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Empire at War Demo Review
What would you do? That’s the message surrounding Empire at War. The instant moment of the release of this demo however was more “How would you download it?” In my many years of gaming have I never seen such a huge surge of people online in attempt to download a single player demo. It appeared the hype (generated almost singly by itself) had worked. Gamespot was the centre of all attention as the countdown timer got ever closer to 0.
I’ll skip the boring bits that I’m sure everybody had to endure. So after a 3 and a half hour download made painfully slow on my 2Mbit connection by everyone else trying the same thing, I was installing! The anticipation certainly heightened by a score of new screenshots being shown on the installation screen. Fantasy was now reality, and I was dying to see how this would compare against the BfME2 Beta. My opinions that I set out in my “Ea Vs The Ghosts Of Westwood” article hung in the balance, as I began to realise that I could be made to look like an idiot.
Double clicking on the game icon, I was aware of the hamster spinning the wheel into overdrive in my aging 2Ghz machine. The legal copyright information screen seemed to take a lifetime, but eventually the LucasArts logo kicked in followed by the true star of this show. The Petroglyph logo was displayed and I immediately thought to myself, “The boys are back in town!” Even before the menu was up, I had a smile arched across my face. Never had I been so excited about a game since I loaded up C&C: Tiberian Sun for the very first time!
I was greeted by the menu, it looked well laid out, but graphically sub-standard. A few clicks into the video settings changed that, and I was re-presented with a nice crisp and clear layout, with the theme to the dark side pumping out the speakers. Already I felt at home in a game that I hadn’t even begun to play.
 Tutorials, Game Engine and Graphics
A few clicks brought me to the first tutorial, and presented to me was what I considered to be the Star map. First impressions here seemed OK, but what was plaguing me at the first instance was why the huge interface in such a basic setting? This was clear to me a bit further on when I realised that all building decisions are made on this star map. As first impressions went this proved a bit disappointing since I was expecting a game where there would be little or no loading, with C&C style base building schematics. But it appeared I was wrong.
But why was I expecting this? Why would I come to this conclusion? Well from what I gathered at the time, this game appeared to be a Imperium Galactica 2 clone. I expected Empire at War to be exactly like the piece of art that was created by Digital Reality almost 6 years ago. However, upon digging in and playing through all the tutorials, I began to realise something that I never thought possible.
After a short introduction we were dropped onto the planet Kashyyk with a small group of rebel soldiers. The voice in the background chatting away, telling us what we had to do was all well and good, but the game was locked until he had finished and the tension was already unbearable! But without a shadow of a doubt, the engine and graphics looked sexy, it was smooth, and metaphorically it was like the perfect woman. The only thing bothersome at this point was solely based upon the hope that it didn’t have the temperament of a woman. Indeed after completing the first tutorial, I can tell you, it hasn’t. The game played just exactly how it looked.
Unit movement was smooth and well animated. General movement across the map was realistic and the models looked great! The added atmosphere of rain beating down was good to the eyes and a delight to listen to. These are undoubtedly the best looking weather effects in any RTS game ever! All of this promise however was knocked back a little when the empire decided to attack a small base and we are introduced to the cinematic button.
This button while an excellent idea, is actually the worst feature in this Demo. It causes the camera to go crazy. Attempting to create an extra “movie like” atmosphere in the heights of battle. But instead it pans on anything but the battle. It’ll centre on particular units and pan around them. But the camera instead, usually pans around their heads and the ground so you cannot really see what they are attacking or what is actually going on.
The same fares for space battles. The camera will once again centre on particular units and not on the action going on. While it does look better in space, it still feels far from right. The result here being something that you’ll never use, purely because it adds nothing to the game other than allowing to appreciate what your units do. This is a huge shame. Since some of the explosions that occur when pieces of damaged ship fly off, would look superb in this cinematic view, only if it was done correctly. Let’s just hope it has been fixed for the retail version.
Sound
What can I say? The sound effects are great! Like any Star Wars game, tie fighters scream, lasers pulse with power and explosions thunder when close up, in essence from an RTS perspective, it’s like being in the movies you’ve all watched time and time again. There are a few old C&C sounds in the mix here, but whether or not these are placeholders for different sounds is hard to guess at this time.
