Star Wars: Empire at War

 PC
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 45 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 45
  3. Negative: 0 out of 45
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  1. AtomicGamer
    74
    While Empire at War does have an overall decent gameplay system that requires a mix of strategies, as well as a story-based campaign that can be played from the side of either the Rebels or the Empire, there's just not enough here to pull you away from the many great strategy games that are available today.
  2. Game Over Online
    72
    The computer AI doesn’t cut it, the units do retarded things sometimes, and the multiplayer game is either too long, or too uninteresting compared to other RTS games available out there – I would much rather play "Warcraft 3" or "C&C: Generals."
  3. Eurogamer
    70
    Ultimately, there's no single aspect of the game that really demands your interest.
  5. Next Level Gaming
    70
    The game starts out fun, but after awhile it can become very boring.
  6. GameSpy
    70
    It's trying something completely different, and even when it doesn't work, it's true to its license and it's making bold choices. There's a lot to be said for this approach.
  7. Boomtown
    70
    I don’t want to give the impression this is just another lazy Star Wars game, because it’s clear a lot of love has gone into the game. But there’s a lack of ambition at the heart of Empire at War that is the ultimate reason for its failure to be a really great strategy game.
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  8. Game Revolution
    67
    Its conquest content is thin and its RTS content is rudimentary, but the interplay between all these elements makes for an extremely immersive and convincing experience.
  9. Da Gameboyz
    63
    Empires at War is a poorly designed RTS that would have been laughed off the Gamestop shelves without its Star Wars skin.
  10. The Sydney Morning Herald
    60
    Empire at War hits all the right notes if you're a Star Wars fan, but be prepared to grind out your victories.
  11. GamePro
    60
    Ultimately, Empire at War isn't just RTS-lite--it's RTS extremely lite. Hardcore RTS fans will rapidly grow bored, and even fans of the franchise are better served with Battlefront for its galactic conquest games, or Galactic Battlegrounds for a Star Wars RTS experience that's actually an RTS.
  12. AceGamez
    60
    As much I hate to say it, Star Wars: Empire At War isn't worth the entry fee. This is a terrible shame, since it had such promise from the pre-launch screenshots, but sadly the repetitive and shallow gameplay, combined with the below par presentation and ludicrously high difficulty level, simply can't compete with the best of the genre.
    All this publication's reviews

Awards & Rankings

48
#48 Best PC Game of 2006
24
#24 Most Discussed PC Game of 2006
14
#14 Most Shared PC Game of 2006

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 341 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 264 out of 341
  2. Mixed: 60 out of 341
  3. Negative: 17 out of 341
  1. JacobCleveland
    Apr 3, 2014
    10
    This game is one of the best RTS games I've ever played, and gives you a satisfying Star Wars experience. While the initial game isn't tooThis game is one of the best RTS games I've ever played, and gives you a satisfying Star Wars experience. While the initial game isn't too large in scale by today's standards, the great modding community gives us even more depth into the Star Wars canon, and gives us a truly fantastic experience. The only fault i could give for this game is that there isn't more of it out there.… Full Review »
  2. Larux18
    Apr 14, 2014
    7
    A strategy game in real-time seems like the perfect genre for Star Wars, and Empire at War sort of nailed it in a certain sense, by that IA strategy game in real-time seems like the perfect genre for Star Wars, and Empire at War sort of nailed it in a certain sense, by that I mean this game does feel like Star Wars, and I feel like I am actually commanding either the rebels or the empire, and that feeling is one of the best you can have while playing a video game. Despite that Empire at War has it's flaws. There are two factions in this game, Rebels are Empire, and two modes of battle, those being in land and in space. Space battles are where the game shines, since they look great, and never seem to get boring, I have started up a game countless of times to play a single space skirmish battle, and it will always be a blast, going from star fighters to giant capital cruisers battling it out is legitimately great. Despite that there is a unit limit, and that takes out some of the scale of the battles. Things in land aren't so great however, they look quite ugly actually, and can be relatively boring at times, when I wanted to conquer a planet I actually found myself playing and enjoying the space battles and then simply auto-completing (a feature that I should note for single-player) the land battles in order to avoid them, I did find myself enjoying certain land battles in the campaign modes however, but that is mainly because that mode made sure the battles were more unique. Talking about modes, apart from the two campaigns, there are skirmish battles and a mode called galactic conquest, where as the name suggests you'll have to conquer the galaxy, and this is an interesting part of the game, for a good portion of this mode you won't be in battle, you'll be viewing the galaxy and the planets you control as well as your enemies' planets, training both ground and space units and making buildings, as well as transporting troops and strengthening your economy, and this galactic conquest mode can extend and get really tense thanks to all of that, however it can get tedious after a while. Multiplayer is LAN only, which is a shame, since some online battles would definitely have been very interesting. A feature that this game has that is very noteworthy is the movie camera mode, it lets you see battles as if it was a movie, it can be a little distracting amidst the action, however when you can put the camera and relax it is great, but as I said it shines way more in space than land. Also, strategy-game wise it isn't that deep, there are few hotkeys and options that you would use in other strategy games like Starcraft 2. Overall I think it's a good game, but some issues lead it to not be great, I'd say download the demo (which is a good demo by the way) and judge by yourself, as for me, I think my purchase was good, but the potential that Star Wars has still wasn't used to it's fullest.… Full Review »
  3. KneelB4Zod
    Dec 13, 2006
    6
    Da Gameboyz hit the nail on tha head; this game's biggest positive reinforcement, it that it come from the Star Wars Genre and has all Da Gameboyz hit the nail on tha head; this game's biggest positive reinforcement, it that it come from the Star Wars Genre and has all that cool star wars stuff. If it had been any other space oriented game it would have fallen on its face and bit off its tongue. Honestly, the game isn't terrible, its quite fun. However, once you beat the game, its sucks a fat one.... i had had more fun popping pimples than continuing playing this game. P.S. idk what all you critics are talking about, that was incredibly easier than you make it out to be. "grind through the game" my ass, i bet you can't play a video game for sh.... PWN..... yea it makes me feel like a bigger man.… Full Review »
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