"Empire At War" delivers

While Lucasarts, producer of all Star Wars games, has a generally excellent track record, their Real-time-strategy (RTS) games, where the player controls groups of units in battle, have

generally been weak. From the awful "Force Commander" to the repetitive "Galactic Battlegrounds," which essentially amounted to a Star Wars mod of "Age of Empires," Lucasarts has not had good luck with RTS games. Finally, with "Star Wars: Empire at War," Lucasarts has done the RTS thing right. The game is played on two different maps. In the galactic map, players manage their planets, construct buildings, build units and organize new strike forces. After sending space forces into an enemy system or being attacked, the player engages in a space battle with the classic Star Wars units. The player can then land ground units on a planet's surface and engage the enemy in a battle to take possession of the planet.

Hardcore RTS fans will find nothing especially innovative in Empire at War. However, Star Wars fans will jump in glee the first time their forces finally manage to take down a massive AT-AT (the giant four-legged walkers from the opening of "The Empire Strikes Back) on a land map or an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer in space.

While this is certainly the best Star Wars RTS to date, it has significant problems. All of the maps, land and space, are tiny, and with low unit caps that don't allow for more than four or five of the largest ships (Mon Calamari Cruisers for the rebellion or Imperial Star Destroyers for the empire), the huge battles from the movies are impossible to reenact. The 2-dimensional birds eye perspective for the space battles happen is also rather disappointing, although battles are much easier to manage.Additionally, the unit selection is rather small, amounting to fewer than 10 units of each type (space and land) for each side. Some notable excluded units include B-wing fighters, Carrack Cruisers Tie Interceptors, and (oh how I wish there were some of these) Super-Class Star Destroyers.

Neither the computer's AI nor the graphics are particularly impressive, but both are good enough to not detract from the gaming experience. One excellent feature of the game is the cinematic camera. Switching this feature on allows the player to view the battle as if it were in a movie. This feature is so cool that players likely will be tempted to remain in it at the cost of the battle they are playing through.

Even with these significant problems, the game does succeed in being a lot of fun. Seeing an Imperial Star Destroyer join the battle is enough to strike fear into the heart of any person playing as the Rebel Alliance. The appropriate sense of size for the capital ships means that fighters flit around the larger ships like gnats and a Star Destroyer dwarfs anything else on the map.

The ability to target specific systems on large space ships or space stations (like the laser cannons or shield generators) adds a little more strategy to the game as targeting certain subsystems may serve to turn the battle better than others. The fact that pieces of the ships fly off when they are destroyed really adds some realism to the game. There's nothing more tragic for rebellion commanders than watching the fragile spine of their Nebulon-B Frigate shatter as it falls apart into space.

Another feature that brings more strategy to the game is the unique power given to each type of unit, including the ability to move more quickly, fire more powerfully or raise shield levels higher for greater protection. Effective use of these powers can give players a decisive advantage.

Although Empire at War certainly has its share of problems, this game serves as the best Star Wars RTS to date and gameplay is a lot of fun, if a little repetitive. The game should improve over time as modders and expansion packs add new units and battles and (I hope) the option for larger battles. Even with its problems, Empire at War is a great way for Star Wars fans to enjoy the greatness of the Star Wars universe.