Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds takes the Age of Empires II game engine into
the Star Wars universe. This will undoubtedly draw the interest and
scrutiny of two camps of devout fans, but will they approve of the marriage?
Age of Empires II was set during the Middle Ages, so needless to say some
changes were necessary to bring it into the high tech, futuristic world of Star
Wars. The most obvious of these changes is the addition of flying units
and anti-air units to counter them. Also new is shielding - shield
generators protect units by providing them with a level of shielding that must
be broken down before the unit begins to take damage. Another change is
the emphasis on ranged units in a world where a blaster is the weapon of choice.
The civilizations of Age of Empires II have been replaced by some of the
major factions from all four Star Wars movies. You'll be able to play as
the Rebels, Empire, Wookies, Trade Federation, Naboo, or Gungans. Each
comes with its own special bonuses (e.g. Gungans can build structures under
water) and unique units. Like in Age of Empires II, the factions for the
most part have similar units and structures in function if not in appearance.
There are a lot of similarities between Galactic Battlegrounds and Age of
Empires. You'll still need to gather four types of resources in order to
pay for new units and structures and you'll find a strong correlation between
many of Age of Empire II's structures and those in Galactic Battlegrounds.
Castles have become Fortresses and are used to produce the civilizations' unique
units, trebuchets are now large energy cannons, and Town Centers have changed to
Command Centers. One of these similarities works very nicely in Galactic
Empires - Temples now come in two flavors, Jedi and Sith. Priests are no
longer weak units, but lightsaber wielding Jedi Knights and Sith Lords.
They are powerful melee units capable of converting enemy buildings and units as
well, but to keep them from dominating the game, players can create Bounty
Hunters which are quite adept at hunting down Jedis and Sith.
These similarities are not too surprising for a game built on the engine of
another, and will make it easy for Age of Empires II players to sit down and
jump right into the game. Veteran Age of Empire II players will still need
to adjust their strategies, though. How often have they had to worry about
units flying over their walls?
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