For those of us out there that really enjoy real time strategy games but would prefer if it could be made extra nerdy by involving a sci fi franchise that we are intimately familiar with, Star Wars: Empire at War might be one of the best RTS options available out there.
Honestly, this game looks as though they simply took the engine from other games and added different skins to the individual units. I don't have a problem with that at all because it is an incredible game. It involves a certain level of resource management but this extends beyond the battlefield and is improved or made worse depending on the level of control over the galactic map. You receive credits based on how many mining planets you control and this adds a new element of strategy to the game because it becomes important to delay your ultimate objective in order to take over planets that are high in resources.
You can choose to play as the Empire or the Rebel Scum but obviously you are going to play as the Empire right? What are you a girl or something? Of course you are going to play as the Empire!
There are battles on the ground and also above planets in space but I really enjoy the battles on the ground a lot more and find the space battles to be a bit too hectic for my liking because of the 3-d element of them that at times (at least for me) seemed clunky and difficult to control. Your individual fighters are also not terribly important, just like in Homeworld
This game was originally made in 2006 and focused entirely on a fictional time period between episodes 3 and 4 of the Star Wars Universe as it revolves around the construction of the Death Star. I suppose you could say this was a precursor to Rogue One since that is meant to take place during the same time unless I am mistaken. An expansion pack was released later in the same year and then many years later online support was added.
I can't imagine any particularly good reason why nothing else has been done with this game over the year or even have any attempt to make another one. There is plenty of material so I am guessing it might be something to do with Lucasarts and now Disney being difficult companies to work with.
It did receive some level of lukewarm reception and reviews by people who claimed that the skirmishes were mundane and repetitive and only a real Star Wars fan would enjoy this game. I can't say that I actually disagree with this notion. There is no real innovation in this game and it is very similar to many games that game before.
The graphics are dated but in my opinion at least the nostalgia is reason enough to want to play this. I am hopeful that someone picks up where these guys left off and brings us another one. Perhaps RTS games aren't very profitable since they can't really be ported to consoles. This may be why we don't really see many of them get made... too bad :(