Galaxy in Turmoil

Galaxy in Turmoil for PC is an action game set in the Star Wars universe, and a fan remake of the unfinished Star Wars: Battlefront III. Free Radical Design, the creators of e.g. the Timesplitters series and the second and third games in the Crysis franchise, began working on the third installment in the LucasArts' shooter series in 2006. Two years later the project was abandoned, despite the fact that the creators assured it was 99% done.

Russian studio Frontwire decided to try and recreate the game, sharing the general dissatisfaction of the fans with the road taken by the 2015 Star Wars: Battlefront, the reboot of the franchise. Despite many doubts concerning Star Wars’ copyrights, now belonging to Disney and Electronic Arts, the game was eventually digitally released on Steam. Moreover, the game is completely free, which on the one hand solves some of the legal issues, and on the other serves as advertising for its creators and a demonstration of their skills.

Mechanics

Even though the mechanics have been largely modernized, the general concept of the gameplay in Galaxy in Turmoil contains solutions known from the first games in the Star Wars: Battlefront franchise. The game utilizes two points of view: FPP and TPP, and the gameplay is centered on dynamic, epic battles involving infantry and land-based and airborne vehicles (with a strong focus on the ability to smoothly switch from one to the other). You can play as an infantry soldier, fighting hordes of foes on the surface of a planet, or as a pilot of a fighter, and battle your enemies in the air on in space. Of course, you use a wide range of iconic weaponry from several eras of the Star Wars universe (from the Colne Wars to the civil war) and explore a variety of locations such as Hoth, Coruscant or Tatooine.

Game mode

Similarly to the 2005 game Star Wars: Battlefront II, Galaxy in Turmoil features a singleplayer story campaign taking place during an intergalactic war. The main focus, however, is still the multiplayer mode, focusing on epic PvP battles involving two teams of 32 players each.

Technical Aspects

Since Star Wars: Battlefront III was never released, it's hard to tell how much of Galaxy in Turmoil is based on it. However, there is no doubt that compared to the original, Galaxy in Turmoil features greatly modernized graphics, utilizing the Unreal Engine 4. Although the final product is slightly worse than the high-budget AAA productions in terms of technical aspects, Frontwire Studios managed to retain the distinct atmosphere of the original series, which is largely absent in its official reboots by Electronic Arts, according to the majority of the fans.

Last updated on August 20, 2016