Star Wars: Empire at War (2006)
Star Wars: Empire at War is a 2006 real time strategy (rts) video game made by Petroglyph Games and LucasArts.
You are the supreme commander of one side in the galactic civil war, the Rebellion or the Empire, and the whole galaxy is your board. Zoom out to plan across star systems, then drop into real-time battles on the ground, in orbit, and in the space between planets. Infantry, walkers, capital ships, and the occasional planet-killer all answer to you. It skips the resource-grinding of most strategy games and points you straight at the fighting, mixing conquest of the galactic map with the tactics of each engagement. Star Wars war on every scale at once.
Quick answers
What is Star Wars: Empire at War about?
You are the supreme commander of one side in the galactic civil war, the Rebellion or the Empire, and the whole galaxy is your board. Zoom out to plan across star systems, then drop into real-time battles on the ground, in orbit, and in the space between planets. Infantry, walkers, capital ships, and the occasional planet-killer all answer to you. It skips the resource-grinding of most strategy games and points you straight at the fighting, mixing conquest of the galactic map with the tactics of each engagement. Star Wars war on every scale at once.
When was Star Wars: Empire at War released?
Star Wars: Empire at War was released on 16 February 2006.
Who made Star Wars: Empire at War?
Star Wars: Empire at War was made by Petroglyph Games, LucasArts and Aspyr Media.
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Explore Star Wars: Empire at War guides
Star Wars: Empire at War in our writing
- Companion guide: LucasArts: The SCUMM Adventures & the Star Wars Empire
A few thoughts on Star Wars: Empire at War
For war run at the scale of whole fleets, The Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These is an anime of rival admirals and vast starship formations, all strategy and politics. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith shows the galaxy-spanning conflict these battles belong to, from the top down.
Real-time strategy games to command next
Empire at War puts you in charge of the whole galactic war, marshaling fleets and walkers in real time. These are the genre's touchstones for that same rush of building armies and out-maneuvering an enemy on the fly, from StarCraft's razor balance to the base-building rhythm of Age of Empires and Warcraft.
Grand strategy of empires and galaxies
Empire at War's best trick is the galactic map, conquering star systems like a board game before dropping into battle. These scratch that grander commander itch, thinking in territories and turns: Civilization's march through history, Heroes of Might and Magic's kingdoms, the long game of empire rather than the minute-to-minute skirmish.