STAR WARS™ Rebellion

I originally installed the game via the usual GOG installer, but the game wouldn't Launch. I scoured the internet and tried several "fixes", to no avail. The only thing that got the game running on my system (Win11), was to install the offline installer. Once I did that, it booted up without hesitation. Getting full colours and no crashes, so far. So not really a review, more advice if you have the same trouble :)

This was the 2nd Star Wars game after Rebel Assault 2 I ever purchased. Used to spend hours as a kid, playing through this time and time again. Alternating between the Rebels and Empire. Loved the cut scenes and all the characters included from the Expanded Universe.

Absolutely fantastic real-time 4x game, in a category all of its own. This game looses you onto the Galaxy as either Empire or Rebellion in the post Battle of Yavin era (after Episode IV: A New Hope), awarding you full control over well known characters, as well as a slew of expanded universe ones. You will gently direct your faction from your command deck, watching events unfold and little stories being created. That is one of the things that made me fall in love with this game: it sometimes feels like an RPG and it most often feels like a sandbox. There is a certain apparent simplicity to the game that belies underlying, emergent depth in how your characters develop and how the galaxy changes shape around your actions. Do not be fooled by the dated graphics (the space combat sequences are especially clunky to control), it somehow manages to convey a very authentic original Star Wars feel and your imagination is going to take off and over in the middle of all the little non-animated X-Wing sprites as they swarm an enemy Star Destroyer. Did i mention you can build a Death Star and blow up planets? The game, however, will not hold your hand and you are bound to discover all sorts of relatively hidden gameplay elements (Your force users, for instance, can sense force potential in other characters and train them. Sending Jedi Knight Han Solo with a force sensitive Chewbacca as backup and decoy to sabotage an enemy ISD never gets old). Occasionally the UI contributes to the confusion, but nothing that should stop you from enjoying this awesome piece of game. I sincerely encourage you to give this one a try, if it hasn't already consumed hundreds of hours of your childhood. You are bound to discover one of the best Star Wars games released and an excellent 4x. If only Empire at War was this + updated graphics, it would have been perfect.

I played this game growing up, and it's still a ton of fun. Highly recommended, especially if you have a long afternoon for some 1v1 LAN play. For those having graphical bugs with upside-down pictures: I have this when I launch REBEXE.exe, but if I launch from the GOG shortcut (C:GOG GamesStar Wars - RebellionLaunch Star Wars - Rebellion) it works fine!

This game got a a lot flack back in the day, but I spent endless hours playing this gem. Word of warning tho: this game is NOT meant for everyone. Even fans of the genre might be turned off by this game. But for me, it was definitely worth the wait for GOG to bring it back.