GameSpot said, " Empire at War delivers a true Star Wars experience".
The A.V. Club gave it a B and stated that "you could find a deeper or better-tuned strategy game—but this one has AT-ATs."
Detroit Free Press gave it three stars out of four, saying, "The day-to-day ground conflicts that make up most of the game are not particularly inspiring."
The Sydney Morning Herald gave it three stars out of five and said that it "hits all the right notes if you're a Star Wars fan, but be prepared to grind out your victories."
The Sydney Morning Herald
The editors of Computer Games Magazine named Empire at War the tenth-best computer game of 2006, and called it "one of the most inventive games in years".