4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Game Often Gets a Bad Rap, June 28, 2003
This review is from: Star Wars: Force Commander (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)
Of all the early Star Wars games sporting improved graphics (compared to polygonal gems such as X-Wing Alliance) Force Commander ranks among the most fun to play. Like its modern twin (Galactic Battlegrounds) Force Commander requires the player to think strategically and be able to keep track of many battlefield units during multiple real-time conflicts over variable terrain. This game is for the more intellectual Star Wars fan so it isn't full of flashy lightsaber fights, alien shoot-outs, or fast-paced fly-bys in Incom T-65 X-wings; you'll actually have to use your noodle to enjoy it! And for these reasons the game often gets poor reviews, with "unengaging gameplay," "dated graphics," and "poor AI" among the common remarks. But nothing could be further from the truth. If you go into the game knowing what it is, you'll find Force Commander enjoyable and engaging with a high replay.
In short, Force Commander is Lucasarts' version of extreme battle-chess: it is an interactive 3rd person set of real-time 3D strategic missions that span the original Star Wars Trilogy. You can play in either Campaign mode, Skirmish mode, or Scenario mode and depending on the mode (and your progress), you play either as an Imperial or Rebel commanding officer Brenn Tantor, a hero with a dark past. Using a unique tactical screen that Lucasarts calls the 'Battlefield Holographic Control Interface' (BHCI), you control up to 60 seperate battle units, including Imperial ATSTs, ATATs, Mobile Artillery Units, and TIE Bombers, as well as Rebel Hover Tanks, Mobile Proton Torpedo Launchers that lay mines, Mobile Missle Launchers, and Rebel Troops with grenades. There are tons of other units available. You requisition additional units with your command tenure using a system of "command points" which work as currency. You earn tenure/points by controlling the battlefield, destroying or capturing enemy units, keeping your units alive, and preventing the capture/overrun of your planetary base. The max command point total is 5000.
On worlds including Tatooine, Serapin, Abridon, Endor, and Coruscant, you control your central base, ground, and air forces via the BHCI from your Star Destroyer or Rebel Command ship, orbiting the planet. Half-way through the campaign, or at any time in a skirmish, you have the option to leave your command ship and go to the planets' surfaces in a Tracked Mobile Base (TRMB). What you see on the screen for most of the game is intended to be a "holographic 3D representation of the battlefield" and not the actual battlefield, thus the battlefield units are *supposed* to look like 3D models.
Frequent cutscenes with a few dramatic twists provide excellent backstory and keep the player engaged throughout the campaign mode. You start the campaign as Lt. Brenn Tantor of the Empire, commanding a team of sand-troopers on a search for an all-to-familiar escape pod on Tatooine and (without spoiling the details) end up with the Rebellion by the end of the Campaign, storming the Imperial Palaces of Coruscant following the destruction of the Death Star II which you directly have a hand in. The Scenario Mode gives you a chance to go back and replay cutscenes or missions that you've already completed in the campaign.
In Skirmish Mode, you choose from a wide variety of worlds and environmental conditions in which to battle, you choose your side, and you start out with at most 2000 command points. The skirmish is over when you succesfully control the enemy's base and command bunkers and then mop up all additional enemy units on the battlefield. A skirmish is basically an annihilation exercise.
In all modes, the game is designed to limit available units & command points to force you to use strategy to win and not brute force. Each world/terrain presents specific tactical advantages & disadvantages which you must balance in your strategy, and each side (Empire/Alliance) has advantages over the other for different battlefield units. For example, Imperial units are inexpensive but have no shields, so most opening Imperial moves must be won by numbers. On the other hand, while Rebel units are a bit more expensive, they have shields which regenerate and so they last longer in head-to-head combat. Prior to each mission in the campaign, you load your battle units in the command ship's landing bay where you have the option to store and save critical units for later missions.
There are some disadvantages to this game: the AI has only one setting, making the harder campaign missions almost impossible to win on the first try. The BHCI, which you can toggle on/off, takes up a full 1/3 of the screen. If you fully use the tactical advantages of the BHCI this is not a problem, but if you rely solely on the view of the battlefield then you'll choke in a fight. Also, manipulating the camera takes some practice but if you combine camera manipulation with the weapon-grouping feature (shift + 1-9), you will actually have a tactical advantage over the AI. In addition, there are several shortcut keys which make quick work of frequently used features.
Going into any Force Commander battle requires strategy and if you combine the features of the BHCI with the tactical advantages of the particular battlefield terrain, this game is lots of fun. P.S. In a skirmish, the Empire always uses the same set of battle units for its opening move. Good luck and enjoy!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good idea, a bad execution, May 13, 2003
This review is from: Star Wars: Force Commander (Jewel Case) (CD-ROM)
I can't help but laugh a little bit. LucasArts, once known for the very best in computer games, has within the past few years begun to decline in product quality and originality. Once upon a time they made actual non-Star Wars games too, ones that were really outstanding (Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Sam and Max hit the Road, and The Dig come to mind), but as of late seem to be focusing almost entirely on the Star Wars motif itself. There's nothing wrong with that...since the release of SW Episodes 1 and 2, there's a much higher demand for Star Wars related games, and they're simply trying to fill in the demand.
But so many of the games are just terrible! And Force Commander is a good one to pick out of the bunch to illustrate this fact. The idea behind it I'm sure is that the guys at LucasArts saw how popular StarCraft was, and knew that Warcraft III was coming. So why not beat the boys at Blizzard to the punch? Thus became FoCom.
The plot is actually quite good....LucasArts never skimped on many games as far as that goes, and a great deal of effort went into the storytelling side of this game. You start out working for the Imperials, following the path of a certain Astromech droid who happens to have Death Star plans in it's memory banks. The graphics really aren't that bad either. The details on some of the units you have is quite good depending on what unit you're looking at.
The problems with the game almost outweigh the good things though. The camera control can be likened to strapping a camcorder to Tarzan's head and having him swing over the battlefield on a vine. And you can never seem to focus just right on the units.
But let's head straight to the single biggest gripe anyone who's played this game has. The music!...or should I say Muzak?
From the moment that extremely unique combination of classic John Williams gets blended with 2nd rate elevator music disco, you feel like screaming. The scary thing is that it grows on you as you play, and after 4-5 hours of it you'll start beebopping your head to certain tracks of the stuff.
The game isn't overly difficult to play, but there's some imbalance to it. An earlier post said you can win solely with infantry...and he's right. You need only build those to win. But make sure to mass them before you do attack, as your transport shuttles will only deliver 6 of the guys at a time. AT-AT's are still fun to run around in though, I won't lie, although they do have a tendency to get quagmired easily.
These are all overlookable problems in themselves, namely because of the price. You'll not find a better deal ..., and if you stick with it you'll find the game is fun, just a little hard to get into at first. Oh, just remember to turn off the music ;)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
