Star Wars: Empire at War, (sometimes abbreviated to simply EaW), is a real-time strategy (RTS) game that takes place in the Star Wars universe. Promising to end the mediocrity of past Star Wars RTS games (namely Star Wars: Force Commander), Empire at War started from the ground up.

The game was developed by Petroglyph, comprised of many former members of Westwood Studios (known for the Command and Conquer series). This company has developed a completely new engine specifically for EaW known only as Alamo. It uses several higher-end shader effects such as soft shadows, specular lighting, and particle effects for dust clouds and explosions.

The game features a brand new style of play to make things a bit more realistic. Instead of building workers, gathering resources, and recruiting individual units, players are granted resources based on how many planets the player controls. Controlling worlds increases a player's cash flow and provide unique bonuses depending on the planet (ex. Armor increases, discounted prices, special unit production.)


Targeting an enemy's starship hardpoints.Battles are carried out both on a planet's surface and in orbit. Whoever controls the planet's surface, controls the planet itself. There are different factors to keep in mind depending on your status as an attacker or defender. Attackers must secure Landing Points to increase the number of units they deploy, while Defenders may deploy up to 10 "units" on a planet immediately. Attackers have their advantages, though. They may call in bombing runs if they have Bombers in orbit. Likewise, ground-based installations (like the ion cannon and hypervelocity gun) can fire upon units in orbit during space tactical battles. Unlike in Galactic Battlegrounds, shields will form an actual physical barrier that must be penetrated and protect bases from artillery and bombing runs. Assorted building pads litter the playing field in both space and land battles. These pads allow the player to build useful structures (ex. Turbolasers which can easily destroy enemy mechanized units.) Combining these, and many more elements (including special abilities and hero units) creates an intense tactical and nostalgic experience that any Star Wars fan can appreciate.


An Alliance Space Station under attack in Empire at War.EaW takes place during the time between Episode III and Episode IV, concluding with the construction and possible destruction of the Death Star. Empire at War features three factions, although only two are playable. These factions are the Rebel Alliance the Galactic Empire and the Black Sun (Non-playable without XML modding, see below.) Units in this game are a mix of Clone Wars-era and New Order-era. The Empire's advantages include powerful ships and swarms of TIE Fighters, while the Rebels, on the other hand, must rely on swifter ships and Raid Fleets (Small ground troop fleets that can bypass space defenses.) Like many RTS games, Empire at War features a "Rock-Paper-Scissors" unit usage style-for every unit there is a counter-unit. Brett Tosti, the LucasArts producer, has stated that this encourages players to create diverse armies and fleets with units that counter other units, as opposed to building a bunch of "super units".


AT-AT Barges as seen in Empire at War.Players are also able to call on reinforcements during battle, including heroes like Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Players can also construct planet-borne ion cannons, factories, and space stations. Over forty locales are featured including Yavin 4, Tatooine, Dagobah, and others from the movies and Expanded Universe.

An expansion pack was announced at E3 May 9, 2006. It adds 40 new units, 13 planets, a new side and new warfare and features. It was released October 24th in the U.S.A and came out October 27th in Europe.