Star Wars: Battlefront

"Lost in all the hype"

Like another game that was living off of hype and graphics(Full Spectrum Warrior) This game just isn't deep enough. It' seems to be a bit rushed and online is a bit of a disappointment. While this is an online game, it's not strictly an online game, which is where it got lost.

Graphics-10
Easily one of the best features of the game, The graphics are crisp, easy on the eye and detailed greatly. In a multi person shootout, the blasts look authentic and character models are great as wel as the the worlds.

Sound-9
Because there is so little to hear. Blast sounds are as authentic as can be, what else is there to say, other than the soundtrack is nice to listen to.

Controls-9.5
While easy to use, it gets a bit annoying when switching between secondary stuff and primary stuff. And for some reason Auto Aim is never off, always on, which hurts you when you are trying to shoot something that is moving.

Gameplay-7
What happened here? In an attempt to appeal to the offline crowd and a larger demographics BF screwed it up, None of the offline modes are deep enough and the game is easily beat, which leaves little to work for. The huge battles are a breath of fresh air from SOCOM, Counter Strike, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon which consist of scripted maps and such.

Online-5
Other than actually playing online, BF falls short in everything else, Being that SOCOM is the blueprint in PS2 online Gaming. No filters, All the rooms are jammed together on the server, half the rooms lag, No friends list, No clan list, No other modes except for conquest. You can't even tell how many real people are on one side so it could be a lop sided battle all the way. Hardly a stalemate like it should seem. No ranking system, at least keep track of our stats which is what we really want. No rank just stats. gamespy doesn't do such a good job w/ that.

Replay Value-5
What's to keep replaying? In offline your not working towards anything great and there is little to keep you going. Just one mode.w/ more modes it could be a different story, but it's not.

Buy or Rent- Ehhh it's hard to say for this game. While if you can only play offline it's definitely a Rent only, but if you can play online this game should be good for a few months of a buy.

Conclusion, what coulda been, is not. A great game w/ all the hype falls short of what it shoulda been. If/When a SW:BF 2 comes out Lets hope either A) it becomes strictly a Online game, or B)Make a bigger attempt to create a better game. Hopefully they ask us next time what we like in a game, and not assume that throwing SW on a semi rushed game is going to make up for the lack of creativity.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/25/04