Disney Mobile has just launched Star Wars: Assault Team, a brand new collectable card game (CCG) set in the “Star Wars” universe, on the App Store. You can pick up the new application free of charge now and it’s optimized for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Developed in parntership with LucasArts, the game allows iOS device users to build up a deck of cards featuring their favorite characters from the popular space opera franchise, and to do battle against the Galactic Empire. The app’s storyline is set between “Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope” and “Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back,” and in its release notes, Disney explains: Infiltrate enemy fleets and outsmart your opponents in exciting, face-to-face combat. Embark on epic missions to escape from enemy ships, find the Wookiee resistance, survive ambushes on the streets of Mos Espa, and much more! Fight for ultimate…
Author: Editor
Star Wars Facts: The Three Branches of the Jedi Order
The Jedi Order was an ancient and noble monastic peacekeeping organization unified by its belief and observance of the Force. The Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic, and became the most famous of the various groups that relied on the Force for their power. Led by a series of Jedi Councils, the Order grew over the millennia despite facing many trials, most often threats from the Sith, wielders of the dark side of the Force. For a full reading about the Jedi order check out our article about them here. Below is a walk through of the Three Branches of the Jedi Order: The Sentinels Jedi Sentinels were often considered a blend between the Consulars and the Guardians. However they were more than that. Whilst the other branches focused on what they could achieve with Force powers or Lightsabers Sentinels realised that the Force…
Star Wars Retro games: Force Commander
Force Commander is LucasArts second attempt at creating a Star Wars based strategy game for the PC, their first attempt was Rebellion. In Force Commander you play as Brenn Tantor a young Imperial field commander. The game starts with 3 training missions followed by a further ten mission for the Imperials. You then see the light and in the next thirteen missions you play for the Rebels. The training missions take you through the basics of the game system, and this is very important since they are quite hard to get to grips with. You need to learn how to work the BHCI (Battlefield Holographic Control Interface), this consists of the control panel at the bottom of the screen and the view of the battlefield above it. The view is in full 3D and you can see the units making their way across the terrain. The 3D view is one…
Star Wars Retro games: Yoda Stories
They don’t make games like these anymore. It isn’t overly complicated or terribly pretty by today’s standards, but that’s the source of it’s charm. It is exactly now what it was then: a desktop game, a way to fill an hour or so between work projects or homework. The adventures are randomly generated, the dialogue is humorous, and the game itself brings an innocence and nostalgia back to a period that has otherwise largely lost it. For a Star Wars game, it captures the feel of the movies in a way that many modern games with the same license don’t. Why? Because the material, too, evokes a more innocent time, back before special editions or blu ray edits. It’s Star Wars as it used to be, as so many of us grew up with. As part of Lucasarts’ Desktop Adventure Series, players take control of Jedi-in-training Luke Skywalker, as he…
Star Wars Retro games: Masters of Teras Kasi
The concept of a Star Wars fighting game is definitely an exciting one. Even less-than-rabid fans of the series have to agree that the thought of conducting epic light saber battles definitely sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, Masters of Teras Kasi fails on many levels, resulting in a game that could have been incredible but instead is filled with disappointment. The storyline takes place after the destruction of the first Death Star. The Emperor’s growing annoyance at having been unable to crush the Rebel forces that are responsible, presses Darth Vader to enlist the aid of Arden Lyn, Master of the ancient fighting art, Teräs Käsi. Teräs Käsi draws its energy from the Force, which increases the powers of the Jedi. However, those who dismiss the Force as a “hokey religion”, are able to pick basic combatants (Such as Han Solo or Boba Fett) and fight alongside their allies….
