Star Wars: Battlefront II

"Don't listen to the bad reviews; BF2 is a Force to be reckoned with."

Only a few days ago, I'd barely even heard of Star Wars: Battlefront or its impending sequel. It goes to show just how engaging and fun this game can be, even for a newbie to the series. With incredibly fun gameplay, multiple modes of play, and an overall immersive feel, Star Wars: Battlefront II is everything the best-selling Star Wars game ever was and more.

Graphics: 10/10

Many people have bashed BF2 for its failure to improve significantly on BF1's graphics, but since I haven't played the first game, I can say without bias that this game's graphics are excellent in their own right. Models aren't blocky at all; they look exactly like what they're supposed to. (Except the Jedi, who look a little strange, but you usually see them from behind anyway) Lighting effects and textures are also great; the worlds you battle on seem to have come straight out of the movies.

Sound: 9/10

The sound is nearly as authentic and true to the movies as the graphics are. All the weapons and other effects sound great, as do the character voices. Each of the four sides is represented perfectly by their quotes, from the tinny monotone of the CIS droids to the stiff Coruscanti accents the Imperials have. The quotes occasionally get repetitive, but they're always in context and fit the situation you're in. (if a Droideka deploys and starts mowing down troops, you'll hear yells to take it out; the CIS droids even say their classic "uh-oh" is they find themselves facing too many enemies) The heroes' voices also mostly sound authentic; characters like the Fetts, Han Solo, Yoda, and the Emperor sound exactly like in the movies. (The only two exceptions to the perfections are Princess Leia and the seemingly mute Ki-Adi-Mundi) As they should, the authentic sounds combine with the excellent graphics to make the worlds you play on seem even more real. The game's music is equally authentic; you'll hear many tracks from the movies as you play, and they all sound great.

Gameplay: 10/10

Even if every other aspect of BF2 were terrible, the gameplay might still be enough to give it a 10. It's that good. BF2 uses the team-based FPS formula, with a number of Star Wars touches that make it the ultimate game for any fan, and a good one for fans of the genre. People who played BF1 prob ably know the drill. You play as a soldier in the Old Republic, Confederacy of Independent Systems, Rebel Alliance, or Galactic Empire. You are in a squad of (usually) 16 or so soldiers who fight your era-specific enemy (Republic vs. CIS or Alliance vs. Empire) for dominance on different worlds from the movies. It sounds simple, but it's brilliant fun. Besides four basic soldier types (normal, anti-armor, sniper, and engineer), each faction has two unique units that can only be used if you have a certain amount of points. These units are imaginative and fun to use, and range from the Republic Clone Commander (who wields a fearsome Chaingun and can boost nearby allies' defense) to the Rebellion's Bothan Spy (who can cloak himself and literally wipe enemies out of existence) to the CIS Droideka (who has all of the fearsome abilities you saw in the movies). If you get tired of playing on foot, you can always get into one of the game's many vehicles depending on your level, such as a snowspeeder or AT-At on Hoth or a towering spider droid on Geonosis.

One of the most publicized additions to the game is, of course, the new ability to play as Jedi. (And other heroes) These Heroes are superpowered units who can easily turn the tide of any battle, but are sufficiently vulnerable and rare that they don't imbalance the game. The Jedi themselves are easily the most enjoyable Heroes to play as. They wield powerful lightsabers that can make short work on enemy units and a variety of Force abilities like Force Speed (their version of sprinting, which propels them at amazing velocities and allows for incredible charges and high-speed attacks), Force Jump (which allows them to jump as high as a unit with a jet pack), and secondary attacks like Saber Throw, Force Push/Pull, and the infamous Force Lightning. The non-Jedi heroes are also fun; Han Solo has a powerful blaster that fires 3-shot bursts and the Fetts have their trademark jetpacks, as well as deadly arsenals that include a powerful flamethrower.

