Star Wars Battlefront II Review

In a galaxy far, far, away: da da-ne-na da-ne-nananan... oops, sorry, it's very easy to get carried away when you have Star Wars on the brain, especially when you've just spent god knows how many hours buried in this awesome action extravaganza. Star Wars Battlefront II is, to put it simply, unreal! It's everything a Star Wars fan could want, well, everything except the ability to mind control those hotties down at the pub, of course...

As for game modes, fans familiar with the original SWBF may be disappointed to know that there's been little change. Outside of basic training and multiplayer (see boxout) you have Instant Action, Rise of the Empire and Galactic Conquest. However, each of these modes has been greatly improved and where the original earned the ire of non-online gamers for its blase storytelling, there is definitely more on offer here for the single player.

Rise of the Empire is your core story mode and from the outset there is an obvious emphasis on mission cohesion. You are a member of the 501st Clone Battalion (voiced by Mr. Jango Fett, Temuera Morrison no less) sent in to do much of the dirty work skipped over in the films. Each battle is introduced with a voice-over, cut-scene and film snippet that places the battle at key points along the Star Wars spectrum and actually acts to flesh out the story a bit more, which is a coo for fanboys. Indeed the dialogue is quite strong (we assume George Lucas had nothing to do with it) and you will not only battle it out on land, but in space too.

Also on offer and a fun secondary option is the Galactic Conquest mode which is more-or-less the same as SWBF, but offers a bit more variation in the field. The goal here is to feed your inner-Palpatine, taking over all 13 planets in the galaxy by manipulating your forces in a turn-based method. And when you invade or defend a territory, you zoom down and fight out the battle in real-time. Your success in these battles not only determines your balance of power, but the number of credits that you earn which can be used to buy battle bonuses (like turret guns) and new character class types. The action here is not objective based, but is instead a combination of flag-capturing and Deathmatch, were victory is awarded the team that holds every base, or disintegrates all thy enemies first.

As you may have guessed by now, SWBF2 'shares' a lot of similarities with PC behemoth Battlefield 2. When you begin a battle, regardless of the mode, you will have access to a number of command points and as you progress you will be asked or will decide to capture enemy or neutral bases by effectively lowering their flag, and raising yours. In Rise of the Empire Mode, you will also be asked to achieve objectives such as 'bring down shields' or 'capture power crystal' which require a more focused and team-orientated approach. The 20 battlegrounds range across all six movies, although primarily circulate Revenge of the Sith, and are quite well deigned. In particular the space-based battles impress, allowing you to dock at enemy ships, go out on foot and run around without loading times - awesome!

Also similar to Battlefield 2 is the class system and vehicle combat. Gamers have some 30 fun vehicles to sift through and their importance in battle should never be underestimated. Plus, at any command point you can change your class type, a vital strategic element that allows you to, say, switch from a Basic Trooper to a Heavy Trooper if an AT-AT creeps over the horizon. Other classes include Snipers, Engineers, Commanders, Jet Troopers (very useful for getting over obstacles) and, occasionally, Jedi - each offer a different weapon/grenade combo and in any given battle you will often find yourself frequently changing your persona to match the ebb and flow of team strategy.

And thanks to the strong A.I, the tide will fluctuate repeatedly. A heavily criticised component of the original game, your opponent and ally A.I is far more likely to do the logical thing this time around (dodge, move-to-cover, focus on specific targets, protect base) than simply prance around like C3-PO on a bender. Is the game challenging? Well, experienced gamers will find the pace a little easy on normal difficulty, but it's no walk in the park and the smarter A.I. also benefits multiplayer games which feature their fair share of NPCs.

As for the controls, well, we're lovin' it. Lovin' it! On foot, your hero moves with extreme fluidity and can jump, roll, crouch, aim, lock-on, change-weapon and view the world seamlessly: it's a credit to developer Pandemic Studios. There are a couple of things missing, however, that would have been greatly appreciated: a melee attack is sorely missed, you can't shoot while jumping and the command options are so weak they make Mr. T look like Pee Wee Herman. Also far improved are the vehicle controls, which are much tighter, realistic and thus enjoyable. This is especially true when you're in space dog-fighting with TIE-fighters and X-wings, where the evasive manoeuvres, lock-on homing missiles and boost really bring the action to life.

But arguably the biggest improvement in SWBF2 and undeniably one of its strongest selling points is its presentation. Obviously, top notch SFX and score are a given for any Star Wars game, but this time around it's backed up by graphics that are more Padme, and less Aunt Beru. Sometimes, the amount of action on-screen is jaw-dropping - especially in space - with foot soldiers, vehicle based fighters, laser fire, explosions, space-ships and everything else you can imagine lighting up the screen like it's a firework spectacular. And not a frame-rate drop to be seen! Animations are generally gorgeous and even though many of the planets have bland or, alternatively, claustrophobic settings that require little in the way of epic draw-distances, the sense of atmosphere and scope is undeniable.

SWBF2 is clearly a product of intelligent development. As a single fighter dumped into a frantic battle you have so much strategic freedom - be it on from character class, vehicle, weapon, tactics, whatever - in such a lovingly crafted Star Wars atmosphere its exciting from start to finish. And with improvements in the single player game and overall gameplay, you don't have to be online to enjoy it - although, that certainly is a benefit.

Score = 9.5/10