Star Wars: Battlefront

"Finally, a great Star Wars game for the PS2"

Introduction
In the past couple of decades there has been very few “decent” Star Wars games. All of the ones I have played or seen have been terrible. I was thinking that there was never going to be a good Star Wars game. Then two or so years ago Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic came out. I was surprised by its great reviews. Then I thought, wow so they were able to create a good Star Wars game. Then in 2005, I learned that they were going to make a new Star Wars game called Star Wars Battlefront. When it came it also received great reviews. So I picked this one up and discovered its greatness.

Graphics
This game has great graphics. All of the level designs look very clear and beautiful, just like the movies. The grass, lakes and other stuff looks great. For Example, in the level Kashyyyk the huts, wookies, bridges, etc. look very realistic. The blasts and rockets and other weapons' fires are very clear and authentic. The player designs look very much like the movie. The X-Wings look great just like the other vehicles. I could be putting so much examples about the great graphics but I must move on to the next topic.

Sound
The sound is also great. The firing of the weapons sound very real. The background music also sounds good but you can't really hear it over the blasts. Overall, this game does not have the kind of music that makes you mute the TV because you will want to hear the bullets and stuff.

Control
If you're not used to these type of games you will get lost at first, like I did. But after you get used to it you will understand how great the button layout. All of the top buttons are for your weapons, while the other ones are for jump, reload, duck, and those kind of things. Great control when you get used to it.

Game play
Now the most important part of the game. In this game there are 3 different modes to play. The first one, Historical Campaign, is pretty fun. In this mode you get to play the great battles of the movies. You can play against the Gunguns on Naboo or the epic battle of the rebels and the Empire at Hoth. The second mode is Galactic Conquest. This is the mode where you have to take over the Universe. You pick a side and try to take over every planet. You can use planetary bonuses like having a Jedi hero. You an use a planetary bonus of a planet if you own the planet. The last mode is Instant Action. This is basically the mess around mode. You pick a level and you play it, nothing else to it.

There are four different teams you can pick in this game. The Rebels, Empire, Republic, and CIS. The Rebels are against the Empire and the Republic are against the CIS. Their are 5 different people you can choose from in each army. Their is the standard soldier type person with the blaster. A heavy weapons unit with rockets. A pilot unit that can repair vehicles. Each pilot unit has a different, unique weapon. A sniper with well you know, a sniper weapon. The last unit is special for each army. The Rebels have a wookie with a bow. The Empire has a Dark Trooper that has a jet-pack that shoots very high up but it doesn't last more than 2 seconds, he has a shotgun type weapon. The Republic also has a jet-pack unit. But this one does not shoot very high but you stay in the air for way longer. Lastly, the CIS has the cheating unit, the Droideka. They have their own personal shield, dual machine guns, and they can roll very fast. Each of the units have their own pros and cons so you have to find the one that suits you.

In the actual game, you choose one of the many maps in the Star Wars universe. The battle begins with two hundred units for each side. Each time a unit dies you lose a point and they come back. the first team to lose all of their points loses. This isn't perfect but it still works. While playing you have to capture command posts which are your re-spawn points. If you capture all of the command posts in the level and keep them for twenty seconds you win. This style of play is great for those who don't like shooting games where when you die once, you lose.

The fighting system is great too. You will run out into the fight and try to kill everyone. This is fine but it seems you are the only one going out there. The AI in this game is terrible. They just hide all of the time while you go sacrifice your life. Also some of the teams are over powering. For example the CIS has the Droidekas. They could just stand there and kill anything that comes close while you can't even hurt them. This is a big problem when you're on the other side. Because of this it kind of makes it easier or harder depending on which side you're on. Well if you don't care about winning or losing then this isn't a problem. Besides that this game still has great game play.

Multi player
My favorite part of this game is multi player. You can play split screen with a friend which is great in this game. In split-screen multi-player you can play any of the single player modes with a friend. My favorite is the Galactic Conquest. We pick opposite teams and see who takes over everything first. To me this is the best part of the game, multi-player.
There is also on-line but I don't know much about it

Replay-ability
This game is very good so it will keep you playing for a while. It will get boring after a while but a month later you will be coming back to it.

Overall
Pros:
Great graphics
Replay value
Multi player
Great control

Cons:
The AI
Reenforcement Count

Buy or Rent
A buy for star wars fans and shooter fans. Rent for people who aren't sure.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/10/05