While X-Wing and Dark Forces gave you a view of the Star Wars conflict through the eyes of a single individual, Star Wars Rebellion was supposed to offer a strategic view of the conflict and give you the power to end the war as either a rebel or imperial commander. You controlled every aspect of the war for either side. You had to maintain your own holdings, building more ships and troops, and then dispatching either armies or diplomatic envoys to increase the planets under your sway. In addition to managing systems, ships, building facilities, and troops, you also had to manage heroes, such as Han Solo, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker.

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Each of these characters, of which there were more than 50, had their own specialties that could assist you in research, building, battle, or secret missions. As if that wasn't enough gameplay, Rebellion also had 3D tactical ship to ship combat. Ground combat was resolved automatically, like in Master of Orion.

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The entire package was very ambitious and sounded good on paper, but the ultimate product was terrible, suffering universally bad reviews. The interface was daunting and didn't facilitate gameplay at all. Moreover, the tactical combat was poorly implemented with bad graphics. If you could get through the two or three hours of necessary tutorial, manual reading, and trial and error, the game might have gotten a little more interesting. Unfortunately, there was just too much to do, an interface that didn't help at all, and a noticeable lack of fun.

Star Wars Rebellion was noteworthy for being the first Star Wars strategy game, but LucasArts first attempt at translating the Star Wars conflict to a more strategic venue was too ambitious and ultimately deemed a failure.

Read GameSpot's review of Star Wars Rebellion.

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