STAR WARS™ Empire at War - Gold Pack

Honestly a unique and fun experience, especially with mods

Really wish the studio didnt get canned from lucasarts/disney. what a fucking fantastic game, still with an active community and mod community.

Could not recommend this game enough, its a genuine shame they werent able to make a sequel dedicated to the clone wars, but hey, thats what mods are for.

Also amazing they are STILL UPDATING the game to keep performance playable and the multiplayer servers functioning. Would 100% buy the game again if I could

Fun old school strategy game. Wish they had Total War Star Wars but this oldie is all there is....for now

if you are gonna get this then get fall of the republic as well. and launch the mod on zhan courtasan. also it is just one the best rts games i have ever played, and thats saying somthing. i might even say its better than men of war. all around a great game. 10/10.

Got a CD copy years ago and played it for hundreds of hours, don't play it as much as I used to but I still love it and play it occasionally. Also my favorite star wars game. 10/10

The only game that scratches a very particular itch called "Star Wars but an RTS". The game is an 'oldie but a goodie', and with the its excellent modding community, will probably never really be old. Overall, highly recommended if you have the previously mentioned itch bit jank but it is part of the charm by now. (Unless of course they make an "Empire at War 2")

Fun game. Love the base game, But is even better with mods. there are enough mods to keep you intertaned for hours on end.

Classic strategy game, very modifiable.

ITS OLD AND CAN GET A BIT Laggy but its super fun has great mods and fun gameplay

9/10
Empire at War is a fantastic Star Wars RTS. Forces of Corruption is an amazing expansion. But the real life I'm just getting into now in this game is the talented, dedicated Modding Community. With masterpieces available for beyond the Battle of Endor, the Clone Wars, and even the Old Republic era, modders have breathed years of life into this old gem. For diehard fans of the pre-Disney Expanded Universe, Empire at War and its various era mods are a joy to get lost in for hours.

My only complaint about the game is that Galactic Conquest modes almost always devolve at some point to fleets chasing retreating enemy fleets around the galactic map in order to finally achieve victory, which can get a little tedious. But winning isn't what's rewarding here, it's the ultimate Star Wars fantasy of leading a faction at a galactic, space, and land battle level across multiple planets, exploring all the unit options, and enjoying the cinematic moments that play out.

Brilliant game at base but the mods make this pretty damn perfect even today.

I love this game... Civ building, space battles, land battles... awesome

Not proud of how many hours Ive spent in the immersive mods....I lose track of time. But I love this game

If you’re a Star Wars fan and haven’t played Empire at War yet – you’re seriously missing out.
This isn’t just a strategy game – it’s a full tactical experience in the Star Wars universe. Command massive fleets, land stormtroopers, build the Death Star, and destroy entire planets. Capture heroes, hire mercenaries, and fight for control of the galaxy – it’s all here.

I first played it back in 2007 from a CD, and it left a deep impression on me. The campaigns, the massive battles, the iconic characters – I was living the dream of galactic domination. Now, in 2025, I’m playing it again – and it’s still absolutely amazing.

Space battles are the real highlight. Cinematic, massive, tactical – it’s like Battlestar Galactica Deadlock meets Age of Empires, but in Star Wars. Ground battles aren’t as deep, but they still offer strategy and fun.

Now let’s talk about mods. The modding community has kept this game alive for nearly 20 years. Empire at War Remake, Republic at War, and many others bring in new factions, enhanced graphics, smarter AI, Clone Wars content, and so much more. With mods, this game still feels fresh today.

The Forces of Corruption DLC is another gem. Playing as the underworld is a completely different experience – use bribery, sabotage, kidnapping, and black market tactics to dominate from the shadows. It’s chaos, and it’s awesome.

Summary:
✔ One of the best Star Wars RTS games ever
✔ Epic space battles that still impress in 2025
✔ Mod support makes it immortal
✔ Played it back in 2007 – still love it
✔ Ground combat is okay, space combat is elite
✔ Great for both beginners and RTS veterans
✔ 9.8/10 with mods – a must-have for Star Wars fans

Final Verdict:
If you’ve ever dreamed of commanding fleets in a galaxy far, far away – Empire at War is for you. Empire, Rebellion, or criminal underworld – the galaxy is yours to conquer. For any Star Wars fan, it’s an absolute must-play.

Awesome game when you download a few mods. They game makes you want to conquer the galaxy

Perfect for any RTS fans and chronic Star Wars enjoyer. Also the workshop is fire go check out fall of the republic but play the tutorial first

I would literally pay £50 for them to remake this with modern graphics and less crashes.

I have enjoyed the game very much with the multiple mads that people have made that completely change the game and make it better in almost every aspect.

