Star Wars Force Commander
By: Lucasarts and Ronin Entertainment
My Ratings:
Graphics-8.0
Sound-9.5
Fun Factor-8.0
Lasting Appeal-7.0
Overall (weighted average)-8.2
Genre: Strategy/War
It's here! The long awaited immersive 3-D RTS set in the Star Wars universe is finally here! Was it worth the wait? In my opinion, that would be a definite maybe... The graphics are quite good. Not groundbreaking, but they do have some awesome detail and pretty good animations. The sound is excellent. Has some cool remakes of the original Star Wars music that give it the RTS music style, as well as some cool sounding other ones. Also, there is lots of great voice acting and that sounds awesome too. Fun factor is ok. Could be better, could be worse. The worst part about it all is that skirmish mode is incredibly hard. It's very hard just to stay alive and there is no skill level adjustment. The levels are cool and the storyline is excellent, but the incredible hardness of it all is a pain. Another bad thing is the control is not very good. It's not terrible, but it is kind of hard to get the right view, and when you are zoomed out it is kinda hard to recognize your units. However, if you have a great computer it can probably be pretty fun. My computer can't cut it because it takes to long to move the camera view. Hopefully if and when we upgrade it will be much more playable. So with the hope that it will be better with a better computer, I gave it an 8.2. The lasting appeal is good for a short while because the missions are really cool and you can play it online. However, the somewhat annoying control detracts from the want to come back, and the hard missions can get so annoying that you just wanna stop. The first three levels are the part from the movie were you lead your small Imperial band to find the droids who landed on the pod. At first I was afraid I was going to have to kill Luke's aunt and uncle, but thankfully the guys and Lucasarts decided to make you follow a different path, with the storyline acting like a different group did that job. You do have to kill a few Jawas, but most of them run away. You are a guy named Brenn Tantor, who, with his brother, Dellis Tantor, have decided to work for the Empire after some of their family members had been killed in a Rebel invasion. They start off with a dream to be Storm Troopers, and eventually move up in rank. They then see that the Empire isn't that great after all, and figure out that the Rebel Alliance is really doing the right thing. Then Brenn Tantor decides to defect to the Alliance (I'm not sure if his brother does or not). Then you play the rest of the game as the Rebels. This game follows very closely to the original trilogy, allowing you to fight in the battle of Hoth, Endor, and many others that were put in to fill the gaps left by the movie. Battles that were only mentioned in the movie are now at your hands to control. There are several graphics flaws in this game, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a downloadable patch. Also, I have a Voodoo 3 2000 AGP video graphics card and there are some driver issues with that card. It runs the game fine, but some of the text is messed up. Hopefully they will come out with a patch or new driver to fix that. Other than those minor problems, this game is great looking. One thing that I like about Lucasarts (besides the Star Wars license) is that they have proved time and time again that it is possible to make fun fighting games without loading them with gore and blood. Force Commander is yet another example. When you kill something, it just falls over and dissappears. This game has less objectionable content and gore than Red Alert! The BHCI camera system is ingenious, allowing you to see virtually any angle you want of your troops, both far a way and a few feet in front. However, the BHCI can get pretty annoying, but that is the price you pay for getting such a great view on everything. The graphics are great close up, as well as zoomed back (although when zoomed back, your troops are a kind of hard to recognize). Lots of people have complained that the control is impossible, the graphics are terrible, etc. However, all those claims have been proven wrong. Lots of people, including myself, have become quite used to the camera system. The graphics could be better on the units, but the terrain is excellent looking. I would recommend this game to a Star Wars fan and hardcore strategy gamer who has the latest and greatest computer. If you don't have an awesome computer with an awesome 3-D card, don't bother. It will not run very well. Download the demo, but think about if you have the patience and computer to get the game. (A final note, check out the minimum system requirements at the above Force Commander link. You need a pretty good computer just to run this game, not to mention run it well.)
Pros:
Good graphics, detail, and animations.
Great sound and voices.
Pretty fun after you learn the camera interface.
Ok lasting appeal because of lots of missions, skirmish mode, and
multiplayer over LAN and MSN Zone.
Follows the original Star Wars trilogy story-line very closely.
Comes with two CDs for playing over LAN and because this is a
HUGE game.
No gore or blood whatsoever.
Great manual.
Very Challenging.
Cons:
There are a few graphics problems (nothing that can't be
fixed by a downloadable patch).
3dfx video cards occasionally have a problem generating text
(again, nothing that can't be fixed with a downloadable patch or
a new driver).
Camera interface can be hard to master.
Camera interface makes it much more annoying than other RTS games
like Star Craft or Red Alert.
Probably too hard for most players.
Objectionable Content:
Constant Fighting
Screens!
(the best ones are under "hints and tips", but
there are also some cool ones at the "gallery") I'm trying to get some screens to post here. If I find
the screenshot button, I will try to post some of my own here.
Other's reviews:
ignpc-4.7.
theforce.net
Game Addict
Well-Rounded Entertainment
Ex Gaming
Games Weekly
GameDaily
Download the demo! (Click on "Downloads")
Codes:
Lots of Stuff
To get lots of unfair advantages, create a new player
named TheGalaxyIsYours. When you are back at the
Select Player screen, select TheGalaxyIsYours by double-clicking
on it. Don't click once and click the arrow. Click the following
things to get awesome stuff:
1. "M" adds 500 command points to a total of 5000 cp
2. Ctrl - M subtracts 500 cp
3. Before Ctrl - 8 or anything else press "0". Now
select a unit or building press Num Lock+* on the key pad to make
unit invincible
4. Shift - M adds 500 command points AND lets you order ANY unit
even if you don't have enough command points to cover the cost
5. (To Spawn Units without having to wait for the DROP SHIP) Hit
Ctrl -0 (upper keypad) bring up a
cheat menu....then use following keystrokes
Up or Down arrow scroll through units to spawn
LEFT arrow spawns that unit (magically drops unit with a drop
ship or the wait)
Shift UP or DOWN changes team of spawned unit
And Finally:
6. Ctrl - W automatically win mission
7. Ctrl - 8 Show all active units
8. Ctrl + Shift + 8 Show all units
9. Ctrl - 9 Removes the Fog of War so you can see were all rebel
units are on the strategic map
Unlock All Missions
To unlock all the missions, create a new player named TheWorldIsYours.
When you are back at the Select Player screen, select
TheGalaxyIsYours by double-clicking on it. Don't click once and
click the arrow. Then select "Scenario". There should
be a long list of levels you can play. Click on the Imperial logo
to see Rebel missions.
©2000 NPC Gamers