Star Wars Retro games: Star Was Monopoly
Hasbro Interactive’s Star Wars Monopoly is a fully animated interactive PC version of Parker Brothers’ 1997 Monopoly board game, albeit with the 20th Anniversary “Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition” twist. Although the rules remain the same as the classic Monopoly game and the goal still is to buy up as many properties as possible and not becoming bankrupt, the setting is no longer Earthbound (as in Atlantic City) but the Star Wars galaxy from the Classic trilogy. In Star Wars Monopoly, one can either play solo against the computer’s artificial intelligence (AI), other human players (the “hot seat” option), or on the Internet through such portals as the MSN Game Zone. (Players who install this game will notice it will later show up on their MSN or Windows Messenger as an additional option.) While it’s always more fun to play against other people, the solo player game can be very…
SWTOR THORN Rakghoul event guide
A guide to the Rakghoul Resurgence event and the THORN reputation in SWTOR. The event will run from Jan 12 to 26 on Tatooine. How to Start & Planet Dallies Rakghoul event now runs monthly on a different planet each time. From Jan 12 –26 2016 it will be on Tatooine. 1) Starter Quest from Fleet Players level 20 and above can participate in this event as the mobs in the tunnel scale to your level. If you attempt The Eyeless operation boss, you will be bolstered (on storymode) You will find new terminals on the fleet. Interacting with it will give you a small cutscene and a quest. You will also receive the codex entry for THORN. You will complete this quest once you arrive inside the Rakghoul tunnels on the planets which will reward you with 10410 credits, 1 Glowing Data Crystal and THORN Booster Pin (green rep…
Star Wars Retro games: X-WING Collectors’ CD-ROM
No one can really deny that the Rebellion picked the tough road when they decided to rise up against the numbers and might of the Empire, unless of course you argue that good always triumphs over evil. Unfortunately, unless you’re Luke Skywalker himself, X-Wing will quickly prove this to be a rare case. It’s one of the hardest flight combat sims ever made, and it’s filled with odds and situations that will make you wonder more than once if you’re playing for the wrong team (and should the call of the Dark Side become too strong, you can even defect, by purchasing TIE Fighter). But as difficult as it may be, X-Wing is also one of the most addictive and beloved combat sims you can hope to find. Confirmed Star Wars fan status is not required. Provided you have even a passing tolerance for playing what is essentially a combat…
Star Wars Rarities: The Ewok Adventure
Not everyone was a fan of the teddy bear-like additions to the Star Wars universe George Lucas introduced us to in Return of the Jedi (1983), but if you were (as I was), then you were in luck! Just a lucky as you could be plyaing on THA BET. Not only did Ewok fans get an animated series based on the cuddly creatures, but two TV movies as well! Naturally, the most popular Ewok of all, young Wicket W. Warrick, was the star furball in both TV outings which told the story of the Towani family, four humans who had become stranded on the forest moon of Endor betting on THA. The first of these all-knew, live-action Ewok adventures (said to have taken place shortly before Return of the Jedi) was 1984’s “Caravan of Courage,” though it was better known in the U.S. as simply “The Ewok Adventure”. In this…
Star Wars Retro games: Dark Forces
With the release of DOOM in 1993, the gaming industry went into overdrive in coming up with similar games using the first-person perspective. Some games, such as Heretic and Hexen, simply licensed id Software’s game engine. Others choose to build their own 3-D first-person shooters from the ground up. LucasArts Entertainment was one of the latter companies, and Star Wars: Dark Forces was their first stab at the genre. Released in 1995, Dark Forces was the first Jedi Knight game, though the original release did not use the “Jedi Knight: Dark Forces” tagline. Later re-releases would, however. The story revolves around a mercenary called Kyle Katarn, an ex-soldier of the Empire who now works freelance for the Rebel Alliance. After a minor interlude wherein Kyle steals the plans for some obscure new Imperial weapon called the “Death Star”, our hero is tasked with investigating General Rom Mohc and his plans…
Star Wars: Attack Squadrons Announced – A Free-to-Play Space Shooter
Disney is taking its next stab at the Star Wars license in video game form. Today, the company announced a brand new space combat title in the franchise’s already well-established catalogue. Developed by Area 52 Games, Star Wars: Attack Squadrons is a free-to-play PC dogfighting game, which will feature 16-player combat and a plethora of familiar Star Wars spacecraft such as X-Wings and Tie-Fighters. Rumors surrounding Attack Squadrons began to bubble up shortly after Disney closed LucasArts, when the company was seen registering multiple domains seemingly related to the new game. It seems that Lucas-inspired gaming is alive and well: along with this new game, fans can already expect the new, DICE-developed Star Wars: Battlefront, which debuted at E3, to land in 2015. The announcement came alongside a site launch and the opening of beta registrations. You can try your hand at putting your name down for the beta, but, be warned: the system has been…
Things I learned while leveling my alts
This might not be rocket science, but here is a few tips and tricks I learned while leveling my alts. When you make an alt, you will probably look for ways to level without doing entire planets that you already did on your main. One of the biggest complaints about this game that I see is travel time. Companion quests, space missions, warzone daily quests, and flashpoint daily quests are attractive since you can get tons of EXP for basically doing little to anything at all and with 0 travel time. In fact, you can do all 4 of those things while being docked at the fleet. Mail to an alt on the same faction is instant, even if you’re sending items. Edit: you can send mail with items/credits to your cross faction alts. In normal mode flashpoints, the game seems to have a bias to drop items for the basic…
Mass Effect 4 Next Release From Bioware?
