Star Wars: Rebellion

Rating:
Summary: The best tactical strategy game on the market!
Review: Risk is the classic game of strategy and tactics, and though many computer games have attempted to improve upon that classic game, none have effectively done so. There is no to very little skill involved in many of the so-called strategy games on the computer today, Age of Empires lacks any tactical skill and Starcraft lacks of the strategy aspects. But where these games fall short, Rebellion excells.

If there is one game on the market that contests Risk, Rebellion is that game. Wield a war dependent on brute force or diplomacy, choose the missions that all your favorite characters go on. Become the Rebel Alliance and free the galaxy or the Emperor as you squash this insignificant resistance to your rule. No two games are the same.

Though the game may take time to learn and get into, if you get discouraged at this point you'll be missing a truly excellent game. I warn you however, you must first collect rescorces, only then does the game truly begin.

Ten years ago or so, TIE Fighter, Lucas Arts first true PC game blasted onto the market, the game all flying sims are based on. I've no doubt Rebellion shall become the basis of all the games in its class.

Rebellion combines aspects of Sim city with a Star Wars turn of Age of Empires as you weild your fleet against your opponent, either manually or simulated.

And there are suprises around every turn, who knows, just when you think you're doing well, the Empire may have secretly constructed a Death Star or has a Nograi assassin ready to strike Luke Skywalker.

But whether you choose the light side or the dark side, remember, the force will be with you!

Rating:
Summary: History Lesson
Review: Some of the newer Star Wars strategy games (ex: Force Commander) could learn some lessons from this great old title. I purchased this game upon first release and it has been a constant icon on every PC I've owned (3) since. I will not uninstall it, ever. In fact the first thing I do after getting a new machine is to load this game.

The game is set in the Star Wars universe just after the Empires defeat at Yavin. You can take on the role of commanding the Alliance or the Empire, the later being my favorite (you can't play as the bad guys often enough in other games).

Once started, your objective is simple, colonize other worlds or bring them to your cause through diplomacy or flat out invade them and then win them over with diplomacy. Just keep going until you have captured the other sides leaders and have deystroyed their base.

The game is heavy on micro-management and there is a bit of mouse work involved, but all functions have short cut keys, usually involving the shift or control keys. You can even name your ships and fleets which I love to do.

Each side has a specific strategy for playing and one will not work with the other. Play as the Empire and overwhelm the Alliance with brute force and numbers. Play as the Alliance and you'll find hit and run, mission based tactics and diplomacy work best.

Resource management is a huge factor in the game. You can manage it yourself (hard to do) or you can delegate to your assistant. Just make sure your maintence resources don't slip into the negative or you'll start lossing personell, ships and facilities.

The graphics are reasonable but nothing to get excited over. The sound is OK with stuff right out of the movies, but even with the best speaker system, it still sounds like it's coming out of a walki-talkie. Game play makes up for any and all short comings however.

Warning to anyone wanting to run this game on Windows XP. I have experienced some graphics problems which don't last long, slight slow down and auto play problems (better to launch from the menu after putting the cd in than using auto play). These issues are a slight anoyance and after the initial install, I have had no problems with launching the game. The game has also never crashed on me using XP.

If your SW fan who really likes to micro-manage and has no problem with lots of mouse work, then this game is for you. In my book, this game is second only to the original X-Com (which is the other main-stay on my PC's).

Rating:
Summary: 100% strategy
Review: Star Wars fans should be grateful for this game.
This is a 100% strategy game, and even in the galactic battles you need to double think which spaceship to send against which.
The idea of the game is simple... "manage your economic resources wisely as well as your politics and military to gain supremacy over the other side".
You'll need to select destinations for your mines, refineries, development labs, training facilities, etc so as to maximize output and grab the most out of them...

One thing you have to take into account is how changing the game is... in some part you can be lured to assume you'll wipe out your opponent in a couple of turns when you angrily realize he has taken control of 3 or 4 of your planets leaving you with most of your spaceyard or building facilities out!!!
Get enough patience because the game is long and pretty hard to understand, but once the effort's been made it's really worth it!

Rating:
Summary: Control the galaxy, but beware the mouse clicks
Review: Star Wars: Rebellion has been around for a while, and with the neverending stream of Star Wars games being released by LucasArts, it is surely being relegated to the backwaters of Star Wars gamers' consciousness. Its graphics aren't as gorgeous as Rogue Squadron or any of its sequels, and its style (real time strategy) may not be as popular as either first-person shooters a la "Bounty Hunter" or even "The Phantom Menace."

