32 BBY: Galactic Battlegrounds Mission #2 & #3.4-3.7

Galactic Battlegrounds Mission 2 and Missions 3.4-3.7 I now affectionately call “The Epic Adventures of OOM-9” and “The Revenge of Boss Nass”.

Galactic Battlegrounds is a game I’ve enjoyed going back to.  Although I’m not very good at RTS games, it is still a game that is fun to play.  One my favorite posts in the Star Wars Chronology Project was my first write-up on this game, where I argued that what was actually occurring fit the definition of an Epic.  You can read what I mean by this here.  This is the third time I’ve engaged with this game and I have yet to get tired of it.

However, I have to admit, this time around I found the game more challenging.  I’m not sure why, but mission 2.6 (I think) where I had to take Theed and build the monument I failed twice.  It also took a lot longer for me to get through these missions.  Again, I’m not sure why; but it took me three weeks to play through them.

As it is, in mission 2, “The Epic Adventures of OOM-9”, continuity was twisted in mission 5 with Maul being present at the invasion of Theed.  Still, it was neat controlling Maul and watching his double-bladed lightsaber cut down some Gungans.

The most interesting aspect of Mission 2 was mission 2.7 – a simulation of what might have happened if Anakin had not destroyed the droid control ship.  Interestingly, in this scenario, Maul has killed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and has been sent by Sidious into the field of battle to assist the droids.

Most of mission 3, “The Revenge of Boss Nass” works as an undoing of what you completed in mission 2 as the Trade Federation.

Mission 3.4 takes place after Theed has been subdued by the Trade Federation and the Gungans have been run out of their homes.  I liked the way Boss Nass opened the narration of this vignette: “Three thousand rolls of the globe” he says, picking up his narrative after the War of the Gungan Tribes. 

In this scenario the Gungans are fighting their way to the “sacred place”, as it’s mostly a story about the Gungans offering resistance to the Trade Federation’s occupation.  It’s the start of their preparations for the large counter attack heralded by the Queen’s arrival. The voice acting of the Queen, Qui-Gon, and Anakin was neat as well.

Mission 3.5 is neat in that as the Gungans you work to take down the monument you spent so much time building as the Trade Federation.

Finally, mission 3.7 contained a great echoing of the earlier battle droid mission.  In mission 2 when the droid army  enters Theed there is a voice-over saying something like “The Trade Federation has entered Theed!”.  In mission 3.7, when the Gungans enter Theed there is a battle droid voice-over exclaiming “The Gungan army has entered Theed”.  It reminded me of when something similar is echoed in the original trilogy.  In The Empire Strikes Back, when the Imperials enter Echo Station there is a voice exclaiming over the PA “Imperial troops have entered the base”. This refrain is later repeated in Return of the Jedi when the Imperials on Endor declare “Rebel troops have entered the base!”.

Amusing stuff indeed.

The big news of course is Disney’s acquisition of the Star Wars franchise.  I think ultimately this is a good thing – I hope.  It’s hard not to fear for the continuity of this universe however.  The Star Wars universe is a different creature than the Marvel universe, or the Bond universe, or the Conan the Barbarian universe, or the Indiana Jones universe where continuity can be pushed aside to make a good comic cross-over series, or make a good movie.  In the Marvel universe I get the sense (and I could very well be wrong) that making sure there is an overarching mythology that makes sense and follows a unified chronological procession is secondary to whatever story is being told at the moment.  With the Bond universe and the Conan universe and the Indiana Jones universe we have less of a mythology, and something more akin to Legend.  When we watch Bond, or Conan, or Indy, their movie adventures can take place almost  whenever because their adventures are so self-contained – the idea of a larger fictional narrative existing outside of what we’re watching is almost non-existent.   Admittedly, when it comes to Star Wars there is NIMBYism a-plenty.  But I fear that approaching the Star Wars universe with the same brush of these other universes may undermine what fans have come to love, and alienate not just the older 40 plus crowd of the original trilogies (again), but the 20 under crowd who have grown reading all the books and comics.

Everything remains to be seen.  But I believe that Disney can not only make a better Star Wars film than George Lucas himself, but can and will be sensitive to the continuity of the Star Wars mythology that has been woven over these last 3 decades.

For my next post I’m going to offer my reactions to the video game Starfighter.  Until then my friends, may the Force be with you.