Mahesh31“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” These symbolic opening lines was to pave the way for a mega movie franchise that would capitulate the minds of many people. Star Wars, created back in 1977 in its first theatrical film “A New Hope”, the franchise would go on to assert its legacy spawning further sequels, a set of prequels, books, television programmes and games. Star Wars: Commander is the new addition to the mobile gaming market which sees the Star Wars universe fusing with Clash of Clans, but is there space in the market already dominated by a well renowned game, or is this the start of a mobile gaming “Galactic Civil War”.
Being set while the Galactic Civil War is going on, you are a smuggler on the twin sun planet of Tatooine. You are on your own at first with no alliance to either sides of the war but after your base gets destroyed you find yourself with the choice of either joining the Empire lead by Darth Vader, or the Rebel Alliance led by Princess Leia and Hans Solo. Once you choose a side they will then help rebuild your base and their resources are now yours. Choosing a side server more aesthetically rather than gameplay, although each side does have their own abilities, it is balanced so there is no one side advantage, though I felt having AT-ST’s in my army and “the power of the dark side” was something I wanted. There are a few campaign mission available to further the story however they more serve as a tutorial to aid on what further actions can be done.
Those who have played Clash of Clans before will know what Star Wars: Commander is about, typically you have a base and as a commander you have to build, upgrade and maintain it. At times you can be attacked and so you will need to defend to protect you base. All of this costs money and so for base building to be achieved there are two types of “money”: Alloy is collected for building and upgrading some buildings (headquarter), and Credits for building troops and building upgrades. The way to get these is by tapping on the buildings that output these currency of Markets and Refineries; other ways is to attack a base or completing story quests. When building you will be restricted to a time wait, after the time has counted down it will be ready, but to speed things up there is a third currency that is equivalent to real world money or completing objectives, Crystals; you will be given some when you start.
The other side of the game is to attack other bases, these can be real life people bases or story missions. Either way in terms of how you did you will be rated in a three star system, completely destroying a base will net the maximum three star rating. When committing to PVP action you will also gain medals representing your competitive ranking. When attacking you will be placed in view of the enemy base, you then select the troops you want to deploy and tap an area in the battlefield. From here the only thing that can be done when troops are on the ground is signifying an attack order on a building, although typically it runs automatically so you just sit and watch the battle unfold. Different troops follow different behaviours and so it is best to tactically place them where they might be best suited and not just all in one place, a feature that I like as it can be the difference in conquering the base or losing your entire army.
The game is made to look cartoony, and so from a technical point it is not demanding on the system played on and in my experience was very smooth although loading can be a little bit slow. Being in the Star Wars universe, many of main characters are there with voiced dialogue is a welcome addition, there is also music which feels like a Star Wars composition all making the game have the mark of being a part of the Star War’s universe. One thing that can be a bit difficult to manage is your base itself, there are lots of buildings that can be built and already built, problems arise that they do look very similar and it’s hard to tell what the building’s purpose is.
Think of Clash of Clans masked over with the Star Wars universe, with minor tweaks and this gives you Star Wars: Commander; the result is a combination that actually works. Though it may be similar, it does differ that little bit and improves on what Clash of Clans misses in a few places. With the ability of choosing a side from the very beginning, and overall feel of the game being a part of the Star Wars universe with its presentation, story and music; it’s a game that can be worth trying out even if you are not a Star Wars fan. Top that off with probably the best message in a game that I have seen to convince you to rate the app, the developers did their best to make it a fun and enjoyable experience. Will you be the Rebel champion? Or a loyal servant of the Sith? May the force be with you.
Overall: 8/10
Reviewed on Android