Customer Reviews

Star Wars: The Best of PC (Empire at War, Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars Battlefront, Republic Commando)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

For one cheap price, you can now get five Star Wars games that been released previously during the past four years. Most of the five games are still selling for $19.95 at most stores around the country so that make it a pretty good deal. The games in this collection are listed as:
1) Empires at War
2) Knights of the Old Republic
3) Battlefront (first one)
4) Jedi Knights II Outcast
5) Republic Commandos
For some one who never played any of these games before, this is a great deal. If you played one or two of these games, you still got three or four more so it still not such a bad deal. The package also gives you a free 14 day trial for on-line Star Wars Galaxies game.

My rating is based on two elements. For the fun factor, it based on previous reviews I have read on these games since ironically speaking, I was planning to buy some of the games in this package separately before spotting this package on Black Friday. The overall rating is based on the value of the package. I think no one will ever doubt that five great Star Wars games in one package is not a "Five stars" value.

Obviously, if you owned and played all these games already, this package won't be worth a wooden nickel. This package appears to be created for late comers like myself or people who always wanted to play but never had the chance due to time, money or other factors. For folks like us, this package should provides countless hours of entertainment at a relatively cheap price.

A really good collection of older Star Wars games to try out. The downside of this collection is that Windows Vista is not compatible with many of these games. Unless patches are released, the games can not be played.

All of my friends who have played Knights of the Old Republic on the console system have enjoyed it as a really good and fun game. However, my computer had some interface problems with it. The movements were really choppy even when reduced to the less detailed levels, makes it extremely difficult to fight or explore around the map. The game plays in 1st person/ 3rd person shooter style. Wish that Bioware had programmed their Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic series more like Neverwinter Nights in game play interface instead of 1st / 3rd person shooter style instead.

Star Wars Battlefront was a really fun game to play, very similar to playing paintball with the quick rush and being able to respawn in the game. Your teammates fight better as you control more victory objectives.

There are some really fun maps to fight on that make it enjoyable, while the terrain on Endor and Yavin make it a bit challenging as even white storm trooper armor can seem to blend into the woods. Each map can be completed in less than 15 minutes. There are also neat nuances to the game, when entering the cantina on Tatooine, you can hear the band music in the background.

Also neat about the game is that you can play all the different factions from the Trade Federation to Rebellion. Have not tried the online play however.

Star Wars Republic Commando was a really fun game. 1st person shooter is very stable (those who get motion sick from 1st person shooters might be ok with this game) and best of all, have squad mates to work with. The squad mates can take down opponents and man weapons points. They can also slice into computers and demo objectives. Fortunately there are plenty of bacta tanks to heal up after getting into a rough fight against the Trade Federation battle droids. The downside of this game is that it only has 3 chapters/ levels.

Star Wars Empire at War is a real time strategy game. Gets very tedious after a few battles. Not as fun as Dune 2000 or Command & Conquer series. Space battles are extremely frustrating as there is a limit as to the number of ships you have at one time and you do not get to choose which ones to deploy before the battle. So if you have a bunch of troops to land, you'll have the unarmed transports on the map while your cruisers and frigates are waiting to jump in as the Star Destroyers pound your fleet into oblivion.

Ground battles are also quirky. One Stormtrooper squad takes forever to get killed, even when surrounded by 3 rebel infantry squads and two tank platoons. Meanwhile when this same rebel force goes against a gun emplacement, they get wiped out as the gun emplacements are tough to kill.

What really hurts Empires at War is the building of forces, done at real time. There is no way a human player can manage the construction and upgrades of multiple planets at the same rate as a computer. You will be overwhelmed. The strategic map of unit and planetary building/ planning should have been turn based with one map interface table to allocate resources and builds. It would be more manageable and balanced, especially for online person vs person play where there is a time limit for planning.

Overall, this collection is a really fun, if your operating system can play the games. It does cost a bit at $40, but for the variety of games it is a good value. Would have scored higher if weren't for the operating system headaches and quirky game play in some of the games. Note: haven't tried Jedi Knight 2 or Star Wars Galaxies online, which are also included.

I original bought this for Knights of the Old Republic because I missed it the first time around. Great game By the way... To my surprised I found the other games extremely fun, Republic Commando and Empire at war are great games. Battlefront was OK but still fun.

If you missed any of these games the first time around I high recommend this package.

