LucasArts has announced that "Star Wars: Empire at War" has been shipped and should now be available in retail stores. Don't forget that the first patch, version 1.1, was released yesterday.

"Using an entirely new game engine created by the Las Vegas-based developer Petroglyph Games, Empire at War features beautifully rendered land and space battles set on memorable planets such as Hoth, Tatooine and Dagobah, as well as never-before-seen environments taken directly from the Star Wars films and Expanded Universe novels. In the game, players choose to join either the Rebel Alliance or the Galactic Empire, building and setting up tactical forces to unleash upon the enemy in real-time 3D. Memorable Star Wars hero characters such as Darth Vader or Han Solo can be brought into the action to help turn the tide of the battle as players build, manage and upgrade their space and ground-based units, vehicles, troops and base structures.

All of the gameplay and action within Empire at War is persistent, meaning that strategic and tactical elements from previous events will have a permanent effect on the galaxy. In addition to the story-driven Campaign mode for one player, the game includes a one- or two-player Galactic Conquest mode, as well as off- or online Skirmish modes for up to eight players."