Yet to some strategy-gamers like Yours Truly, Rebellion (known in the UK as Star Wars: Supremacy) does have its virtues. While it is a strategy game on a galactic scale, it does combine elements of roleplaying (players can send major Star Wars characters from page and film on missions)and space warfare at the tactical level (once a player has built a few fleet units, they can be sent from their territory into enemy systems to invade planets or engage opposing fleets).

Players can choose to play as either the Empire or the Rebel Alliance, choose the level of difficulty, and the amount of planetary systems that will appear in the Galactic Information Display. The tougher the level, the more systems will gravitate to the oppposite side. The object of the game, of course, is to control as much of the Star Wars galaxy as one can, with each side having ultimate victory goals that must be achieved. To be more precise, the Rebels must capture both Darth Vader and the Emperor, while at the same time taking and holding Coruscant.

The Empire's mission is similar but trickier. Not only are Mon Mothma and Luke Skywalker to be in Imperial custody, but Alliance HQ must be destroyed. But unlike Coruscant, the Rebel HQ complex (it looks like Cloud City) can be moved from one Alliance controlled system to another. (Those who find the complete Victory conditions to be too hard at first might choose the HQ-only option.)

Things I like about Rebellion:
1. The "main title" sequence. Most good Star Wars games pay homage to their parent media source (the films) by having the "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...." card and the title crawl setting up the game's storyline. Rebellion is set immediately after Episode IV, so in some ways the game can be used to imagine alternate timelines and different outcomes to those we saw in the movies. Actual cues from the John Williams scores add that touch of genuine Star Wars atmosphere to this starting screen.
2. The use of characters from books and films. Although Rebellion shows its age by incorporating worlds and characters mentioned in books published up to 1998, I like the fact that the game designers did not limit the cast of "agents" to just the canon film characters. Fans of such Expanded Universe characters as Grand Admiral Thrawn, Talon Karrde, Borsk Fey'lya, Labria, and Pellaeon will find them included here. The one limiting factor is that only a few major characters will have audio cues included in their mission reports (and even those get old fast if you play the game in one sitting), so don't expect to hear the famous Thrawn's musings or Chewbacca's growls. I also like the fact that certain characters have strong Diplomacy ratings (Leia, Mon Mothma, Piett, Jerjerrod, and of course Vader and the Emperor) that only get better with each mission, while others are better at Combat and Espionage.
3. The graphics. OK. The game is not new and it's showing its age, but those fleet battles are still pretty cool. They may not be very varied, and at times it's best to just go to the Results screen if you send, say, a Star Destroyer or two against a system defended by one X-Wing squadron....or a Mon Cal cruiser against a single TIE squadron.

What I don't like:

1. It depends too much on mouse clicks. Another reviewer called this game the Death by 1,000 Clicks (or something along those lines). I have gotten used to this, but getting used to something doesn't mean you have to like it.

2. Team building. Supposedly, you can make a team of various characters to accomplish missions...or send out decoys to divert the enemy. While fine in theory, either the program is faulty or I am as dense as a Kowakian monkey-lizard. It did take me several months just to figure out the basic game, even after reading the manual, but geez...I still can't get the Team thing done.
3. Predictability on Easy level. OK. I don't enjoy pain much so I tend to avoid switching levels on PC games, but I have noticed that the Empire never attempts to build a Death Star on Easy level. It DOES drain resources, and maybe when I play as the Rebels I don't give the AI Empire time to gather raw materials for a battle station, but c'mon...to never try?

For an older game, it is not without its bugs -- it does crash from time to time and some of its features do get annoying, but Rebellion is still entertaining and fun to play. What more can one ask of a game designed in the late 1990s for Windows 95/98....except maybe a Prequel edition or a revamped Classic Trilogy/EU version with new graphics?

Rating:
Summary: Still outstanding after 5 years
Review: Star Wars: Rebellion is a rich strategy game populated with all the equipment, characters and worlds of the original trilogy AND the expanded universe of the Bantam-Spectra novels (up to 1998). I still play this game after five years and there are many strategies left to explore.

If you are a fan of strategy games such as KOEI's 'Pacific Theater of Operations' series or MicroProse's 'Master of Orion 2,' you'll likely enjoy Rebellion. The game incorporates the standard resource gathering, exploration, fleet building, diplomacy, etc. and does it in high Star Wars style! You can micro-manage every facet of your infractructure or delegate as much or as little to your droid assistant as you wish. Fleet battles can be glossed over or you can take direct command. You can even choose how big to make the galaxy. The soundtrack is classic Williams, and is varied enough not to be repetitive or annoying.