Most of the Music score here is from the Star Wars themes. However Frank Klepacki’s own music creation talents have not been left out in this demo. The music that plays while invading planets, or flying through space is signature Klepacki, capturing the atmosphere and mood of the moment while keeping true to such a huge Star Wars franchise. If you know Klepacki’s work well from the C&C and other Westwood games, there is not much else you can say. You really have to listen to it to experience the excellent composition and talent at work here.
What we have here in terms of the sound is a great experience which is too difficult not to notice. Everything moulds so well into the game play and the action on screen that it all seems so natural.
Galactic Conquest
After the very linear game play that is the tutorial you get the chance to play on a single demo map as the Rebel Alliance. Although limited to tech level 3, and 3 planets there are many ways to go about it winning this mission tactically. If there is one thing this game proves, tank rush tactics will not work here! Selection of the right amount of ships, troops and hardware is the key to winning space battles and successfully invading a planet. The space battle should prove easy. However the planet Tatooine holds a tough selection of defensive turbolaser towers, AT-STs, Tie Maulers and many troops to boot. With the small force you can muster, the odds are truly stacked against you.
Part of your force has already landed, you have locals in huts around the map willing to help. However these locals have Rancor and skettos attacking them. To top it off, you have been discovered landing on the planet and you are already surrounded. You are being attacked! You have your carefully selected re-enforcements limited to 4 landing parties and it takes time to get them down. The next re-enforcement point is too far away to just run to. Now with so much going on and defeat already looming…. What would you do?
Yes, this phrase which has been coined on the Official Empire at War site is definitely closer to the truth than you might think. It’s gonna take guts, and a good strategy to establish a perimeter around your landing zone. You don’t have much, and they have many. This is Empire at War in action! The tutorial was just scraping the surface. Now the game is throwing you in at the deep end, and it’s hoping you will drown.
Conclusion
Although this demo only scratches the surface of what will be a deep, intensive, and no doubt, fun game. It does the most important thing by showing us the game mechanics, innovation and its potential capabilities. Sure, this demo isn’t without it’s fair share of bugs and that awful cinematic camera feature, but I’m sure these will be addressed by the time the game hits the shelves.
Empire at War has wandered off on its own tangent to create something that resembles only a shadow of Imperium Galactica 2. What we have here is in fact a game that has been worked on and thought about for many, many weeks and days. Petroglyph here have created a game that is so innovative, it quite literally demands other RTS games get on their knees and beg for mercy. Where Westwood created the RTS Genre, the same guys at Petroglyph have evolved the humble RTS and taken it to the next level. Indeed, first impressions seemed disappointing, but it grows on you, and by the end of it all, it leaves you wanting more. The demo in my opinion now reiterates my point that the Ghosts Of Westwood are back! and without a doubt, the full game will be damn sight better than this already great demo.
Scores: (out of 10)
- Presentation - 7.9: Innovative, and fresh. Interface and game mechanics take some getting used to, but works really well once you know it all. Cinematic camera is poor though.
- Graphics - 9.1: Maxed out this game looks really good. With explosions, ships and lasers all over the place, it looks like a graphical treat!
- Sound - 9.3: No mistake about the Music, Klepacki is back doing what he does best and sound effects are great. Not too sure about some of the old C&C sound effects though.
- Game play - 8.7: Once you’ve got round the learning curve, it all falls into place and you are playing it like you’ve known it for years. The Galactic conquest requires a lot of hit and run tactics, and a good strategy to beat, which makes it fun.
- Lasting appeal - 6.1: Depending on whether you’re someone who likes to conquer once and forget about it. Or someone that’ll probe this demo like an alien to a human’s backside will depend on whether or not you come back to the galactic conquest to try new things.
- Overall - 8.1 (not an average): Remember this is only scratching the surface, so the score is a little low at the moment. We hope to expect another 10% on top of that in the retail version. But make no mistake, this is a truly great demo for what you get, and we want more!
Review written by: C&C King
DATE: 20 January 2006
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in any of the articles published on Petro-Gamers.com are that of the author, and do not reflect the official view of Petro-Gamers.com, unless otherwise stated.
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