Gameplay

The gameplay is much like any other birds eye view strategy game.

Plot

The game interweaves its story through the events of Episodes IV through VI, sometimes intersecting with known Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

 events, while telling an original Star Wars story. It is shown from the point of view of a young officer in the Imperial Navy, Brenn Tantor, who begins as a stormtrooper, but soon enough is given his own command. The first task (from the training missions) is to search for an escape pod that landed on Tatooine, and then track the droids that were inside - which is a reference to the opening scenes of Star Wars Episode IV when C3PO and R2-D2

R2-D2

R2-D2 , is a character in the Star Wars universe. An astromech droid, R2-D2 is a major character throughout all six Star Wars films. Along with his droid companion C-3PO, he joins or supports Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in various points in the saga...

 escape Imperial clutches via an escape pod which crashes on Tatooine.

The main character is loyal to the Empire for the first half of the game, until his brother, Dellis Tantor discovers that the Empire killed their father. Dellis is imprisoned by the Empire for revealing this information. Brenn defects to the Rebel Alliance and proceeds to fight his former commanders. As well as the Tatooine

Tatooine

Tatooine is a fictional planet and setting for many key scenes in the Star Wars saga, appearing in every Star Wars film except The Empire Strikes Back, although it is mentioned at the end of the movie...

 training missions, the player participates in the Battle of Hoth (from the Imperial point of view) and the Battle of Endor (as a Rebel). The game ends with the battle to capture the Imperial Palace on Coruscant

Coruscant

Coruscant is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It first appeared onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, but was first mentioned in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire...

, and ultimately the liberation of Dellis.

Development

Originally conceived as a 2-D strategy game, LucasArts scrapped the overall design after its first public viewing at the 1998 Electronic Gaming Expo. LucasArts decided instead to use an optimized version of a 3-D engine supplied by Ronin Entertainment. The title was jointly developed by LucasArts

LucasArts

LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...

 and Ronin Entertainment, using Ronin's programmers and engine partnered with LucasArts' project leadership, designers, and artists.

The latest and last patch for the game is version 1.1 released in March, 2000.

Reception

The critical and fan reaction to the game was mixed. Gaming Age gave a largely positive review, stating that 'Force Commander lives up to the hype and is a game that deserves a chunk of your precious hard drive space'. Later the review relates that 'the graphics in Force Commander are excellent'. In another review, Gamespot related 'Because of its dated graphics, ineffective controls, and flawed gameplay, Force Commander falls short of its ambitious intent.' However, the review goes on to say that 'Force Commander has some good ideas. Its campaign has an involving plot and interesting mission objectives, as well as nice-looking 3D mission briefings. The command-point system and the balance between the stronger Imperial units and the shielded, regenerating Rebel units is original, as are some of the game's unit designs.' One feature of note in Force Commander is its music, which consists of remixes of John Williams

John Williams

John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...

' original Star Wars

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

 scores, done by Peter McConnell

Peter McConnell

Peter N. McConnell , also known as Peter Mc, is an American video game music composer who worked for LucasArts for nearly ten years. He studied music as an undergraduate at Harvard University in 80s under Timothy Vincent Clarke, Curt Cacioppo and Ivan Tcherepnin...

; however, fans are bitterly divided when it comes to offering an opinion on the matter.

PC Zone UK gave the game an 81% out of 100.
GameZone gave the game an 8 out of 10.
Electric Playground gave the game a 7 out of 10.
GameSpot gave the game a 6 out of 10.