Star Wars: Empire at War Demo

[RainOfTerror]

Control the fate of the galaxy in LucasArts' RTS game Star Wars: Empire at War. Set a few years before the events of Episode IV: A New Hope, the game will let players rewrite history as well as experience the aftermath of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, the creation of the Rebel Alliance, and Darth Vader's rise to power.

LucasArts has released a singleplayer demo featuring five tutorials, and one galactic conquest map, although only a limited amount of units are available.

You can grab the Star Wars: Empire at War demo (http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=31196 ) (740mb) over at WorthPlaying.

[TRiLoGY]

hmmm I keep having problems getting it from 'Worthplaying'

"Warning: mysql_pconnect() [function.mysql-pconnect]: Zu viele Verbindungen in /www/worthdownloading.com/public_html/includes/db_functions.php on line 8
Connect Error: Zu viele Verbindungen"

I guess its due to high demand..

[NoName]

Wow, it must be "Star Wars: Empire at War" day, this is the thirds news post to have that in the beginning of the title. Course, it's only the second new article about a place to download the demo... O.o

[Jacob Singer]

I started one of the download links from Worthplaying, but the file size was only 70.2 MB. Guess I'll wait for Fileplanet...

[eatme]

Single player? Doh. :(

[Valkyrist]

::counts down time till off work::

[RainOfTerror]

TRiLoGY, indeed .. working on it ..

Jacob, which one did you try? They should all be fine & complete (just checked)

[Jacob Singer]

It was the second one. I'll give it another shot, thanks.

[Heptoid]

File Front dosen't seem to have the complete file yet and yet they have it up for d/l.
I just got a 100mb file from them and looking just now the same file is up to 470 or so ...

Mirrors 1 and 3 won't connect for me for some reason.

*spelling*

[Triprotic]

need torrent O_o

[Wayfarer]

I second the "Wizard needs torrent badly" motion.

[Citizen Philip]

740 MB.. I should get it tonight some time tonight after I get home from work ;P

[Zulu107]

I really like the Demo...its like...Act of War but with Star Wars theme. It definitley pushes the RTS next gen button.

[Zurik]

Damn, this is a bad time to have to do overtime.

[RyanJW]

I found mirrors listed here (http://www.teamkilled.net/display/article/star-wars-empire-at-war-demo-released/). Still finding it difficult to find a decent speed, though. D:

[Mjolk]

3D Gamers (http://www.3dgamers.com/dlselect/games/swempireatwar/empireatwardemo.exe.html) finally got their torrent up.

[Triprotic]

3D Gamers (http://www.3dgamers.com/dlselect/games/swempireatwar/empireatwardemo.exe.html) finally got their torrent up.

thank feck, i though 3D gamers had stopped doing torrents or something.

[Mjolk]

I think they just hold off on them so people will sit in line for their http servers, get fed up, and pay for whatever they call their premium membership.

[NELS]

Anyone getting decent speeds anywhere? I am getting about 40 kb/s right now.

[Achilles]

I started this one downloading before I went to work. Has anyone played it yet? If so, what do you think? It seems like the easiest game concept to get right yet they keep screwing it up (Star Wars+RTS).

Thanks for the comment Zulu, but I haven't played Act of War :(

[Xaerin]

8kb/s from file front, 245kb/s from Happy Puppy (http://www.happypuppy.com/games.php?action=downloadfile&fid=2207&gameid=1594) .

[NELS]

8kb/s from file front, 245kb/s from Happy Puppy (http://www.happypuppy.com/games.php?action=downloadfile&fid=2207&gameid=1594) .

Thanks! Getting 500+ kb/s from em'!

[MajSheppard]

I cant figure out how to play this game, I guess my sound card problems must be the reason the tutorial isnt telling me anything!

[JediSanf]

I started this one downloading before I went to work. Has anyone played it yet? If so, what do you think? It seems like the easiest game concept to get right yet they keep screwing it up (Star Wars+RTS).

