Customer Reviews

Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds Saga

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Real Time Strategy (RTS) games had never really gotten my attention until the release of Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. I had played Command and Conquer until it bored me into a coma, played StarCraft until I couldn't care if my units lived or died (which took about three hours), and played Star Trek: Armada until completion just to find out what happened next in the backstory (not being overly challenged by the combat scenarios). All in all, I had chalked up RTS games to being for a niche market that I, apparently, didn't belong to.

Then Galactic Battlegrounds came out and changed all of that. It is not terribly different from any of the above games or their bretheren (it reminds me particularly of Age of Empires - which it bases its game engine on - and WarCraft/StarCraft). There is an interesting addition in the form of air attack units, but I can't say that this is what brings be back to this game time and again.

I guess the addiction comes from pure fanboy glee. Let me put aside all rational gaming considerations like graphics (very good, but not fantastic), learning curve (very easy with a good tutorial, no manual reading required), and game play (well paced fun, never boring). Let's down to the meat of the act. Pure geekish fun.

Oh, sure, it is okay to control a bunch of annonymous soldiers and fight off invading forces like in StarCraft. But squishing a Jar-Jar Binks look-alike under the heel of your AT-AT Imperial Walker - now THAT is worth the price of admission!

Getting good takes practice like any other game. The difficulty is easily adjustable, and the replayability is infinate. Add in the fact that this bundle comes with the Clone Campaigns - adding two more types of forces to play from Episode 2 - and this will be the best money you have dropped on a video game in a long while.

Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga combines the RTS (real-time strategy) Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds and its Episode II mission expansion Clone Campaigns in a single package. This sells for less together than they did (or do) apart, so make sure its SAGA.

Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga challenges using over 50 battle campaigns from the classic and prequel Star Wars universe EXCLUDING Episode III., this predates that prequel. But it is sort of the poor-man's EMPIRES @ WAR, which does include the complete SAGA, but is also very expensive right now, this is a good game to hold you over until EMPIRES becomes more affordable.

Using the award-winning Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings game engine, Battlegrounds Saga allows players to deploy armies of Storm Troopers, Clones, Naboo, Battle Droids, Rebels, Gungans, and Wookiees. Players manage their units, structures, and resources in single- or multiplayer campaigns on Tatooine, Naboo, Endor, Hoth, and Geonosis. Play can be set in the prequel era of the SW SAGA up the Clone Wars, or original SW Trilogy settings controling Vader and his forces, and a post-FILM setting of the NEW REPUBLIC as seen in the SW NOVELS using LEIA and the other ex-rebels to battle the remnants of the Galactic Empire. Specific film characters (Like Han and Chewy)and book/COMIC characters (like MARA JADE & DARK TROOPERS) make appearances and can be controled. Less specific characters (like JEDI & SITH KNIGHTS) can be created and controlled.

One of the unique features for advanced gamers, that is rarely called attention to, is the ability to construct your own "BATTLEGROUND" for actual use. You populate the field with your own mechanized armies (AT-ATs, Ties and more), characters, as well and master the scenerio settings themselves; including: text prompts that you pen your own text prompts, sculpt the landscape buildings it to suit the story, player-settings and sides offerings.This is a fun feature you won't find in EMIPIRES @ WAR.

Like most engines of this kind, once you get a feel for the hot keys and short-cuts to managing your forces, figuring out what to build & the most economical way to use your buiding resources (because they are the key to winning) you will rapidly become more successful.

This is an awesome game. The graphics could use improvement but the gameplay is fun. I can't stop playing this game its addictive. I played for 5 hours once and I didn't even know. If you like Star Wars as much as I do then BUY THIS GAME!

This is the best video game ever! It's even better than Dark Forces 2 Jedi Knight! I've only played demo but oh boy, do I love it! You can download the demo at Lucasarts,com/products/battlegrounds/default.htm . That is the adress for the home page of the game. When you get there, to the left side, there's a panel with different choices on it. Click downloads, and you'll see at the bottom of the page, two sites with the download is available.

I was an avid WarCraftII player since 1999; Couldn't even wait for the sequel WarCraft III to come out. However, when I was introduced to Star Wars' Galactic Battlegrounds, my universe started to change. Gone are feelings to knock some Orcs out of the screen; replaced by the yearning to visit and do battle at each and everyone of the Star Wars locale. To borrow a well-known phrase; "This game really rocks!" So, for those of you who are eager to blast away any and all unwanted Imperial Storm Troppers, Sith Lords, even Droidekas; or from the "other side"; to shoot down the likes of a Rebel Alliance X-wing, some Wookies, Gungans, and Naboo; this is YOUR GAME.