Since the recent release of photos depicting the Mass Effect development team as a part of the annual N7 Day Celebrations, gamers haven’t stopped talking about the upcoming game. The game itself is still in the development stage and there isn’t very much definitive information about it yet, but that hasn’t stopped these photos from sparking excitement and speculation all over the internet. People are analyzing and attempting to enhance the photos in order to learn more information, pouring over the tweets that accompanied the photos for hidden clues, and are searching through any information they can find in order to create an accurate picture of what is to come. But the fact is, there’s just not a lot of confirmed information at this point. Little can be seen in the shots that were tweeted; they were shots that were meant to tease, meant to make people speculate. And they…
Star Wars Retro games: Rebel Assault
Since we try to cover all starwars gaming news here on SWTORStrateies, I thought it was about time I started a new column covering all the old classics. I don’t know how often I will make posts like this, but the point is I will play thought my old collection of Star Wars games and write about the experience. I will also post videos as often as it is possible. The first game I will play again is Star Wars: Rebel Assault. This is a Sega CD review, so you probably know what to expect. Really good audio, shit video. And you’d be right. The majority of the footage in here consists of moving computer renders. These give you the important stuff, like your levels and environments. They are pixelated crap. The other small portion of screen time goes to animated characters, which hold up pretty well. Unfortunately, you don’t…
Companion affection explained
For people that have been in the game since day one, this might not be interesting read. But for newer people, or people WHO haven’t really thought much into companions, this might be interesting. I present to you, my guide to Companion affection. Conversation The most common way to gain (or lose!) affection with companions is to have them with you during cut scenes, or speak with them directly when they offer you missions in cantinas or your ship. The base affection gain for a dialogue option they approve of is +15, and the base loss for one they disapprove of is -1. Those values are modified by a multiplier that reflects how late in the storyline the companion joined up with you. Less commonly, there will be choices they strongly approve of, which have a base +40 gain, or strongly disapprove of, for a base loss of -30. In very…
My WoW experience and how it makes me appreciate SWTOR more
I started playing WoW back in 2005. I played an enhancement shaman almost the entire time until I stopped playing about a year ago. I’ve seen what started as a really terrible, unfocused class spec dramatically improve, get tweaked, and finish off into mediocrity. Coming from that experience I’ve been very pleased with SWTOR ‘s handling of classes, specs, and especially PVP. This is a brain First, my WoW experience. Back in classic WoW, enhancement shaman had two active abilities. I would use one, use the other, then wait for the cooldown to end. In a group my job was to cast a buff or two and keep it up. Our spec was shit. All shaman had to be healers if you were in a serious raid. There was no gear itemized for my class and my class sets were useless. Of course I didn’t know any better and I…
Festive Tauntaun on PTS collections. Not sure if I like this or not.
While I don’t like this item as a “Canon” mount in the Star Wars universe, and I understand roleplayers who would trash this mount. It is for fun, after all this is also a game and games are supposed to be fun. Lately I have put the daily grind on the shelf and started playing the game for fun. Meaning that I can sit for hours dressing my characters in expensive gear, while pointless for stats and all, I am havingagoodtime! The fact that this type of item is released gives the impression that BioWare, while serious about the game and lore, wants to convey the fun aspect of the game as a game. Last christmas I cringed when I saw the Czerks life day mount, until I met a guy called Santa who had dressed his character accordingly. I mean after all it is Star Wars. All the movies…
Star Wars: Episode VII Release Date!!!
