00am
by Brother-Captain Gaius
To be fair, a lot of those are actual SDs though. Needa's Avenger, the Thunderflare, and Chimaera I all recognize, plus a bunch more featured in the X-Wing and TIE Fighter game series.
Posted: 2006-02-17 01:05am
by MKSheppard
Shit, all they have is: TIE Fighters, TIE Bombers, and a completly bullshit TIE Scout which looks completely bullshit; instead of using WEG's TIE/rc they had to make up their own wank.
Posted: 2006-02-17 01:07am
by MKSheppard
My quick opinion so far: Wait until the game has been out for a while, come down in price; and a lot of mods are available for it that truly recreate the Galactic Civil War; and then get it.
Posted: 2006-02-17 01:18am
by Chris OFarrell
You know, the same thing happened with Star Wars Galaxies.
They had a HUGE established EU to play with with the Jump to Lightspeed expansion pack. Instead, they just on the spot make up a huge chunk of Imperial ships for no frigen reason at all! The TIE Oppressor??? The TIE Decimator?
*spits*
After reading that, I swore never to buy any new SW games. I have kept that promise thus far and after playing the Empires at War demo, I don't think I'll be breaking it.
Posted: 2006-02-17 01:24am
by Vympel
The IGN review emulates my impressions of the demo pretty accurately. The game's a complete waste of potential and everyone will have forgotten about it a month from now. Their shitting on the ground graphics especially.
Posted: 2006-02-17 02:16am
by Kamakazie Sith
The scores are certainly fair. However, this game has just as much potential as SW: Rebellion in a different way. The space battles combined with the units special abilities, and the ability to call for reinforcements make for some otherwise surprising outcomes during battles.
I have to disagree with IGN's take on the strategy/tactical element, and say that there's a lot of potential for creative gamers.
I bought it today, and I have to say I'm pretty happy. Then again I also enjoyed games like Birth of the Federation, and SWR.
Posted: 2006-02-17 10:03am
by AK_Jedi
MKSheppard wrote:Shit, all they have is: TIE Fighters, TIE Bombers, and a completly bullshit TIE Scout which looks completely bullshit; instead of using WEG's TIE/rc they had to make up their own wank.
Actually, the TIE Scout has been established in several EU sources. There was a CCG card of it, and I believe (I may be completely wrong) that it made its first appearance from WEG.
I don't understand why the rebel side in all the RTS games has tanks. Its like lucasarts couldn't think of any vehicles to give the rebels, so they just designed weird looking futuristic tanks. You could almost transplant tanks from the C&C series, and they wouldn't look too out of place.
Posted: 2006-02-17 12:23pm
by Mange
MKSheppard wrote:Shit, all they have is: TIE Fighters, TIE Bombers, and a completly bullshit TIE Scout which looks completely bullshit; instead of using WEG's TIE/rc they had to make up their own wank.
AK_Jedi wrote:Actually, the TIE Scout has been established in several EU sources. There was a CCG card of it, and I believe (I may be completely wrong) that it made its first appearance from WEG.
Yes, that's true. The TIE Scout first appeared in the
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game 2nd Edition:
Star Wars Technical Commentaries entry on the TIE Scout
Posted: 2006-02-17 08:12pm
by Uraniun235
I saw it being played on some kid's laptop at school today. The space combat just looked really, really boring.
Posted: 2006-02-17 08:19pm
by Sharp-kun
Chris OFarrell wrote:The TIE Oppressor??? The TIE Decimator?
I still await the TIE Rapist.
Posted: 2006-02-17 10:36pm
by Solauren
The Demo looks like it has potential.
I'd like to see more units, but beyond that, I enjoyed Galactic Battlegrounds, so to me, this is just a nice little 'update' that will include space battles.
Sure, nothing big, but hey, unless someone can point me to a better on with an amazing Star Wars mod....
Posted: 2006-02-18 03:27am
by Ace Pace
Solauren wrote:The Demo looks like it has potential.
I'd like to see more units, but beyond that, I enjoyed Galactic Battlegrounds, so to me, this is just a nice little 'update' that will include space battles.
Sure, nothing big, but hey, unless someone can point me to a better on with an amazing Star Wars mod....
A nice little update? Try playing the demo, its nothing remotely the same.
Posted: 2006-02-18 04:20am
by Stark
Was GB the AoE mod that had R2 units humping the carbon out of trees? Nigga, please: that was a horrible abortion of a game. EaW might suck, but not due to over-RTSness.
Posted: 2006-02-18 04:35am
by Ace Pace
Stark wrote:Was GB the AoE mod that had R2 units humping the carbon out of trees? Nigga, please: that was a horrible abortion of a game. EaW might suck, but not due to over-RTSness.
Whats wrong with that? It was a very nice RTS, nothing special but definetly better then the rest of SW games, EaW included.