Rest assured that Galactic Battlegrounds has a relatively deep design with enough twists to distinguish it from Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. Although at times it seems LucasArts was being lazy, this isn't just a slapdash skin job.

But they are grounds to wonder whether this is just a cheap tug at the pocketbooks of the fans or whether any thought went into this Star Wars adaptation of Ensemble's Age of Empires II engine. These are hardly grounds to dismiss LucasArts' latest real-time strategy stab at the most lucrative license of them all. Galactic Battlegrounds uses the Age of Kings engine suitably well.

Tauntauns on Tatooine? Dewbacks in outer space? Naboo Fighters tussling with X-Wings that haven't been invented yet? TIE Fighters with shields? And since when do Wookiees have tanks? The Star Wars universe already requires a willing suspension of disbelief, but most fans at least expect some internal consistency. Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds will send Star Wars purists into a tizzy.