Played the Full Version....my thoughts.

[crazylegsmurphy]

Hello Folks,

 

Well, I’m back. Why you might ask? Well, the answer to that is that I have just spent the last two days playing EAW. Yes, someone I know had also been rubbing his hands together intently, which resulted in his girlfriend buying it for him. He tried it out, and decided to give me his copy after a day due to the gameplay and multiplayer problems.

 

I am going to write probably one of the longest reviews known to man on this game. I am going to try to equally touch on all the good and all the bad aspects of the game based on the amount that I have played it. So sit back, grab a cup o’ cherry cola, and have fun!

 

Impressions

 

After two days of exploring the game I started to get a strange feeling that I couldn’t at first put my finger on. It was bothering me more and more and only when my friend dropped by to take a look did he put it in words. The feeling was that of being unattached.

 

The more I played, the more I realized that I was not involved in this game as much as I would like to think I was. I started to feel more and more as though this game would basically play itself despite needing me to click a button or unit every now and then. To test this theory I entered into a few battles.

 

Strangely enough I won 3 of the 4 battles by simply clicking my units, and moving them close to the enemy units. I would sit back in my chair with my carrot cake and watch as the battle played out. Sure, I probably lost a fair bit more units than I would have normally, but the end result was clear.

 

I eventually clued into what was giving me this feeling, and I realized that the reason was that everything is laid out for me, and would basically hold my hand through the game.

 

Because of the lack of base building and resource gathering, I was relieved of that burden. As well, because those bases and maps were laid out in an A, B to C. fashion, all I really had to do was follow the path to victory. I didn’t even have to waste time thinking of a route to take as it was all pre-thought for me. When building units, I was again amazed that all I needed to do was find the correct formula, and I was ready for any battle.

 

My point is that the more I played, the more I got the feeling like this was nothing more than a game of battlefront without the freedom to run all Willy Nilly around the map. Every space and land battle became the same thing over and over again; build unit, move unit, unit arrives, select unit, move unit, unit attacks, capture drop point, bring in units, win battle.

 

That’s basically the idea. Of course there are other things you could do such as fire an ion canon, or have Darth Vader crush a building, but these little “extras” just seemed more like filler in a battle that would basically play itself.

 

Enemy units tend to just run at you in waves as you move around the pre-planned hallways of the maps. You never really get the sense that you are doing any sort of strategy let alone care if any of your units die.

 

It’s really hard to sort out why this game feels so shallow. It almost seems like a contradiction that you could have a game with so much to do, but still have the feeling there is nothing of value to do. I found that I would simply just click on planets and build space stations for the sake of doing something because the enemy didn’t “feel” like attacking for a half hour.

 

I found myself sitting there waiting and waiting for the enemy to attack, (they only seem to attack the weakest point). So I would let the credits roll in, and when I was ready to battle, all I had to do was move my fleet away from a planet, and sure enough 5 seconds later the enemy would be attacking.

 

I could go on and on about this, but it simply comes down to simplicity. There is too much hand-holding in this game and as a result it feels very contrived and linear. The lack of consequence for lost units and heroes leaves you without a sense of urgency. The speed at which things are built never gives you a sense of time or scale, and the ease at which credits come rolling in leaves you with the feeling that there is very little you could do to actually lose.

 

The term, “Dumbed down” has been floating around a bit, and I would have to agree.

 

Multiplayer

 

So that brings us to the multiplayer aspect. Now let’s be honest, most people buy these types of games because it’s much more fun to play against an unpredictable human, than the continuously predictable nature of computer AI.

 

The problem is, I was never able to connect to the multiplayer. No, this wasn’t a result of firewalls, or routers as I have extensive knowledge of these aspects. The problem is, in my opinion that the developers of this game seem to be punishing their legit customers based on the actions of a few.

 

What I mean is, the choice to go with a third party gaming site such as Gamespy and not include a direct IP is simply a very poor attempt at controlling piracy at the expense of legit users. I was honestly never able to connect to a single game in the half hour I tried, and so I eventually gave up.

 

Now I am aware that the Dev’s are currently working on this problem, and I will voice my opinion on this later in the review.

 

Bugs & Issues

 

That brings me to the bugs. Wow, you should see the list of ones I found. Would you be surprised if the first time you landed on Nal Hutta you found a swampy planet, only to return later to find the galactic map now shows a sprawling city planet with tall buildings? Or what about watching your speeder build up to 99% and simply stay stuck there no matter how long you wait?

 

I have a two page list of graphical, game, and textual problems with this game. Sure, most of them are minor inconveniences, but the point is that most of these should have been caught long before the game was released.

 

I appreciate the fact that two patches have come out in a matter of days, but let’s be honest here, this is not because the Dev’s care if the game is perfect, it’s because they understand that the result of bad reviews, and word of mouth leads to lower sales.

 

I really question the intention of the Dev’s when you hear a user say, “Where is the replay function?” and the response is, “We shut that off for the final release as we still had some issues to work out with it.” (Not a direct quote).  This to me is a good indication that this game wasn’t ready for the shelves.

