Star Wars: Battlefront II

"My ally is the Force..and a mediocre ally it is."

Star Wars: Battlefront II. The incredibly hyped up rival to Battlefield 2 and the improved sequel to the first Battlefront game. I thought sequels were supposed to make games BETTER, adding new things.. not just put the same old things from the precursor into the sequel. But that's what happened here, but while the changes are few, they are major and help the series.

Gameplay: 7/10

Let me put one thing out there: the A.I. in this game is ATROCIOUS. 99.9% of the time your allies have pathing problems (especially in Campaign mode, where troops just stand clustered around an object). They frequently get in your way when you are trying to defeat enemies (they never fail to show off their impression of a living blockade...). While them dying to shield you might seem noble, it diminishes the game severely when you're a sniper class and have that perfect headshot lined up..you go to click the mouse button and BAM! As soon as you fire, an ally moves in front of you and saves that poor enemy from a headshot by taking it himself. Other than the bad A.I., the gameplay is very similar to that of Battlefront 1 (why change what works?). Capture Command Posts (C.P.s) to spawn troops at more locations. You win by either eliminating all the enemy reinforcements (default is around 100-150, depending on what you're doing) or by capturing all the Command Posts in the stage. Vehicles make a return as well (but no starships in land based maps, which is a good thing). Vehicle controls have been incredibly revamped, which is DEFINITLEY good, especially in space battles where you control a starship. In BF1, controls were sloppy and laggy, and with starships (such as TIE fighters and X-Wings) they were so bad that they weren't worth using in the first place.

Story: 9/10

It's a run-of-the-mill shooter. There is no story for all practical purposes. Campaign mode follows the story of the 501st Clone Division through the events o f Episode II through the Rise of the Empire. Other than a few mind frustatingly hard levels, the story is nothing spectacular. I can't tell much more about it due to the fact that it would spoil the game for you, so you'll have to find out on your own.

Controls: 10/10

Controls are simple and customizable. These are the defaults: Right mouse button is primary weapon fire, Left mouse button is secondary fire (grenades and such), mouse wheel up/down is weapon select/grenade select, W-A-S-D is forward, left strafe, backwards, and right strafe respectively, spacebar is jump, C is crouch, etc.. Vehicle controls were totally revamped, now making them a lot easier to handle. Handle a ground/space vehicle like you would walking on the ground. Use the mouse to look around and fire. The only minor flaw is that in space battles, the camera can be a bit slow to respond sometimes.

Multiplayer: 10/10

BF2 uses the GameSpy network, so it's always easy to find a game. If you don't (or are unable to) play over the Internet, there are bots as well as a great single player mode chock full of different modes to play (Hunt, Galactic Conquest, Instant Action, Campaign), full of customizable options so the fun never ends.

Rent/Buy: Until a demo comes out (as of this writing, 11/6/05, there is no working tech demo, although there will be one within a few weeks), wait and try to play this before you buy it so you can decide for yourself if the game's fun factor balances out the flaws.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/07/05