STAR WARS™ Rebellion

Ah, Rebellion. Let me start off by saying that if this wasn't a Star Wars game, if they had used some generic sci fi setting, this would not be worth buying. In absolute terms it isn't a very good game. Mediocre graphics even for its time, terrible user interface, lousy AI. The other problem is that it doesn't really give the feel of the movies. You'd expect that playing as the Rebellion would feel vastly different than playing the Empire - that the Empire would outnumber you and keep you ducking from shadow to shadow. But really, whichever side you play feels pretty much the same. I guess I would say that this game is overly symmetrical that way. It feels very wrong to me, for example, that the Rebels get a huge capital ship on par with the Empire's super star destroyer, but there it is. Anyhow, despite the deep and myriad flaws, this game is just really fun. I don't even know why. Something about bringing your armada of star destroyers to chase down the Rebel fleet, or sending Chewbacca and a handful of commandos to sabotage an Imperial shipyard, just resonates and transcends the flawed elements of the game. Be warned - the game is not very user friendly or accessible. If this is your first time, expect to surmount a bit of a learning curve.

When it came out, this title received a lot of negative voices from the critics. But this game is not only a great game for Star Wars fans, it is a great global strategy game. You manage a side in the galactic conflict, both sides playing with a different style and a unique entry. You manage resources, diplomacy (which is planet-based), fleets, troops, special forces (they play a major role in this game - roughly half of my strategy always relies on my spies and saboteurs) and battles. Those last part is the only weakness in the game, next to low resolution and complicated controls. It's ugly. Has been in 1998 and is even more so today. But the strategy, the characters, the love and the lore of Star Wars makes this one particular a great grand strategy game. I still play it today (having an original copy always in reach) but this copy makes it hard to install and use. Thinking about buying this one.

This is a 4X strategy game that's unique in that it's asymmetrical. It's a shame because it does a fantastic job at some things but is god awful at some others. THE GOOD The game flawlessly recreates the strategic overview of the struggle between the empire and the rebels. The Rebels start on Yavin and have to organize a relocation before the empire player arrives with his starting overwhelming force. The rebels pick an outer planet, and rebuild there. Then it's a race for the rebels to scatter and spread out buying time to build up, and the empire sends out probes to find hidden rebel planets and crush them all before that happens. Other things that organically turn this into a recreation of the movies. Both sides send out agents to try and run missions, from sabotage to info gathering to assassinating enemy agents. You get heros that act as super agents to boost mission chances. You run into moments like sending Darth Vader himself to root out a trouble rebel area. Han Solo is sent to sabotage the empire's key shipyards, but since Vader was there he is captured. You run more missions to find out where Han is being held prisoner, and organize a rescue mission with Bothans and Wookies led by Luke Skywalker and Leia. Ships can't be recalled once in hyperspace, so you send your fleet to attack a planet only to discover it has a super shield or defense that will decimate your fleet, so it's a race to send a covert mission there to sabotage the defense before the fleet arrives, just like the movie! THE BAD This is what keeps the game from being a classic. The interface and combat are a total mess. The strategic portion is a never ending series of popup windows that simulates a bad malware infection. The fleet combat is a mess you can't effectively control and space battles always end in lopsided victories (one side is wiped out while the other takes almost no damage) no matter how closely matches the sides are. Worth checking out but the flaws are crippling.

There's very little glamour in this game; most of it is played through status displays and menus, and what is there is slapdash on the verge of broken (ie, the space combat). What is significant about this strategy game is that it engages the imagination harder than nearly any other Star Wars game out there, as you command a variety of characters from the universe in accomplishing missions and tasks that have galactic ramifications. There's a magic in it that makes it worth playing.

Rebellion is a fairly unique strategy game, with mechanics reminiscent of 4X turn-based gameplay in a real-time environment. You play as either the Empire or the Rebellion in a sandbox galaxy with dozens of planets and your goal is to capture the enemy HQ and its leaders. The real fun in the game comes from the fact that you can achieve your goal in many different ways. You can build huge fleets and tons of ground troops to conquer planets by force or you can use your characters to diplomatically sway a planet's allegiance. You can also make extensive use of agents to sabotage ships and buildings, incite insurrections, abduct or kill characters and so on. Ground battles can only be automatically resolved by the computer, but space battles can be controlled directly in a 3D area of space. Unfortunately the space battles tend to be difficult to control and turn out to be a bit of a hassle. The AI has multiple difficulty levels and will give new players a run for their money. Once you get a better understanding of game mechanics though, it will generally feel too easy. Playing against a skilled human opponent can lead to very hectic games. The visuals are lacklustre, consisting mostly of unit cards with static 2D images. The game makes an extensive use of classic Star Wars music, which is always great. There is also some rudimentary voice acting when using some characters as well as from your droid advisers. Rebellion gives meaning to the old phrase "don't judge a book by its cover". The game doesn't really give a good first impression, which led to a lukewarm reception when it was originally released. However, if you are willing to put some effort into it and learn the mechanics (which are unfortunately often unintuitive), it has the potential to become a very complex and engrossing game. Highly recommended for fans of strategy games looking for a unique spin on an old formula.