The bulk of
Battlestar Commander is occupied with Campaign Mode, where the story of your adventures through the solar system takes place. At each planet, you'll make a few stops and take out enemy forces that have massed on the surface and in the skies. Progressing through 100 missions, you'll build your armada and equip your mothership, and eventually become the ultimate fighting force. Completing missions earns you points that can be exchanged in the Hangar section of
Battlestar Commander. We liked the idea of equipping ships and built-in defenses, but doing this as a one-shot seems to limit the game significantly. Whatever build-out you select early in the game will be what you're stuck with, unless you run out and buy more stuff. Having lots of stuff isn't nearly as important as having the right stuff, a lesson we've learned in many RTS and Tower Defense games. We would have preferred a system that let you unlock bays on your ship that could be customized before each level, giving players the flexibility to try and fail and learn. The trying and failing part works just fine, but you can't transfer the learning into action without doing some remedial missions, purely for points. Replay value has to be earned, not mandated.
Multiplayer is actually a far more enjoyable experience than Campaign, because you get a more realistic A.I. The format is a simple head-to-head, playing on the same screen from opposite sides. Goals and environment are configurable, but we wished for a split setting that would allow better handicapping for an individual player. When you routinely play with your kids, you appreciate the chance to play like you mean it on a higher difficulty setting while they putter along on the easiest level.