I would rate the interface at intermediate complexity, and the game overall as mildly complex. As has been previously stated, you WILL need to read the manual, and I also recommend the strategy guide if you can get your meat-hooks on one. I suggest playing a 'small galaxy' game as the Rebel Alliance first, since the Rebels can re-locate their base. It's FUN to make the Imperials play a 'shell game' when they think they have you on the ropes. Once you've finished that first game, you will have the basics down and should be pretty well hooked.

You know you want to build a Death Star. Yes, you can watch it do the job in cinematic glory. Happy hunting!

Rating:
Summary: Rebellion
Review: The Best SW campaign game to date ! The only necessary improvement would definately be control over ground forces during invasions . Excellent graphics and sound ! The amount of information coming in from intelligence during game play can be overwhelming to the inexperienced player . A must for any player, SW fan or not .

Rating:
Summary: Rebelion's in the middle of the middle to top.
Review: the game could have been so much more, I agree. A exucution and interrogation process for prisoners, a ground combat engine, better travel times(almost 100 days from one end of the galaxy to another?), etc. But the 3-D space combat rocks! Much like the upcoming Force Commander. Also, a lot of characters and ships to command. multiplayer is fully supported, and you can chose your difficuty, galaxy size, and play both sides. The empires forces do seem not much larger than the rebels. Also, the idea of force rulling is made impossible by the rebellions on the planets. You get several permanent characters, plus some radomly selected ones too. You can also recruit and send people on missions, like rescues and assasination attempts. Overall, a good game. Try it.

Rating:
Summary: The Star Wars galaxy in your hands...
Review: This game is a game for strategists. It takes place right after the Battle of Yavin(Episode IV: A New Hope)and allows the player to assume the command of either the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire. You can build different facilities, such as construction yards or shipyards, and a lot of the famous ships from the Star Wars movies. You can conquer planets with troopes, train Jedi, and command key players, such as Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. It even has cutscenes, like if the Empire loses control of Coruscant, it'll show Alliance troops landing and taking over the planet. You can explore the Unknown Regions, or stay and conquer the known galaxy. The main goals of the game are to capture the two main players of each side(Example: Luke and Mon Mothma for the Allaince)and the main base(The Alliance have a mobile base, while the Emperial base is permanently Coruscant). The space battles are excellent, allowing you to control each individual ship as the battle is happening.

Although Star Wars: Rebellion does have a lot of good things, it has some bad things to. It is not for the adventure-type gamer. You have to be able to sit down and think about your next move. And, most importantly: YOU HAVE TO READ THE MANUAL, or the game won't make any sense. And the manual is REALLY, REALLY long. Also, the game can be long. Actually, it is long. But it has to be long; if it wasn't, then it wouldn't have been able to have all those neat things mentioned earlier in it. Also, there really aren't enough players in the game, only a few of them, and because they can get captured and killed, you don't have enough of them to control the whole galaxy.

If you love strategy, get this game; its a classic Star Wars strategy. There is still much more to the game than I can explain, it is a very complex game. But I loved it, and I hope you love it, and thus is my review.

Rating:
Summary: The Star Wars galaxy in your hands...
Review: This game is a game for strategists. It takes place right after the Battle of Yavin(Episode IV: A New Hope)and allows the player to assume the command of either the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire. You can build different facilities, such as construction yards or shipyards, and a lot of the famous ships from the Star Wars movies. You can conquer planets with troopes, train Jedi, and command key players, such as Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. It even has cutscenes, like if the Empire loses control of Coruscant, it'll show Alliance troops landing and taking over the planet. You can explore the Unknown Regions, or stay and conquer the known galaxy. The main goals of the game are to capture the two main players of each side(Example: Luke and Mon Mothma for the Allaince)and the main base(The Alliance have a mobile base, while the Emperial base is permanently Coruscant). The space battles are excellent, allowing you to control each individual ship as the battle is happening.

Although Star Wars: Rebellion does have a lot of good things, it has some bad things to. It is not for the adventure-type gamer. You have to be able to sit down and think about your next move. And, most importantly: YOU HAVE TO READ THE MANUAL, or the game won't make any sense. And the manual is REALLY, REALLY long. Also, the game can be long. Actually, it is long. But it has to be long; if it wasn't, then it wouldn't have been able to have all those neat things mentioned earlier in it. Also, there really aren't enough players in the game, only a few of them, and because they can get captured and killed, you don't have enough of them to control the whole galaxy.

If you love strategy, get this game; its a classic Star Wars strategy. There is still much more to the game than I can explain, it is a very complex game. But I loved it, and I hope you love it, and thus is my review.

Rating:
Summary: Doughboy
Review: This game is awesome I only played it for a day but I got hooked. Try it!