 

With that said, does it cause an issue in gameplay? The answer is, if you are looking to play the single player games, you will find bugs and issues, but for the most part you’ll be able to muddle your way through. If on the other hand you are looking for this to cure your multiplayer itch, hold off, because it’s simply not working with any sort of consistency.

 

So as we move along it really does seem like this is yet another bias rewiew, hell bent on destroying the game. Well, I honestly wish I could find more to like. In a game where auto resolve becomes a necessity rather than an option, it is really hard to keep an optimistic view.

 

I am like most of you in that I wanted to love this game more than any other. I have waited and waited for this game since day one and I can tell you how many chances I have given this game. The problem is that even though I forced myself to keep giving this game a chance, it simply doesn’t have what it needs to keep me enthused.

 

I think that some of you are right in saying that this game will be one of those bargain bin games within the next few months, and at that point it might be worth picking up. Eventually the “cyber geeks” of the world will get their hands on this game and change it to what it should be long after it’s been abandoned by the Dev’s. At that point it might be worth it to revisit.

 

Suggestions

 

At this point, I am going to jot down a point by point list of what I think this game needs to pull it out of it’s current funk. Dev’s, this has been said a few times before, but maybe you need to start thinking about these options as a patch, not another excuse to get money out of your customers.

 

1. Persistent Damage!  - This needs to go in the game. After I played the full version, it was exactly how I imagined it, a huge fleet, with no consequence, leaves little in the way of fun, or strategy.

 

2. Base Building – You need to give your players something to care about, something to do! Simply fighting endless battles leaves little in the way of care if anything is gone. Nothing in the game takes enough time or money to build, and so when it’s lost, it doesn’t matter.

 

3. Non-linear maps – You need to give the player the options. Without options the game becomes very static. You basically know where the enemy is regardless of the “fog of war” and all that is needed is to walk through the pre-determined route to get to them.

 

4. Direct IP – Stop punishing everyone else. You’ll make your money don’t worry. If the game is good, people will buy it. To force users into having to use a third party is not only an insult, but obviously not a viable solution.

 

I understand that the Dev’s wanted to try and change the idea of what these games could be like, and while I admire that, it also has to be realized that even if the change is needed, it needs to be done with kid gloves. You can’t suddenly change every aspect of what people have learned in one fell swoop.

 

The trick is giving the player the options. “We think base building is a thing of the past, but we realize you might not think the same!” This is a lesson that not many people need go far to learn as this type of thing has been attempted before, with very poor results.

[Jameswgm]

I think you capture the thoughts of a large part of the community. Especially over the hand-holding, a classic example of the "dumbing down" of games in recent times.

Had me engrossed for a weekend...after that the silver lining sort of vanished. How come classics like C&C and Red Alert had me coming back to them for years, while this and others like it lose their enjoyment after just days?

 

Seems that sales figures matter more than creating a truly great game.

 

James.

[BloodRav3n]

I agree with both of you.

The problems of the game, by my opinion, is the lack of replayabillity that games like Dawn of War and Warcraft posses. The rock/paper/scissors system really sucks. It's ruining the whole strategic element. I can just come prepared for anything (corvettes + Capital ships). Where's the importance of unit control, APM (Actions per Minute) and the better management of your base.

A las, this is another good, but not perfect RTS based on the Star Wars universe.

I hope my opinion hasn't insulted any fans of the game.

[Zakris]

Thanks for the review Crazylegs ...

 

Us miniature gamers would probably consider this game a "beer-and-pretzels" game.  It's fun, with lots

of eye-candy, but doesn't take a WHOLE lot of strategy for the most part.  Just sit back and push units

at each other.

 

I do enjoy the game, but with some of those more hardcore elements (persistant damage and base building)

missing, it is a game where you might play for a few hours and go back to your more involved games.

 

Hopefully the modding community will step up and be able to add some needed complexity to the game.

[Teradyn_pff]

While I agree that the damage persistency is something that is sorely missing, I don't think I completely agree with the entire "base building option".  It is true that you can know where the base buildings are (or where the pads for them are), but I think that a lot of the hard core supporters of having free base building are the same ones that like to spam units in regular RTS games.

 

By removing the base building and resource gathering in the game, you are free to perform more "Strategic" and "Tactical" moves on a grand scale.  While this game is definitely not perfect, I think that a lot of people don't combine the space and ground and galactic modes in their thinking when discussing this game. 

 

Empire at War is not a traditional ground only RTS game.  The combination of the Galactic mode with the space and ground sub-modes is the important aspect of this game.  The whole is greater than the sum of the components, so to speak.

 

There are a few bugs and weird items being reported and I have a feeling that the requirements for this game changed mid-development and that has a big part to play in all of this.  When developing the game and telling Lucas Arts that the requirements would have to be "X and Y", they probably said that that wouldn't sell enough copies for an RTS, so they made Petroglyph tone it down and modify certain things.  This is all conjecture, but it is very probable, especially with Lucas Arts' shoddy game history.