tar Wars fans have been hoping for a good real-time strategy game
for quite a while. 1998's Star Wars: Rebellion tried, and
largely failed, to fill that niche. Force Commander does a better job, but
it's still just an apprentice.
Force Commander is set in the timeframe of the
original Star Wars trilogy. In it, players assume the role
of Brenn Tantor, a young officer rising through the ranks of
the Galactic Empire.
As Brenn, players command planet-side invasion forces from the relative safety of an orbiting Star Destroyer. This is accomplished through a device the
acronym-loving Imperials refer to as the BHCI (Battleground Holographic
Control Interface). The BHCI displays the battlefield as a three-dimensional map, which allows the commander's camera view to switch from hovering just behind a
unit to soaring high above the action.
The commander moves troops by selecting them with the mouse or hot keys,
and then clicking the portion of the map where they should move. Brenn can order troops to follow waypoints or to
patrol a given area. Units can be selected and
assigned to groups by type, or lumped together as the commander sees fit.
In combat, the commander tells troops to assume aggressive or
defensive postures and specifies which targets to attack, but the grunts do
all the actual fighting.
At first,
young Brenn is given command of stormtroopers, AT-STs (chicken walkers), AT-PTs and simple
command buildings. As he advances in rank, more and more impressive toys
come into play, including TIE fighters and bombers, speeders and the always
terrifying All-Terrain Armored Transport, better known as the Imperial
walker.
Force Commander offers a
multi-player mode as well as single-player scenarios. Both take players to a variety of exotic locales, from desert dunes to a frozen ice planet to the tight valleys of a mining colony. These settings include a half-dozen customizable variables such as day vs. night, alternative terrains, and
different technology levels.
Battling the rebels ... and boredom
Force Commander is a fair strategy game that's occasionally as
slow and plodding as its AT-ATs.
The game has been in development since 1997 and, unfortunately, it shows. The
utility screens pop in and out of view at an annoyingly slow pace, and the
tactical bar on the actual game screen takes up too much space for the
amount of information it displays. The game's 3-D engine does a good job of
rendering the vehicles and people, but the terrain and buildings appear
subdued.
Force Commander has two features that players will either love or
hate: The first is its music--remixes of John Williams' classic tracks, which
techno fans will enjoy but purists may turn off after a few notes. The second is
the battlefield camera, which allows players a huge number of angles to choose
from. It sounds like a great idea, and for some gamers--those who love tracking
every nuance of a battle--it is, but those who prefer a fixed view may
quickly tire of it.
The game's "economy" is based on command points, which are awarded to
players for conquering enemies and achieving objectives. These points are in
turn used to buy equipment. There is no resource
management, which means players have nothing to do during the game's lulls.
The logistics can also be frustrating. Ground troops are essential to
winning the scenarios, but are easily wiped out. Unfortunately, they aren't
as easy to replace, and a squad of 20 troops can take quite a while to
rebuild.
That said, the scenarios are fun, especially those based on scenes from
the movie trilogy. After all, who hasn't wanted to take command during the Battle of Hoth? But while Force Commander can be an engaging game, Star Wars fans will probably be the only ones patient enough to put up with its
faults.