There are six different civilizations on this game, and each one is as entertaining to play as the next. The designers of Lucas Entertainment did a really good job in balancing out each of the civs' unique strengths and weaknesses... But alas, all is not perfect in this Star Wars action-adventure. I did find some hard-to-explain-aspects of the game that could've benefited from better tutorials. Granted, I was a little intimidated by their on-line help and didn't avail of it as I should have done; but I wasn't the only one who was a little lost when trying out the game intially. The Options Menu is very easy to get lost in. Things like "ALL-TECH", color-coding the enemy, "Starting Tech", and the like, took a while to figure out.

All that being said however; and after nearly being addicted to the game (much to the annoyance of the wife and kids); this game really is the one to spend your money & time on. Buy it, play it, and be lost in it. You have the whole George-Lucas-universe at your fingertips.

This is one of the best games ever. Age of Empires players, if you like star wars then you will love this game. The new things are air units( I love the Air Crusier!), anti-air units,and more techs. If you don't have it buy it now or ask it for X-mas, you will love it.

This game is so cool! If you liked age of kings than you'll love the star wars version. You get air units, shielding, and lots more. I recomend this game to any Real time strategy (RTS) game lover and Star Wars lovers! This game is worth the money.

This game is great. True, it is an old game and indeed, it had great graphics for its time. I bought this game back in 1998 and I still have it. It was originally made for Win95 and right now I have WinXP and it still works without any problems. Nor had I to download any patches. This is my kind of game. I love that you can choose between playing as the Rebellion or the Empire. This is a strategic game. You have to make recoinassance missions to uncharted planets plus you have to develop your own planets by building mines and refineries in order to get maintenance point in order to be able to fortify yourself by building shipyards and training facilities to be able to either rule the galaxy by the Evil hand of the Emperor or to bring the total freedom to the galaxy.

AOE II was one of my favorite games when it came out. It had a well ballanced core game with lots of extras thrown in. When I heard that Lucas Arts had purchased the AOE game engine I expected that they would use to create similar game based in the Star Wars genra, the very best of the sci-fi cult genras.

Boy was I surprised to find that instead of a game similar to AOE, Lucas Arts created a game exactly like AOE. Not only did they take the game engine, but they also copied the tech trees, storytelling style, even the openning menus are exactly the same as those in AOE. All Lucas Arts did was to draw their own starwars bitmaps and sprites to paste over the knights and horses of AOE. This makes for a very disappointing game.

This is not to say that what was kept from AOE is bad or that Lucas Arts did absolutely no original thinking, just that the tech-trees, balance of power, and even the feel of the AOE game just doesn't fit with Star Wars and even seems silly at times. For example: the -monument- structure in G-B is obviously copied from the -wonder- structure in AOE. Now, while a wonder is a demonstration of a civilization's might, a relavent concept in AOE; why on Earth or Tatooine would the Rebel Alliance build an enourmous monument?! And why would that be a definative blow against the Empire?! Its all very silly!

The entire game is done this way, from the graphics, to the game play to the cutscenes. While the game works and is playable, what Lucas Arts should have done was keep the AOE engine, but build the tech trees and story engine from scratch. It would have been truly awsome if the AT-AT's had the same presence on the battle field in the game as they did in the movie. As it is, you get these things which act more like the cavalry they were pasted over from AOE. The infantry is like the infantry for AOE, the "mechs" are really the cavalry, each and every ship has an exact duplicate in AOE, and "heavy weapons" are really just catapults, batteringrams and the famouse AOE trebuchets in disguise. Even the things new, such as aircraft, Jedi, shields and generators feel very artificial in their roles in the game.

The game is playable, But it is not Star Wars, and not a very good RTS. I was sorely disappointed when I recieved it as a gift.

Hi there, let me explain my title for this review i bought this game when it first came out and i still play this even though it came out about many years ago. I have bought starcraft 2 and let me tell u 3-d models and graphic are not always better. Starcraft 2 had a nice campaign but the online play sucks. For new games they should worry more on game-play instead of making a 3-d models look more realistic. I have played battlegrounds hundred more times then the starcraft 2.

Back to star wars rts Battleground. Did you ever watch the 6 star wars episodes, and think what if i had control of that army (example E:1 Trade Federation army against gungan's grand army) could i have changed history and killed the Gungans. Or say you want a bounty hunting party to kill those pesky Jedi from attcking. this game is for u. I would rate 10 stars but amazon only allows 5 :).