Star Wars: Battlefront II

"Pandemic has forged another brilliant battle!"

To be honest, I am not a veteran of the original Battlefront, but I am a fan of the Star Wars franchise, which has spawned some decent games recently, such as Knights of the Old Republic. So, I decided to pick up Star Wars: Battlefront II, which I had my eye on for quite some time. My purchase turned out to be a good choice, as Pandemic(the dudes behind Mercenaries, another title that I really enjoyed) and LucasArts have crafted a masterful shooter, yet is slightly marred by minor technical issue, at least on my computer.

Graphics/Art- 9/10.
Superb, yet there's a reason for the 9. First, let's get the bad out of the way. The game occasionally slows down. Hard. This is mercifully rarer than the next problem I'm about to report, but it is annoying, to say the least, especially when you're playing online.

The next issue I've seen is that a colored spot sometimes appear on the left side of the screen, which is definitely annoying. This may be due to my graphics card, which definitely could be upgraded.(come to think of it, that might explain the slowdown as well)

Aside from these minor flaws, which really aren't as dire as they sound, Battlefront II is amazing, graphically. All of the levels, characters, Jedi, and explosions look fantastic, and perfectly fit the game.

Sound/Music-10/10
Pretty much the whole of Battlefront II has medleys of Star Wars music, which definitely is to be expected(yeah, no Safety Dance or Benny Hill music in a Star Wars game. Fascinating.) and fits the game perfectly. It may be less audible due to the constant(and I mean CONSTANT) blaring of blaster rifles and thermal detonators, however, but the audio experience of Battlefront II is nice, and will get you pumped up for the fragging that will take place in the game.

Gameplay- 10/10
Battlefront II allows the player to immerse himself in his or her favorite battles in the Star Wars trilogy, and adds a few locations for the campaign.

The campaign follows a group of soldiers called the 501st Clone Division, who must complete a series of battles in a story roughly following the Clone Wars. The first levels have the player fighting to destroy massive droid armies in space and land in many vistas, such as the space above the Wookee homeworld of Kashyyk and the Acklay homeworld. The game sets a nice, gritty mood to the surprisingly epic fights, and overall the player won't be disappointed.

There are several classes of soldiers(snipers, heavy troopers, engineers, and the like), each with their own special weapon and abillities, though they're pretty balanced overall(one class is useless, but not unbalanced). It is true that you can play as a Jedi and other mainstays(Chewbacca, Han Solo, etc.) from the Star Wars galaxy, and to be honest, that's where things get iffy here. See, the Jedi have their force powers and lightsabers, which allows them to slaughter anything in their path, without too much effort. However, they are mortal, just hard to kill.

Some more examples of imbalance are the 'Hunt' missions, in which soldiers battle against native creatures of different planets, such as the despised Ewoks of Endor. Although most Star Wars fans would argue that the Ewoks needed to die in the first place, sometimes you actually feel sorry for the little guys as the Stormtroopers rack up strings of kills and the Ewoks get 1 or 2. It is possible for these critters to win, though it would require huge amounts of coordination and skill on the part of the creature team, which is just not found in the bots.

Speaking of which, the bots are actually proficient warriors,(unlike the A.I. certain Xbox shooter that begins with the letter 'H') though you'll be doing the bulk of the objectives. Your teammates do a good job covering you, though they could use a boost. On the other hand, the enemy A.I. is brilliant. They will throw grenades, take cover, use vehicles, defend, and regroup to send your clone trooper to hell. I tip my hat to the A.I. programmers.

Multiplayer-10/10
The online competition, actually, is pretty well-crafted and newbie-friendly, with not too much lag or disconnectors. You can select battles to play in or create your own. Want to to have Sith vs. Jedi? Go ahead. Want to fight onboard the Death Star? Sure. And the online competition, though skilled, are not insufferable jerks, something I wish many online games didn't have.

Overall, you cannot go wrong with this game. Star Wars fans(which most of us are, on the inside) will praise it for the sheer scope, shooter fans will love the exciting gameplay, both off- and online.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/20/06