STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack

I’d put STAR WARS Empire at War - Gold Pack on a stationary bike before I tried it on a treadmill, because the galaxy map and battles ask you to point at a lot of little things and I don’t want my mouse hand bouncing around. The space battles look like the obvious workout part, but the game keeps asking you to stop and plan.

Gameplay

I think the strategy is what makes this worth playing, and also what makes it a little hard to pick up casually. You’re deciding where to send fleets and what planets to build up, then the game turns those plans into ground or space battles. When a campaign is moving along, that back and forth sounds great to me, because the decisions have a clear reason to exist. When I’m tired, I can see myself spending longer looking at the map than actually making a move.

The galactic map gives the game a scale that a single battle can’t, and I like that you’re trying to control a whole Star Wars conflict rather than just win one fight after another. I think choosing between the Rebellion and the Empire gives those campaigns a useful difference in perspective, and Forces of Corruption adds the Underworld angle with the Zann Consortium. That makes the Gold Pack feel like a more complete place to spend time, though I’d probably want to settle into one campaign instead of bouncing between all of them like I’m checking every aisle at the store.

Space battles are the part I’d be most excited to reach, since managing fleets and seeing the fight play out gives the strategy a nice change of pace. But they still ask you to keep track of units and make decisions while the action is happening, so I don’t think they’re the sort of thing I’d casually half watch while jogging. I’d want enough attention to know whether my plan is working, which is a slightly inconvenient need from a game I’m trying to play while exercising.

Ground battles make the pacing less predictable for a workout. They give you another kind of fight to manage, which keeps the campaigns from feeling like one long view of space, but they also mean you can be pulled into a stretch where you’re thinking through orders instead of finding a rhythm. I don’t know whether the story will be the part that keeps everyone interested, but the campaign choices sound like the sturdier reason to stick around. There’s a lot going on.

Category Score: 2 out of 3

Treadmill and Bike Compatibility

I wouldn’t plan around a controller here. This is a mouse and keyboard kind of strategy game, and selecting units and giving orders with a cursor is awkward when your body is moving, even if the actual pace of the battles isn’t especially frantic. You might be able to make a custom controller setup work, but I wouldn’t buy it expecting to pick up a gamepad and have everything feel natural.

A treadmill seems like a bad fit for the fine movements, especially when you’re trying to select the right unit while a battle is underway. You could slow the belt down, but then I think you’d still have that little negotiation where your legs want a steady pace and your hands want to make a careful decision. My hands already get confused when I try to carry too many things at once, so I’m not volunteering them for a moving mouse.

A stationary bike with a stable desk is the version I’d try first, because you can keep your hands steady and take a moment to think without adjusting your stride. I’d play a campaign at an easy pace and stop pedaling during the bits where I wanted to focus on a battle. If you want a game that lets you keep your eyes forward and press a few familiar buttons, this probably isn’t it. The galaxy can wait while you get situated.

Category Score: 1 out of 3

Computer Requirements

The listed minimums are very modest by current standards, and a basic modern computer with integrated graphics should have plenty of room to run this. I’d check that your system handles this older game properly before worrying about whether your graphics card is powerful enough. It doesn’t ask much of a computer.

Category Score: 3 out of 3

Conclusion and Score

This is for you if you enjoy strategy campaigns and have a stationary setup where you can use a mouse and keyboard without wobbling around. I’d skip it as a treadmill game, but it could work for a relaxed bike session where you’re happy to pause your workout and think through the next move.

Overall Score: 2 out of 3