Thanks for the comment Zulu, but I haven't played Act of War :(

Just finished the demo (tutorial & single player).

First things first, this is NOT the micro-managing hell that was Rebellion. While there is much to keep track of, most everything is laid out in a fairly intuitive manner. That being said I highly suggest running the tutorial. A bit slow in parts due to the narration (I kept reading the instuction text and trying to click inactive buttons) but it teaches everything you need to know.

The games runs fairly smoothly on my legacy system (AMD 2200+, 4600Ti) and the graphics are very clean. The only hiccups were during the large land battles and I estimate I had anywhere from 50-75 units at the closest zoom.
Unit command is standard RTS fair and the UI does a good job of keeping out of your way.

I especially like the clean line the devs have drawn between economy and battle. By not having to deal with both at once a lot of clutter is removed and you can really focus on whatever you're doing at the moment. The interface can be removed in two ways: they cinematic camera (kinda useless) and ultra-zoom (about as awesome as it gets). Scroll your mouse wheel back and the camera zooms waaaay out giving you an interface free satellite view of battle. This makes coordinating large forces much easier and looks as nifty as all get out.

Increasing your field presence is done through a reinforcement system with unit caps handled very nicely via waypoints which, though I was skeptical at first, I now think could be used for some exciting multiplay. Actual strategy is introduced through reinforcements as I found myself planning a depth chart for my second assault on Tatooine (Boba Fett kicked my ass first time around). You don't get to use any heros in battle unfortunatly but they look to be formidable.

Edit: Don't have Han and Chewie steal credits and they be used on the ground. Thanks, Geburah.

Other stuff
Pros:
Ultra-zoom is awesome
Can pause and issue commands to keep a grip on things

Cons:
Battles can feel "messy" from a control standpoint
The AI "area of awareness" seems small

Oddities:
I couldn't figure out how to pause while zoomed out. Perhaps a user error, perhaps a design choice. Odd, either way.

Bottom Line:
The first time I ordered my x-wings to target a Vic. class Star Destroyer's shield generators and then give it a case of TRD I giggled like a schoolgirl. Enough said.

[jwbxx]

JediSanf nice break down, good job.

[Morratut]

Thanks JediSanf. I'm gonna download this asap.

I'm looking forward to this game even more :D

[Geburah]

Actually, you can use hero's. Don't send Han and Chewie to steal, and they'll be available for the land battle. Chewie can "borrow" an enemy vehicle, which is snazzy. The control wasn't as tight as I would like, but I guess that comes from not being a strict RTS like Warcraft or somesuch. Or maybe I just suck.

[JediSanf]

Actually, you can use hero's. Don't send Han and Chewie to steal, and they'll be available for the land battle. Chewie can "borrow" an enemy vehicle, which is snazzy. The control wasn't as tight as I would like, but I guess that comes from not being a strict RTS like Warcraft or somesuch. Or maybe I just suck.

Really? Cool. Good thing I didn't uninstall, I'll give it another run through tonight.

Morratut and jwbxx: Thanks, hope you enjoy the demo.

[Achilles]

Thanks for the review JediSanf!

I had a chance to try it out myself last night, and I was really impressed. The actual RTS combat wasn't anything particularly special. It was nice that there wasn't a lot of building construction and resource management, I thought that made the battle a lot more tactical (which often amounted to finding ways to distract turbo laser turrets with hordes of locals, and running from ATSTs as they shucked us like ripe corn). But every strategic element they added was great, and really sold me on the game.

I’ll be picking this up on launch day guaranteed.

[mrdrum81]

Snag it off Gamespot....fast speeds, and the file works just fine...course, you'll need to login to gamespot...if you don't subscribe....i spose wait for fileplanet.

[Knite]

fileplanet already had it as of yesterday for subscribers anyway. I got it at a nice 320kb/s =)