It took a while, but we finally have a date: Star Wars: Episode VII is coming December 18th, 2015. The date was announced in a blog post on the official Star Wars website. With pre-production in full-swing, a confirmed release date of December 18, 2015, has been set for Lucasfilm’s highly anticipated Star Wars: Episode VII. “We’re very excited to share the official 2015 release date for Star Wars: Episode VII, where it will not only anchor the popular holiday filmgoing season but also ensure our extraordinary filmmaking team has the time needed to deliver a sensational picture,” said Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. Star Wars: Episode VII will be directed by J.J. Abrams (Super 8, Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek) and is being scripted by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi). Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are…
List of ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ Easter eggs explains why you’ll find Nazis on Tatooine
Anyone capable of telling the difference between a bantha and a ronto will know that StarWars’ C-3PO and R2-D2 appear in hieroglyphic form on a wall in Raiders of the Lost Ark. But you might not know that Harrison Ford carried a bullwhip in The Empire Strikes Backas a nod to Indiana Jones a year before Raiders of the Lost Ark was released. Or that a Nazi tank appears in The Phantom Menace. Fortunately, Today I Found Out’s Tegan Jones has compiled a list of these Indiana Jones / Star Wars crossover easter eggs, and many more.
15 Reasons Why Jedi Knights Are Better than Pirates and Ninjas
There are too many pirates and ninjas roaming the Interwebs for my liking, so it makes sense to examine specifically why Jedi Knights pwn both Ninjas and Pirates. 1. Ninjas and Pirates have to at least break a sweat to disarm each other. A Jedi Knight just has to think it and you’re screwed. 2. Ninjas may use stealth, but Jedi Knights can use the Force to make you freakin’ forget they were even there. In fact, with just a wave of a Jedi’s hand, you might end up finding yourself rocking back and forth outside a 7-11 while drooling profusely. 3. Seriously, can you name a ninja or pirate that is able to take out Sith Lord like Darth Maul, or a giant beast like the Rancor? I didn’t think so… 4. A sword used by a Pirate or a Ninja can be broken. Try and break a lightsaber. …
Seven Songs Inspired By Star Wars You Should Check Out
Star Wars has had a massive impact on pop culture around the world, inspiring fans to create their own works of art, fan films, fan fiction, and crafts. But it is in music that we can also see the influence that George Lucas and Star Wars has had over the years. Take a look at these 8 tunes inspired by the Star Wars saga: Weird Al Yankovic: The Saga Begins Amusing to many, iconic to geeks, and known to many as a Star Wars nerd at heart, The Saga Begins is not Weird Al’s first tribute to the films. He’s done a few songs, but what makes this one stand out is it came out just before The Phantom Menace – which proved one thing: just like most of us hardcore fans, Al was scouring the web for spoilers about the prequels. He did it so well; he used the…
Electronic Arts names Andrew Wilson new CEO
Electronic Arts named sports and digital games division head Andrew Wilson its new chief executive on Tuesday, filling the top job after a six-month search to replace John Riccitiello. Wilson took over EA Sports in August 2011 and has been with the company for 11 years. “I envision EA as the World’s Greatest Games Company,” Wilson said. “This is not about what we are aiming for or what we will become. Rather, it is about an unfaltering commitment to what we will be every day. This is an attitude that must drive our culture as one team.” “I also believe EA’s strategy is sound. Our focus on our talent, our brands and our platform together with our investment in next-generation consoles, mobile and PC free-to-play, as part of our ongoing transition to digital, is right. But we have plenty of work ahead to ensure our collective success.”” Wilson, 39, will…
Star Wars: Episode VII To Shoot On 35mm
J.J Abrams has decided to shoot “Star Wars Episode VII” on film. Cinematographer Dan Mindel revealed that the new film would be shot on 35 mm film instead of the digital format often utilized to film major blockbusters in the modern era. He added that the the film would shot on Kodak stock color negative 5219. With the past two “Star Wars” films shot digitally, the news certainly came as a surprise. George Lucas introduced the digital age with “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” the first major film to be shot using the digital format, and “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” followed the trend. However, the decision could have been made because Abrams has yet to shoot a film on digital. His “Star Trek” films, “Super 8” and “Mission Impossible 3” were all shot on film. The decision could have also been a result of…
MTSBWY: Billy Dee and Patton Oswalt do ‘Star Wars’ karaoke
I’ve seen some ludicrously funny things in my day, but this is really a piece of work. This is just one of those things you have to experience to believe. I guess the video is an ad for Samsung’s Galaxy S4, and it features Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) hitting up Karaoke Night at the Cantina on Tatooine. Lando performs a embarrassingly bad rendition of Jason Schwartzman‘s song, “West Coast.” The video also features appearances by Schwartzman, Patton Oswalt, Carrie Keagan, Chris Hardwick, and Mike Phirman. Check the weirdness out.