GravityGirl's Full Review: Shadow Of Destiny for Windows
I have been hit with Star Wars fever. After having seen Episode 2, I am now fervently trying to figure out what is going to happen in Episode 3. I have gone so far as to rent the trilogy looking for clues. I know that if I was a true fan, I would own the trilogy and Episode 1, but this is a game review, so enough about that.
Apparently, Galactic Battlegrounds (GB) has been out since the fall, but I just found out about it about three weeks ago. GB is a RTS (real time strategy game). This means that everything takes place in "real time" as opposed to turns, like the Civilization series.
GB is built on the Age of Empires 2 engine. In case you are unfamiliar with AOE2, I will give a brief explanation. AOE2 is another RTS. In the game, you pick a civilization such as the Britons, Turks, Japanese, and Huns among others. Each civilization has a unique fighting unit and cultural advantages. As the person who controls everything your civilization does, you must instruct your villagers to collect food, gold, wood and stone in order to both build things like walls and turrets to defend your people while simultaneously building military units so you can beat up the other civilizations. The game covers 4 historical stages, so weaponry gets more and more lethal as the game progresses. For further information, please refer to my epinion of the game: http://www.epinions.com/game-review-44F1-48B3B840-3A542B88-prod3
Setting up your game
There are two types of game: campaigns and single player game. If you have the capability, a multiplayer game is also an option.
You can control virtually all aspect of your game. You choose where you want your game to take place or you can opt for the random option. You also can pick a scenario-like situation where you find yourself on an island, for example, and you must eventually move.
You may also choose the maximum number of people in your civ, the number of other civs and the type of civ you want to play against (i.e. Rebels, Naboo, etc). You can choose the starting technological age and the number of resources you start with.
AOE2 vs. GB: Single Player Game and Campaigns
GB is almost exactly the same thing as AOE2 with some subtle differences. To begin with, the actual historical civilizations have been replaced with Star Wars civilizations. You may choose from 6: Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, Wookiees, Royal Naboo, Gungans and Trade Federation. However, for the most part, it is the same game except the buildings and technologies have cute space names. For example, a fishing boat is now called a "utility trawler"
Just like in AOE2, you must instruct your villagers to collect things. Food is the same, but I will discuss that more later. Instead of wood, you collect carbon. Instead of gold and stone, you collect nova crystals and ore. One of my biggest initial complaints was that you must now build separate camps for mining nova and ore. In AOE2, you could build one mining camp for both resources. You must use these resources to build buildings like airports and Jedi/Sith Temples and people- both military units and villagers.
On the plus side, much has been done to improve the game. Because the game takes place during the space age, things are much more technologically advanced from the beginning. In AOE2, you start out in a pre-medieval era and maybe, if you're lucky, you just might get gunpowder so you can shoot things. In GB, your basic military ground units start out with guns, so there is virtually no hand to hand combat.
A big part of GB is research. You research things at specific buildings. For example, if you want your villagers to collect carbon faster, you research the upgrade at the carbon processing plant. There are tons of things to research- but they all tend to either make your villagers work faster/collect more or they upgrade and improve your military units.
I said I would talk about food and I will. In AOE2, you could forage for fruit, build farms, as well as herd sheep, hunt boars and deer and fish. In GB, the fruit bushes, the fishing and the farms are the same, but there are two types of animals to herd: Nerfs and Bantha. Additionally, there is a new building: the Animal Nursery. You can place your herded animals in the nursery and food will accumulate slowly over time. On the plus side, there are more animals to hunt. Also, there are a lot more mean beasts that are out to get you- so you have to be careful.
The point is still to destroy the other people on your map. You may choose whether to focus on offensive or defensive strategies. The AI is somewhat better in GB, so you have to build quickly because the computer players will come after you fairly quickly and relentlessly. And of course, there is usually only one of you and at least two of them.
However, with the additions of buildings like the airport and defensive structures such as shield generators, it is much easier to attack and defend yourself.
There are 6 campaigns in GB- one for each civilization. The campaigns are a lot more structured than a single player game- they give you goals that you must complete before moving on to the next stage of the campaign. If you need structure, you will like the campaigns a lot, but I find them a little hard to follow, but I still enjoy them.
If you have no experience whatsoever with AOE2, the "basic training" mode offers excellent lessons in 7 easy to follow steps. You will learn everything you need to know about combat, collecting resources and more The last step is an actual battle- which makes the training mode an ideal introduction to both the single player and the campaign modes.
Control
The game is very easy to control. You click on individual units with the mouse or drag a box around a group of units. You can also click on one unit and click again to select all units of that type You can assign them a number by holding down control and picking a number. To actually move things, you select them and right click where you want them to go. If you want a villager to collect fruit, select them and right click on the fruit bush. If you want your soldiers to attack something, select them and click on what you want them to attack. Generally, once you have given something a job, it will keep doing the job until there is nothing left to do.
Graphics
The graphics are no better and no worse than the graphics in AO2. This is somewhat problematic since AOE2 was made more than 2 years ago. So, while the graphics are nowhere near groundbreaking, things still look nice. You don't have to squint to see that when you play as the Rebels, the villagers look like R2-D2. The game would not be better if just the graphics were better. Besides, even with less than groundbreaking graphics, it is still impressive to see all your military units lined up and poised to attack.
Sound
The sounds can get annoying. When you click on something, it will make a noise. The most annoying sound is at the food processing center which makes a horrible grinding crunching noise. Military units also talk when you click on them. So, while the sounds are clear and not garbled, sometimes I wish that they wouldn't be so frequent.
Music
The music is one of the best parts of the game. They actually use the music from the movies so it is very nice to line up your troops while the Imperial March plays in the background. Like the sounds, the music is crisp and clear, but unlike the sounds, I don't mind hearing the music although it does get a tiny bit repetitive.
Appropriateness For Children
This will vary by household…but if you allow your children to see the Star Wars movies, then you should know that the game is no worse. Animals are hunted and people fight with blasters and lightsabers, but there is virtually no blood. The game is, however, rated teen, but in my opinion, the violence is no worse than the movie.
Final Thoughts
If you are an AOE2 fan who also likes Star Wars, you should go right out and buy the game. You'll love it. For Star Wars fans who have not played AOE2, the game is easy to learn and will provide you with hours of fun. I promise.
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