Knights of the Old Republic: 9/10
Empire at War: 8/10
Battlefront: 7/10
Republic Commando: 8/10
Jedi Knight II: 8/10

Also if you buy this to play KOTOR, find the hex hack on the Internet so you can play this game in 1920x1200, makes for a more enjoyable experience then max 800x600 the game allows

my son bought this game. Ive been in constant contact with tech support for 4 days trying to get this resolved. 2 of the 4 games will not play. At first they said it was because I have vista, so i then installed it on my pc with XP, still 2 wont play, play screen comes up, but then doesnt recognize the disk. I dont know what to tell my son, he worked very hard to save his money for this game, and lucas arts isnt resolving the issue. He loves the games that will play, but is very disappointed Jedi outcast and Knights OTOR will not.

UPDATE: Well its months later, never did get any satisfaction with Lucus Arts, their attitude was it must be my computers! 2 different OS, I might add........too bad so sad was the kiss off. One person even suggested I didnt know how to work my computer! Ive been using computers since 1979!! Id be causous about buying compilations, if one of the games works and the other/s dont they will say its your fault. They wouldnt even send me a replacement disk. I got nothing! Actually my son got nothing, hes only 10. His Dad and I felt badly for him, he worked so hard to save his money for them. In the end we gave him back his money and took the loss ourselves, since Lucus arts wouldnt honor their product.

Some slight spoilers:

After suffering through the LEGO Star Wars titles, I needed a really good light saber wielding game to rekindle my interest in the Jedi. In the back of my mind I remembered something about Knights and decided to see if it was still on the shelf, and I found this package deal with another game similar to Warlords Battlecry, another favorite of mine. Perfect!

Knights of the Old Republic would not start up smoothly after installation, which I thought was odd for a PC three years newer than the game. However, after updating my graphics drivers the game runs very well with some adjustments made to the graphic options. I first played KotOR as a light side male, and got totally caught up in the storyline. Seriously, this thing plays out like a Star Wars movie and you end up caring about your party members....a lot....and far more than I ever expected....and I'll admit some more than others. Later at a critical point in the story and the second time through the game, I tried branching over to the dark side and was quite shocked and disgusted with the fate of some of the characters in different endings. This made me realize that KotOR is far more than just a duke-'em-out lightsaber game. It teaches you all about the differences between the Light and Dark sides, and brings a much greater understanding to the feature films. I also found out your character can die even after beating the antagonist, so save those games frequently with the quick save feature. You can even check out some cheat codes for a really hilarious ending. The only things I didn't like or use often were the card game, duels, murder mysteries, and swoop racing but the rest of the game more than makes up for weak spots in my personal preferences.

Empire at War is just plain fun. No installation hitches at all during setup. I really enjoy the strategic management and got beat up in tactical situations when I made mistakes. This game is also addictive and provides a nice change of pace from the intimate settings in KotOR. Many scenarios are available so you may choose to fight a few battles, or go for the entire galaxy. I also enjoyed the two campaigns for the Republic and Empire and found it quite fun to employ characters and equipment from the Original Trilogy.

Someday I'll get around to the other three titles, but I'm having a lot of fun with just two of them so far.

Bought it, thought Lucas Arts would have a Win 7 patch, but nooooooo. It's is not backwards compatible either. Don't buy until Lucas Arts gets its act together!!!

I am reviewing this for budget conscious Star Wars gamers with older AGP videocards (i.e. people like me).

As you already know, Star War Best of PC is a collection of 6 Star Wars related games, ranging from FPS to RPG to strategy. If you're a Star Wars PC game fan (who hasn't played these games) then you should definitely consider this package.

Pros:

Solid collection of Star Wars games all in one package
Reasonable Price
Many good games

Cons:

Most of these games received great (but not excellent) reviews except for KOTOR, which has a buttload of rewards.
May or may not be worth the cost, especially since the package is $40 and each game now retails for about $10. You may have some of these already or are not interested in some, and if I count only the games I liked...well, I probably would have just paid the same price individually.
These games are old, and their sequels are not included (i.e. KOTOR 2/Battlefront 2). Good for old videocards, but if you're looking for DX10 graphics, look elsewhere.
LucasArts did something to the installation path that makes everything more confusing to mod. That's not to say that you can't mod the games now, it just means that you'll have to do a few more tricks to them.

Overall: I liked most of the games, but definitely not all of them. Overall, I would rate the package a 8/10 because most of the games are quite solid.

