Political decisions are yours to make... kinda. You are guided to choices that allow you to take multiple paths which apparently ultimately lead to something like eight endings. I wouldn't know though. I cruised through the game using what I thought was a conservative and wise strategy, and ended up being reelected. The supposed economic challenges which dogged me early in the game and for which my own actions appeared to do precious little, suddenly just got better midway through the game for no particular reason. So after finishing the game with the desired ending, I started to play back through the game determined to take a different strategy, but I forgot how laborious it is to read through so many conversations. Even when you want to make crappy decisions, your advisors wave the red flag. I threw in the towel early and I won't play it again. Before I come off sounding like an amazing gamer - I'd like to stress that I just made common-sense decisions. As this game is clearly based on real countries, it's not hard to piece together the right strategy.
5/5 stars - I will only review Single Player for this game. As other reviewers have mentioned, the multi-player features can be utilized with 3rd party platforms, but assuming that might not last forever and that might not be available for everyone, I'll only address single player options. Like many SW Universe games, this selection is heavy on the details for the overall SW story. There are more than a dozen planets represented with appropriate characters for each. A series of "heroes" can be unlocked by play or time when playing certain levels or instant play, and the hero generally has a specific connection to the planet. The levels are unique and there are a bunch of different roles a player can choose from, and you'll find that the nature of the specific roles will suit some levels better than others. There are three single player game modes. First is instant action, the second is a story mode, the third is a one one one battle for various systems called Galactic Conquest I believe. All three include both space battles and on-land first person shooter battles. The story mode follows a detachment of Clone Troopers through many of the planet environments that you can play in. The space battles are unique to the fact that you can actually land on the large ships and try to detonate explosives inside the ship to achieve goals. This also allows you the ability to steal enemy craft and pilot it. Strengths: Good playability even after defeating all levels due to high number of variables. Great SW details. Instant action allow player to have a great deal of control over decisions and strategy. Weaknesses: AI often fails to help you in achievements, meaning you can get frustrated having to lead charges for many or most accomplishments within levels. Still, AI is not bad for the year, and the number of glitched out characters found in a level is very low.
5/5 stars - This is a great short and easy game that provides more than many point and click games. The dialouge is fairly snappy, and you'll likely have some laughs as you go through. The game is set in a lousy town and with questionable people all about. The game has fun with that premise and it doesn't take it self too seriously, as is evidenced by the actual gameplay at times ridiculing the game itself. There are six primary levels which can be played and beaten individually usually in less than 20 minutes or so at a pace where you aren't trying to speed run. I bought my copy for sale for something like 5 or 6 bucks, and it was totally worth that. This isn't a game that you are likely to sit down and rock the whole thing out, but instead play a level once in awhile and it'll be decent. Like many other point and click adventures, there is limited life after you play once through. However, there are three bonus levels that show up once you beat the original six that are shown when you first start play.
3/5 stars - A unique storyline that somewhat follows the real history of Coral Gables, FL. That's fun to watch play out and the characters are pretty cool. I thought it was a fun playthrough overall - however, as with most games of this particular style, there can be moments where lacking a single element may stall you and send you all over the available map clicking on every conceivable thing trying to figure out what minor thing you have have missed. Fortunately there are internet walkthroughs available if you are less patient. With A Golden Wake, the options you have are very limited and there aren't really any alternative scenarios to speak of, so one play and you're done. I bought my version for $3 on sale. For that price, I'd say it is worth it, but anything higher than $5, I'd recommend looking elsewhere for point and click adventures. In terms of the puzzles in game - they are very basic and don't provide interest challenges to the player.
3/5 Stars - Awesome Star Wars theme, and the casual to die hard fans will certainly enjoy the settings, characters, and variety of theme-appropriate tasks. Much is said about the opening level on Hoth which is indeed great in my opinion. A wide variety of level types (on foot, on a speeder, flying in space, foot with jetpack, etc) keeps things interesting... however it should be noted that they may have tried too much and may have been better served spending more time on basic functions for fewer types rather than go thin on all of them. Also, the music is solid and better than average for sure in terms of video games of the era. All this being said, the controls are very frustrating, and more so once you get to the missions with the jetpack... because the jetpack is WAAAAY easier to use than normal walking/jumping. This makes at least me less interested in playing the levels where moving around sensitive areas all the less appealing. The poor jumping movement is highlights in a few levels, perhaps most notably the junkyard where you can jump up and the laws of physics seemingly disappear. I suppose we could simply say it's an alien world and maybe that just happens, except that's not the game design. There are also some more minor control issues that are fixable, but strange that they are there in the game - for instance when piloting the space craft, your button for missiles changes depending on whether you are dogfighting or shooting at a space station. That's a mid-level change! Additionally, the speeder bike level is downright comical and controls are basically just smashing left and right. Pod Racing came out so close to this title, yet this version of "racing" is a match compared to a light tower. Overall, for the price, it's worth playing through completion if you are a SW fan, but I wouldn't expect to play it additionally after you beat the game.
