Galactic Battlegrounds Saga (Lucas Arts PC G8)

By PETER ELEY

(Herald rating: * * * * *)

Star Wars fans shouldn't get too excited here: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga isn't a new title, but an off-season pot-boiler that combines the original game and its add-on into a value-for-money package.

If you've already played Galactic Battlegrounds, you won't be buying this one. If you haven't, it's well worth a look simply because it combines two classics — Microsoft's Age of Empires game and LucasArts Star Wars movies.

And who can go wrong with a pedigree like that.

Peel away a few layers and Age of Empires shines through. That game is built on gathering food, gold, stone and wood before conquering competing nations. Galactic Battlegrounds substitutes carbon, nova crystals and ore but retains food, although sheep have been replaced by mynocks and eopies, and berry bushes by muja fruit, whatever that is.

The technology tree has the same amount of branches, but has units such as Jedis and Sith Knights in place of priests and advanced cavalry units, and assault mechs in place of war elephants and the like.

But Galactic Battlegrounds has enough going for it to escape any suggestion that it's just a clone.

The space scenario, with its alien terrains, vast galaxies and lighting effects is well done and moves the game some light years away from AOE's simple wood and stone structures.

And for AOE's Britons, Mongols, Vikings, Franks, Teutons and the like, read Galactic Republic, Confederacy, Royal Naboo, Rebel Alliance and Wookiees.

They look a lot different to the often quite generic AOE units.

Galactic Battlegrounds follows a similar game structure to AOE, with campaigns and skirmishes. The latter are randomly generated and this super feature gives the game unlimited playability, or at least until you're bored with it.

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