As a big star wars fan this game is perfect for me and it has a lot of cool mods

great game needs a squeal or remake with better ground combat and with clone wars content with expended story mode

A game from my childhood kept alive by modders so dedicated they could make their own star wars games. Although we probably never will get a new star wars strategy game, but i don't mind. The amount of time this game has made me happy is more then enough.

10/10 game, classic mashed potato graphics(graphics are tasty, but that doesnt mean i like mashed potatoes), good gameplay, lots of mods and large fries with a soda

I can't recommend this game more than I already can, this was a staple game that got me into the strategy genre in my early teens, though I admit I got this game initially because it was Star Wars.

like other games it have issues, but in my opinion it is one of the best star wars games I have ever played,
Especially when you have options to add mods, like republic at wars, empire at war remake et cetera. When i played as the empire and built my first death star i was blown away. In any case 9.8 out of 10

I've played about 100 hours in this on disc, it is so worth it. Runs smoothly without any lag, and the game is very fun. I saw this on sale and had to buy it. Would recommend to everyone to buy this while its on sale. And this game has steam workshop mods too.

Its a very fun game and it holds up today as a great tactical game

Beat the galactic conquest accidentally in 42 minutes. Not sure how. Best game ever!

The best Star Wars RTS thus far!

The game has tremendous replay ability, both in campaign and multiplayer, and is vastly expanded on with some really well done mods.

If you love Star Wars and Command & Conquer/Starcraft style play, this is what's up.

10/10

The best strategy game of all time! Spend a lot hours in it as a kid. Still love to play it ^^

I don't know what I could say that others haven't already, phenomenal RTS game for us star wars nerds, i truly hope that we get a continuation of this series at some point

game feels like the results of gambling. big wins and devastating losses. 22 out of 7

This is a fun game when your able to get the basics. Using mods does make then game more better and fun. For example the Awaking of the rebellion mod if you like the Empire vs Rebels era or the fall of the republic for the Clone wars era.

Greeat classic game with at the time a great battle camera for space battles. had some good memories

I played my CD copy of this game ALL the time growing up and loved every moment of it. It's a beginner friendly RTS game and one of the greatest Star Wars games ever made with a great modding community that's been active for almost over 20 years now. Empire at War is so peak and if you're a Star Wars fan and haven't played it than you need to

Only have 3 hours currently

Ground battles are ok, other games do it better.
Space Battles are amazing, a mix of battlestar-galactica deadlock and age of empires.

best game ever, love controlling my army, could give us more ship places and more clone wars stuff

If you like rts games and star wars, this is a no brainer. Just get it and enjoy it, There are mods available for those who cant get past the graphics, so no worries there.

this is the best the game is good and it comes with a new verson and theres a workshop full of mods that are as big as this game you need to play this game

Been watching guys like captain shack playing this game for years and always wanted to get it. Im so glad i did is such an awesome game (deffo need to play with mods however) and i cant wait to upgrade my setup so i can run the game alot smoother. if you like strategy games and are a star wars nerd like me you will love this game. I wish they would bring out a sequel this kind of game has so much potential!

After all these years and all the great mods this game is more fun now than ever.

Old but gold. The mods are insanely fun, and I'm kinda surprised that the modding community still keeps this game alive. Definitely worth trying.

Definitely a game that has survived the test of time. When it came out originally it was already leagues ahead of other games at that time. Today it still holds up before you even start bringing in modded content into the equation. The modding community has also provided additional units and content that allows you to continue to explore the SWU. It is a game I continuously find myself going back to when the other games seem to be getting boring.

Don't be deceived by the playtime, i played this a ton back in the day pre-steam.
Might be one of the best RTS games of all time, with a modding community that keeps this game alive and well to this day. Definitely worth a buy!

cinematic space battles with a great modding community

Empire at War is the ultimate Star Wars fantasy game. It is ancient, it is archaic, and it is both wonderful and deeply flawed, deserving of a remaster and expansion. 3/5

On my scale, a 3/5 game is good. It is satisfying, fun, and otherwise worth the purchase price, with some caveats.

A part of me feels bad giving Empire at War a 3/5. After all, it is one of the only RTS games I’ve ever had the patience and interest for and it captures the majestic fantasy of Star Wars wonderfully in a way most other games just never do.

The core of this game lies in both the “Galactic Scenario” (basically a non-story campaign) and the “Skirmish” modes. Galactic Scenario is by far the best, where you assume command of either the Rebellion or the Empire and set out to vanquish the other by capturing planets through battles of both space and land. In some of the smaller scenarios, your goals are quite specific and targeted. In my favorite scenario, “Galactic Conquest,” your goals are to either kill the Emperor or Mon Mothma or completely vanquish the other faction.

