Empire At War

Someone said something about balance issues in the upcoming Star Wars game Empire At War being developed by the guys who used to make Command & Conquer. Just because it's them I know the game will kick ass and chew bubblegum.

Still, the pantywaistes in the LucasArts forums keep making much ado over the topic hoping that no matter which faction you play as, the game will be super duper balanced and equal so every one has the chance to win and have fun, fun, fun. Note the blatant sarcasm. I had this to say:

Honestly, I don't care about balance. The entire point of Star Wars is that the war IS unbalanced. It's not fair being the Rebel Alliance. It took their entire fleet to win at Endor and the battle was only a diversion to get the small ships in there to blow up the Death Star. And that was AFTER the clandestine maneuver to destroy the shield generator was a success. And they never would have gotten that done if it hadn't been for those damn cuddly teddy bears!

The Empire is better funded, has better capital ships, has a more ruthless policy on expendable assets such as pilots and troops (just clone more) and unlimited funds. They hold more territory and are general badasses that control through fear and intimidation.

The mere sight of a single Star Destroyer spells "I just wet myself" for most anyone, let alone a fleet surrounding a Super Star Destroyer. Unless you're an unstoppable asteroid the size of a Nebulon-B Frigate, a Star Destroyer isn't particularly scared of you.

Therefore, RTS theory suggests that tactics in Empire At War will differ between factions.

For example, if you're the Rebellion, you do like rebels do and make surgical strikes, picking at your enemy from several different strategic angles until he bleeds himself to death. And you risk your own life doing it.

Battle of Endor; "Get as close as you can and attack those Star Destroyers at point blank range... We might just take a few of them with us." The rebels were outgunned, outmanned and out of luck. But they won 'cuz, damn it, it was the last movie. And they used hard-core, near kamikaze tactics to hurt the Empire. Yeah, homeboy didn't mean to fly his beat up A-Wing into the bridge of the Executor, but gosh it sure was effective wasn't it?

Meanwhile, if you're playing as the Empire, all you have to do is show up and people surrender.

So, I'd start off playing as the Empire. Stronger units, more resources, easier wins. The REAL challenge is playing as the Rebels against a monstrous, unstoppable enemy.

Ahh, the hopeless battle of a faithful few against insurmountable odds. God, I love Star Wars!

THANKS, GEORGE!