I have to admit that after playing the demo, I was a bit skeptical. Sure the galactic aspect of the game held a little promise, but The tactical combat seemed too fast. The overall play felt like the whole rock, paper, scissors thing was going to be too simplistic. Sure it looked nice, but I was prepared to play what would end up being a mediocre game overall.

I WAS WRONG

Now.. the game has faults. Several in fact. But one thing missing from the demos, and really missing from all the previews of gameplay, was a good sense of how the Galactic Campaign style of play would work against a friend online. And in a word, its brilliant.

Now.. if you have been living under a rock, let me give you the brief explanation. When playing EAW, you can play one of three types of games. Two are meant for quick fun sessions, they are called Land Skirmish, and Space Skirmish. Both of them start you off on one tactical map, with a set amount of credits, and you buy the units you want to take into battle. Use your units to take out the other guy (or AI) and you win. This gameplay is very similar to that popular RTS Myth. You need a good combined arms approach to win, and you need to watch your units closely, as they can get drawn into trouble if your not careful.

But thats not the game you should be playing. You should be playing option #3: Galactic Conquest. In this version of the game, you play over a galactic map, and build bases and units, and then play a sort of chess, as you maneuver your pieces into tactical situations that will benefit you the most. When you meet the enemy, you engage in a tactical combat (much like the skirmish), only here you can only fight with those units you broght with you to the battle.

What makes this game so engaging, besides the lovely visuals, and the always inspiring Imperial March, is the varied nature of the tactical and strategic combat that you will be engaging in. Now, all I say here, I say as if I was playing a Live opponent. The AI is a little daft.. so please bear that in mind. But let me walk you through a Narrative of some of my experiences….*ripply fades*

So, here I am, Emperor of the Galactic Empire. We control about 3-4 worlds in the center of the Galaxy. As the Empire, the location and makeup of the Rebellion are hidden from me, but I can send cheap probe driods on missions to spy on planets for a short time.

To begin with, I start building up Stormtroopers, AT-STs (those 2 legged scout machines), and speeder bikes on all my planets. At the same time, I begin work on space stations on all my planets. Now, on land, I can only build a set number of structures per planet, so decidign to build mines (to make money), barracks (to make infantry), factories (to make vehicles), shields (to protect my planet), and other cooler buildings, is a tough choice. I have a limited amount fo money that I earn each
“Galactic Year”, and i have a set number of units I can make overall, so i have to keep an eye on what im doing.

I decide that my garrisons are held well enough, and my space fleet is beginning to form, with some anti-fighter cruisers, and a few Acclimators (think baby star destroyers). A probe droid has discovered a nearby system has pirates in it. I decide it needs to be “liberated” so that i can gain access to a 25% reduction in the cost of my cruisers (each planet has traits, usually bonuses to costs, or combat effectiveness, so even what system to control has a decision factor).

I send in a fleet of starships in order around the planet. This battle auto-resolves, since in a 2 player game, they dont bother with tactical battles versus the AI. I have lost an acclimator, but no big whoop.. those pirates are gone. Now I send over a fleet made up of all ground units. This fleed lands from orbit, and rids the planet of pirates. YAY!

While I was dallying however, my opponent, that rebel scum, has launched an attack from the opposite direction, and is heading to my secondary ship yards! I get a warning that a rebel fleet is approaching, but without long range sensors, and probe droids out, I dont know from where! I quickly recall my fleet to the shipyard, but they dont arrive in time!!!

BATTLE COMMENCES!

My space station has a pitiful 2 cruisers as company, and even the onboard compliment of Tie Fighters and Bombers wont do much to protect me. But If my station is going down, I’m going to make him pay for it.

He sends in a feint of a corellian cruiser. He wants me to send my fighters in there to get chewed up. Im not that dumb. Instead I let the station hammer it with its formidible defenses. He gets the hint, and the corvette slips from view.

Now, he sends in his Mon Cal Cruiser. But its not any mon cal.. its Admiral Ackbar’s flagship, Home One! That thing has a few tricks up its sleeve. I send in my bombers, but his corvette flies escort, and eats them up after only one volley. He sends in some Y wings, and X wings to tangle, but my cruisers give them a bloody nose before the Mon Cal capital ship swipes my cruisers off the map. Now my station is defenseless, and it is slowly picked apart. This battle is over, and Ive lost a space station, and 2 cruisers. He lost some X wings, and Y wings.. but nothing too bad.

As soon as the battle ends, My fleet which was on the way, manages to arrive.. and while theres nothign left to defend.. I’m going to get some revenge!! HA HA!

This battle goes a bit more my way. Admiral Ackbar can’t hold up against all that firepower, but before I can finish him off, my opponent decided to run for it, calling for a jump to Hyperspace! NO!!! I have no interdictor cruisers yet to stop him, so hes going to get away. While hes running tho, time speeds up, and all his units are more vulnerable to fire. So some parting volleys from my cruisers take out a few of his Corvettes.

*riples ripples*

So that battle continues. I take systems, he takes systems. We engage, and run often.. running when the situation seems disadventageous for us. He makes feints into my systems to draw off my fleets. I attempt to corner him with my overwhelming firepower. Its a simply wonderful experience.

I didnt even get to the ground battles, which add excitement with Base shields that must be defended / destroyed, devastating Bombing attacks from ships in orbit, and hero units like Darth Vader who crush enemy vehicles with just his mind.

All in all, you can end up playing a 5 hour game, and not even realize it. Its THAT fun.

It does however have its ugly sides. The single player campaign (at least on the empire side so far) seems far too easy. The AI lacks the ooph to try to draw my units into traps, etc. And I can typically command the battle even when numbers arent on my side.

I also suspect there may be some imbalances. I would expect somethign more akin to Starcraft, where each side’s manner of play had its pros and cons. Its clear that EAW tries to do this, but somehow It feels to me at least that the rebels are a tad too powerful, compared to waht should be the might of the empire. For example, in one game I lpayed, right at the beginning, the combined starting fleets of the empire and the rebellion met, and the rebellion mopped the floor with me. The special abilities of the rebellino boost shields and such, thus allowing for last minute escapes, while the Empire’s ships mostly have a “boost firepower” ability, that in fact ALSO drains their shields! Um.. why would I ever do that?

Then again, maybe I just suck

All I know for sure, is that this game is a HELL of alot of fun. It has a wide variety of strategy to it, and its all delivered in that wonderful Star Wars package… music, graphics, and all.

It really is that Star Wars game we’ve always dreamed of.