Galactic Conquest is the best because you wage an actual war campaign across the galaxy, and must manage multiple fronts at the macro-level while also taking direct control of your units during battle encounters. So even if you’re not great at the skirmishes of war, you still can find ways to be competitive by building your defenses and economy intelligently, forcing your opponents into awful battles of attrition where you will come out on top despite losing (this is my strategy, much to my younger brother’s ire). If, for example, your garrison of 10 units can force your opponent to lose 50 to take one choke point, you quickly can parlay this into a snowballing advantage.

Skirmishes are options for playing just the fights, either against other players or computer opponents. The goal here is simply to destroy the other faction’s star/land base before they destroy yours. Quick, simple, to the point, and quite fun, although not as satisfying as galactic scenarios.

There is a story mode in this game, supposedly. I wouldn’t know, because I’ve never played it (at least past the "steal the x-wings" level, which is dumb as bricks). Perhaps I would appreciate it better now that I’m older and less mentally challenged, but I remember the missions to be monotonous, tedious, and not very engaging. So your mileage may vary there.

The computer opponents in this game are… hmmm, special. They are artificial but they’re certainly not intelligent. As a result, this game truly shines when you play multiplayer against other people, and there is (insanely enough) a community of people who continue to play this online to this day. I’ve only ever played against my brother, and it is some of the most fun we’ve had playing together.

The problem is a persistent and experience-ruining synchronization problem which crashes the galactic scenarios, and, even worse, bricks saves so you cannot even reload in. This is so frustrating, so disheartening, that we just don’t play anymore. It sucks to have the game desynchronize coming out of a 90 minute battle only for the game to never load back into the scenario.

Aspyr has pushed various patches for this dinosaur of a game, but these issues continue to happen to us. (I can only imagine this is to be expected for a nearly 20 year game.) So I just hope that one day we will get a remake and remaster which will expand the scope of the game to include more eras, more units, more scenarios, more heroes, more everything while ALSO developing a framework for more stable multiplayer sessions. This is the largest issue dropping the game from a ⅘ to a ⅗, and almost drops it down to a “not recommended.” It is the brilliant execution of the core Star Wars fantasy plus the framework of a RTS with a high skill ceiling but low threshold to entry that makes it still a solid recommendation for any Star Wars fan.

Now, there is a modding community out there that has been hard at work bringing a ton of new units and mechanics to the game. One day I will commit to installing them and trying them out, and they look awesome. And the current version of the game is sold with the only DLC ever developed for it, which adds a ton of new units for the Rebellion and Empire, plus an entire new “pirate” faction which is quite fun (i.e. broken as all hell).

I end then, with my favorite Empire at War moment of all time. My brother and I load up the game and Galactic Conquest. I start developing my economy and planning my choke points. My brother, a fan of the more “brute force” style of engagement, sends a giga fleet to fuck with one of my planets. Easily wipes the space station and invades with all of his land units, including one Emperor Palpatine.

I had a single garrison of barrack troops and a light vehicle factory. I sent my troops to build random anti-infantry turrets to just try to pick off random units. I start hiding my units across the map so he has to waste time to find them and frustrate him. Well, somehow Palpatine ended up in front of an anti-infantry turret and decided that he was just not going to attack it. A few minutes later, my brother literally shouts “what the fuck” as he realizes Palpatine is dying to the turret. Well, the idiot dies to the turret before my brother can get him to safety. Instantly, the Rebellion victory cutscene starts playing signaling my brother’s immediate game over (and alt-f4). To this day, I just have to say the word “Palpatine” and he gets so triggered; it is one of my favorite moments ever playing with him.

If you like Star Wars at all, get this game and help us all bug Aspyr for a remaster. So long as EA doesn’t get involved and it’s this but better and polished (and has functional multiplayer saves), I would drop $60 bucks for it without a thought.

Just a classic top down battle game for Star Wars Nerds. Enjoyed it in HS now I enjoy it in my 30s!

Do you like Star Wars? Do you enjoy RTS games? Are you into active modding communities with tons of mods that take a good game and turn it into an excellent one? Then say no more; this is the game for you.

Whether it's on sale, full price, or even free; it doesn't matter. Pick it up and feel like Grand Admiral Thrawn on Christmas Eve, churning out wave after wave of Star Destroyers from the Kuat Shipyards.

The base game is okay. Forces of Corruption is good. But the mods available on Steam? They make this game great. The mods created by this vibrant community of big ol nerds are the pièce de résistance.

Do it. Don’t overthink it. Just do it.

Base game in itself has given me tens of play hours, but the modding scene gives it hundreds worth of play hours (it's not logged here because I pirated it when I was a kid)

Very good game. I absolutely love this game and its one of my favorite games I have gotten. And the modding community is amazing and the game is still updated and it came out in 2006. Amazing game I would recommend this for any strategy or star wars fan.

One of the best Star wars game ever made even better by the easy availability of mods through Steam.