A ways down the road from Las Vegas lies a small industrial district...one that used to be home to one of the most influential computer game developers in history. Westwood Studios created the extremely popular Command & Conquer series and helped lay the foundation for real-time strategy games with the classic movie-licensed game Dune 2. The complex that was once home to 150 artists, level designers, and producers has now been parceled out to other local businesses. And a stone's throw away, in an unassuming office that's practically right across the street, lies Petroglyph, a new studio consisting of about 20 staff members, nearly all of whom are from the original Westwood team, including many of the programmers and designers that literally helped create the basis for real-time strategy games as we know them today. And the studio is hard at work on an all-new strategy game that will attempt to further the genre past its traditional gameplay of gathering resources, building a base, and raising an army with Star Wars: Empire at War.

Gameplay Movie

Petroglyph lead programmer Michael Legg and LucasArts producer Brent Tosti explain what Empire at War is all about.

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The new game will take place in the Star Wars universe all right, but its actual events will take place between the not-yet-released film Episode III and the 1977 film Episode IV (better known simply as Star Wars, the first movie in the original trilogy). The action will take place in the same galaxy and will include tours of duty on such planets as Hoth, Endor, Tattooine, and Dagobah. You can also expect to see classic troops and ships in the game, like stormtroopers, Imperial snowspeeders, and the impressively huge four-legged walking AT-ATs (from The Empire Strikes Back), as well as speederbikes and AT-STs (the not-so-impressive two-legged walkers that appeared in the battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi). And in space, you can expect to encounter classic ships like TIE fighters and Y-Wings (and their bomber variants), in addition to humongous Imperial capital ships. (In fact, you can expect to see, and play as, both land and space units in the game...simultaneously.)

This new real-time strategy game will come from some of the developers who helped create the genre.

Typically in real-time strategy games, you slowly assemble your armies by gradually building the required structures and by researching the proper upgrades. Then you bring these armies in to battle in the late game, only to lose them in the next mission. Empire at War's units will be completely persistent, so you'll keep whichever units survived your last battle. So, considering how expensive some of the most powerful units will be, you may find yourself actually retreating. In fact, attacking and retreating may be central to your strategy, especially if you're playing as the Rebels, who might not always have the resources to mount a full-scale assault. Sometimes it may be better to use guerilla tactics, like crippling a powerful capital ship and fleeing into hyperspace before an armada can be sent after you.

These tactical situations highlight some of the major differences between the two factions. The Rebels will begin the game, as you might expect, at a material disadvantage, so they'll have limited resources, limited holdings, and even limited technology. In many cases, the Rebels won't be able to amass large armies for fear of being discovered, so they'll often find it wiser to build only scattered holdings across different planets. However, the Rebels will have a strong advantage in terms of intelligence-gathering. Consequently, the Rebels will have spies everywhere. And in the meantime, the massive forces of the Empire will also be...everywhere. In fact, your gathered intelligence may actually be stored and used like a "quest log" in a traditional role-playing game, so once the Rebels receive fresh information on what the Empire is doing and where it's doing it, they can take appropriate action based on each tip received.

The Rebels won't have brute strength, but they will have stealth and intelligence. The Empire, on the other hand, will have brute strength.

On the other hand, subtlety won't be part of the Empire's main strategy, and in some cases, it won't even be possible for the Emperor's forces to move without being tracked. It's true that the Empire will generally begin the game in a very strong position, with many planetary holdings and the wherewithal to build huge armies. However, the Empire will, as noted, not be able to conceal its movements, nor will it have a firm grasp on exactly where its enemies lie or what they're up to. In describing the differences between the two factions, producer Bret Tosti cites Princess Leia's conversation with an Imperial officer from the original motion picture: "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Not every planet is controlled by the Imperial forces, and not every planet is friendly to them. As a result, you may also find neutral planets that you can recruit to your cause. For that matter, you'll even be able to recruit powerful hero characters for your armies, including legendary Jedi, such as the fearsome Sith lord Darth Vader.