One of the biggest differences between this and BF1 is the number of play modes. The old conquest mode, in which teams fight to control command posts on the maps, has returned, but with it are 1 and 2-flag capture the flag, assault (in which you destroy enemy targets to get points and reach a certain score), hunt (in which you try to take out a certain amount of a planet's native species within a time limit), and XL (in which you have massive amounts of reinforcements and try to exhaust an enemy army in an epic battle straight out of the movies). Which modes you can play are determined by the map you play on, and there are a lot of them. Virtually any world you ever saw in the movies (with the exception of Bespin, which was strangely removed) is playable and true to its big-screen counterpart. You can play on a series of large circular platforms and medically clean indoor facilities on Kamino, a lava-filled refinery on Mustafar, even the beachhead on Kashyyyk. Don't let the simultaneous release of BF2 and Episode III fool you into thinking that the original trilogy was neglected; you can play on Hoth, Endor, Tatooine, even inside the Death Star. (Watch out for the bottomless pits) Even Mygeeto and Felucia, which made only brief cameo appearances in Episode II, have levels of their own. Besides the ground-based levels, there are some other ones that take advantage of another much-hyped new feature of BF2: space combat.

Space combat has always been a huge part of Star Wars, even its namesake, and it's as exciting as you'd expect. Much of the fun comes from the various ways you can win in space. You can run to a computer and remote-control a turret to destroy enemy starfighters in safety, take a fighter yourself and get into a dogfight, jump into a bomber and strafe the enemy capitol ship to wipe out its vital systems, or play as a marine to pilot a landing craft to the enemy vessel and wipe it out from the inside. It's a big departure from BF1, but the sheer diversity of space combat keeps it interesting. Taking out enemy fighters is hard, but you can always get onto their ship and blast them before they even leave the hanger. The possibilities are almost as extensive as the fun involved; the thrill of running and gunning through a capitol ship to wipe out its shields, engines, and life support is something to be savored.

The best part of all these things is, of course, to take them online and test your skills against other players. As would be expected, BF2 has an excellent online mode that makes the battles even more enjoyable. Besides instant action, which is the bread-and-butter of the game, there are also two other modes that use it in different ways. There is, of course, a full campaign, which follows the 501st Clone Trooper division through time as they fight for the Republic, execute Order 66, and become a stormtrooper division for the Empire. I can't give much more information than that, though; simply playing instant action is so fun and deep that I've barely gotten around to the campaign. From what I can tell, it augments the great maps and battles of IA with clever objectives and makes the game even more immersive by putting you directly in the trilogies.

The other mode is Galactic Conquest. In it, you attempt to take over the galaxy one planet at a time. (At least, one of the dozen-plus planets in the game at a time) You gain credits for taking and holding worlds which can be used to recruit new soldiers (you only start with the basic soldier and pilot), buy bonuses to aid you in battles, or create new fleets. Whenever your forces and the enemy's collide, you have either a land or space battle, depending on whether there is one fleet or two. This mode adds a fun and more strategic spin to instant action mode and is a good way to get acquainted with the planets.

One of the few gripes many people have is with the game AI. Usually it's excellent, but occasionally it does stupid things, like run in front of you when you're blasting away or run across a bridge that's been destroyed. It's generally a little incompetent, and does little more than to cover you as you rack up kills. As they say, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

In all, the gameplay of BF2 is incomparably fun. Virtually anything done in the movies can be done here; you can mow through Clone Troopers on Utapau as General Grievous, participate in the Battle of Geonosis, or just rampage through the Death Star as the Emperor killing stuff with Force Lightning. (Don't be too true to the movies and fall down a bottomless pit) The incredible sound and graphics combine with awesome gameplay to create the ultimate game for any Star Wars fan.

Controls: 10/10

There really isn't a bad word to say about the controls of BF2. They're completely customizable, so if you don't like anything about them, just change them. The only hard part is finding the ideal control scheme for your needs.

Story: 10/10

Since I've barely l=played the campaign yet, I can only speculate on the story. It seems to put a new perspective on the movies without getting into anything too new; as stated above, you play as a trooper in the 501st. It seems like a fascinating way to play, but you'll probably be too engaged in the gameplay to care one way or the other.

Replay: 10/10

Like most shooters, BF2 has incredible replay value. The huge variety of maps and ways to play will keep you interested for weeks, even months, and that's not saying anything about online play. Don't expect to permanently tire of BF2 anytime soon.

Buy/Rent: BUY!

I haven't even seen any places that rent computer games, so with a game this great, your only choice is to buy. If you're an FPS or Star Wars fan, you won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/09/05