Very Brief review of all of the games:

Star Wars Empire at War: This is a pretty solid hybrid of RTS/Turn based war games that takes place during the Galactic Civil War (Episodes 4-6). You can actually play the entire game in the classic wartime mode, but if you micromanaged battles in RTS you're bound to do better. This game has lots of classic Star Wars elements and heroes to it, so fans should definitely give it a shot. It can also hold its feet without the Star Wars logo, and it has an option to switch to cinematic scenes. Graphics are dated and it shows (Homeworld looks better) but the action is awesome.

Star Wars KOTOR can definitely stand on its own without the Star Wars logo. It's an RPG, and one of the best ever made. Great story, great action, and overall great RPG. It takes place 2000 years before the Battle of Yavin. If you haven't played KOTOR, you should. In fact, I beat this RPG three times already, and its sequel once, and I loved them both.

Star Wars Battlefront: This is an action/FPS that plays like the Battlefield series, i.e. kill, respawn, hijack vehicles, etc. It takes place between episodes 1-6. Another solid game, and I will get Battlefront 2 after.

Star Wars Jedi Knight II: This is probably the most graphically dated game of them all. I think Half Life 1 looks better. To be honest, I quit after a short while as I didn't find any reason to play it. Maybe I'm impatient, but it's definitely nothing to shout about. One of the games I didn't like.

Star Wars Republic Commando: This is a FPS that places you in the shoes of a Clone Commando. For fans of the Star Wars Clone Wars Clone Troopers, you have to try this game. It's a fun and intense FPS that can stand alone without the Star Wars logo. It's short, but I've beaten the game twice already and I liked it.

Star Wars Galaxies: I have played a few MMORPGs, but I've never paid for them. This MMORPG takes place during the Galactic Civil War and comes with a 14 day free trial. In short, I didn't like it. I think the online community is gone by now. The graphics looked dated, and I didn't like my character at level 10. I quit after a while and haven't regretted it.

Just a quick note. I have a HP notebook model G60-230US with Vista installed on it. I had no problem what so ever getting the KOTOR to load and run. I dont know if a problem has been fixed but just so thought I would let everyone know. Being a huge Star Wars fan it was nice to this collection come out as I didnt get to play them the first time around.

I surprised my 23 yr old son with these games
for his birthday. He is a big Star Wars fan.
From the time of my order online until I rec'd in
the mail, everything went as smooth as silk.
My son was thrilled and says the games work fine.
All the games were brand new, they work fine, and
he and I both are happy! Thank you, Amazon and to the
individual who orginally owned the games!

Even without the Star Wars license, this game compilation still could stand on its own as a wonderfully diverse group of 5 amazing games. In one package for the normal retail price of one game, you get an amazing RPG (KotOR), a Battlefield 1942-style FPS (Battlefront), a unique strategy game (Empire at War), a Rainbow Six-like tactical shooter (Republic Commando), and a FPS/Action hybrid (Jedi Knight 2). Each one of these games are outstanding in their own right, and they don't simply use the Star Wars license to hide poor gameplay, they actually are innovative and fun even without considering the license.

I won't get into reviews of the individual games, because it's easy to look up the preexisting reviews for them, but just rest assured in the fact that every one of these games is worth both your time and money.

Graphically, all the games hold up fairly well. Even the oldest game of the bunch, Jedi Knight 2, has effective enough graphics. None of the games will likely amaze you with their graphical prowess, but that also means that they're not too taxing on even standard PCs.

As for negative things, I suppose there are a few. First off, you better be happy with the version of the games that ship on the disk. Installing patches turns out to be an exercise in frustration as none of the games will update with the patches for the separate versions of the game. But, the games all run fairly bugless and smoothly, so it's not really that much of an issue.

Finally, and this isn't so much of a complaint as a wish that would make this compilation that much better, but it would have been really great if the package would have included some of the older Star Wars games, such as the 1983 Atari 2600 Star Wars game, or X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter. These games would have been nice as an added bonus, but as it stands this is still one of the best compilations you can put your money down for.

Compilations of games usually tie you down to one specific genre, leaving you with very little diversity in terms of gameplay. This package does the exact opposite, giving you everything from twitch shooting to careful strategic battles and even incredibly deep role playing. Even if you're not a big fan of the Star Wars franchise, this compilation is still a stunning showcase of 5 stellar games