Star Wars: Empire at Wars is a mix of everything, done nicely. It combines the galactic management and conquest of Rebellion along with the RTS elements of Force Commander and Battleforce, while adding its own elements to create a very unique and entertaining game.

EaW takes place prior to Star Wars IV. The Empire is in control but the Rebel Forces are mobilizing and preparing to strike back. EaW is called a persistent RTS game. Any and all forces you create exist throughout the game and carry over after each mission. And there are no resources to gather in the traditional sense. Every planet you control allocates money, along with increasing your Population Cap which limits how many forces you can command.

The game is divided into three basic arenas. The first is the galactic map screen. Here you manage your systems and troops. Each planet can hold a maximum number of ground buildings and units and a space station level. Buildings very between factories (troops, units), defensive structures, and bonus structures that can add extra money, create heroes, or bounty hunters. From the galactic map screen you can organize and deploy your fleets and troops. Each planet can only hold a certain number of ground units so your space units are left in orbit. This presents a risk as they can be attacked by a fleet, though slaughtered is a better word. Finally, planets can have unique abilities, such as reduced production costs for specific units or whether that can hamper your unit’s abilities.

Next is the Space Battles. In order to occupy a planet you must first take control of the space above. Each planet can have space station in orbit, though the maximum level of the station is predetermined for each planet. As either the defender or attacker you can bring into the battle as many ships as your wish, however, you are limited by the Population Cap as to how many you can control at one time. As ships get destroyed you can bring in reinforcements. While it is a war of attrition there still is a lot of strategy. In some cases it was advantageous to focus on reinforcing my star fighter killers and clear the way before bringing in my capital ships.

The final stage before controlling a world is the land battle. Again you are limited to a maximum number of units. The difference here is the attacker can call for reinforcements from space, as long as they control a landing point. Defenders are limited to a maximum of 10 units. However, the defender has access to buildings. Any factories will produce new units at a regular rate and continue to do so until the building is completely destroyed.

This two-stage approach to planetary conquest creates an excellent arena for strategy and unit allocation. What I liked was how losing at the space battles did not mean instant loss of the planet. Furthermore, even losing the planet can seriously hurt the opponent’s armies and make retaking the planet easier for you, if you have the resources to take it back.

With a game as large as this one it is almost impossible to leave enough troops and ships at every planet to protect from enemy attack. Many times I found myself retaking the same world over and over again, trying to balance the minimal number of units I needed to retake a world and send out other troops to continue my conquest or liberation of the surrounding systems. I’ve played many games where I’ve hit a point that losing is almost impossible. Or the opposite where the computer gained a slight edge and carried the momentum. Here, it was a constant struggle till the near end where I finally managed to gain the edge and win the game. This to me is a sign of a well-designed game that makes you fight for victory to the bitter end.

It is evident a lot of thought went into the units. The design of every unit has a sort of rock-paper-scissor approach to it. For example, Y-Wing fighters are strong against capital ships. Capital ships have little defense against Y-Wings. So, you need corvettes that are strong against Y-Wings. In order to counter corvettes you need capital ships of your own. No single unit can over power every other unit. Like wise, the Empire and Rebellion each have their own unique characteristics. Only the Rebellion can build fighters, X-Wing, Y-Wings, and A-Wings. While the Empire can’t their capital ships carry a limited number in their bays and, unlike the Rebel’s fighters, these ones don’t count toward your Population Cap.

You also have minor and major heroes. The major Heroes, like Luke Skyjacker or Darth Vader are incredibly powerful and have special abilities. What I like about EaW is again the thought that went into the powers. For example the Emperor has the force lightning ability that can eliminate large number of troops. And they are very strong and hard to kill, though possible.

The Empire and Rebels are played differently, each tailored more toward the movies. The Empire is more about brute power and force. They have the impressive AT-AT, Interdictor Cruisers that prevent escape and, of course, the Death Star. Their research is done by building research buildings and spending credits. The Rebels can send a single unit to infiltrate, which bypasses any space force in orbit. Also, they don’t research as the Empire does but instead you use C-3PO and R2-D2 to steal technology from the Empire. Playing I didn’t find that one side’s strengths outweighed another’s and gave an unfair advantage.

Finally there are the graphics. Oh wow!!! The ships and ground units are beautifully rendered, amazing detail, and each is sized to give a realistic feeling. AT-AT tower over group troops and Calamari Cruisers dwarf star fighters. A very cool feature added to the game is the cinematic option where you can watch your troops up close attack enemy installations or watch your star fighters swoop in for attacks in changing cinematic scenes. The only issue with these scenes is you cannot control your fighters while watching them so they are best reserved for when you know you are about to win the battle.

The interface is fairly descent but could use some improvements. Highlighting and selecting troops was simple, especially with the pause function. But you could only assign a unit to a single group at a time. It would have been nice to assign a large group of units but be able to quickly call out a few select units, without pausing and re-selecting. Also, special abilities do have hot keys but you need the game chart to remember them, there is no quick reference given when highlighting a unit.

There are three games, skirmish, galactic conquest, and campaign. Skirmishes are quick land or space battles. Cash to purchase new equipment is gathered by taking control of mining facilities and new units are purchased and called in as needed.

Galactic conquests are full games with unique scenarios. They vary by the type of missions, number of planets, starting resources, etc.

The campaign is great as it follows through the events prior and up to the events of Star Wars Episode IV. While you can continue with your conquest of the worlds missions will come up that require filling, though thankfully there isn’t a time limit. The design is very well conceived and really adds to the game. One of the missions had me going to Kashyyyk to suppress a Wookie uprising. This was serious as we needed raw laborers for the Death Star. It turned out a former Imperial Officer by the name of Han Solo was leading the rebellion.

None of the units from the latest trilogy are present. I suspect pending the success of this game they may be included in an expansion pack.

Despite some short comings with the interface this is an excellent game that kept me coming back for more and more. Beautiful graphics and well thought out game play are present. This is the game that every Star Wars fan should own.