Star Wars: Battlefront II

"This isn't just a game...it's an addiction...."

Allow me to preface this review by saying that I am an avid Star Wars fan. I love the movies, I love the books and comics, and heck, I even have quite a bit of the toys.

So yes, this review will be somewhat biased based on the fact that my score goes up just because it is something Star Wars.

Oh, and I've yet to take this game online so this review will be based soley from a single player/splitscreen perspective.

Gameplay

In the spirit of Battlefield 1942 and other such games, Battlefront II is a unit based shooter that can be done in first or third person viewpoints. Nothing has changed since the original Battlefront.

All of the modes are here. Conquest, capture the flag, assault, hunt, etc. It has it all. What is the game's biggest addition? Well, there are actually two major ones:

1. The ability to play as a "hero" (Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Yoda, Boba Fett, Darth Maul, etc.)

2. Space battles.

In my opinion, both of these additions vault Battlefront II over it's predecessor. While playing as the heroes online is rather cheap, it is still fun to run around Hoth as Vader cutting down Rebel scum. For the Star Wars fan, this is like a dream come true.

Flying in Battlefront was tedious and frustrating. You had to really sit down and fight through hours of disgust and angst to be able to get even remotely decent at it. Not in Battlefront II. In BFII, flying ships actually takes place in space, and of course depending on the unit you choose, you will a wide selection of fighters to choose from.

Choose the Rebels and you can choose the all-purpose X-Wing, the extremely agile and great dogfighting A-Wing, or you can choose the slow but strong Y-Wing bomber. The other factions consist of the same format. An all purpose fighter, an agile fighter good for ship-to-ship combat, and a bomber, which is almost a must for when your objective is to disable an enemy command ship.

Let's be real here: you're not going to see Rogue Leader-esqe graphics and gameplay during the space battles, but it is at least something. It's at least intuitive this time. It's a very nice addition and can be a good breather from all of the ground based fighting you will be doing.

Battlefront II also expanded itself quite a bit from it's predecessor. There is the Rise of the Empire gamemode, where you're given specific mission objectives as you follow the path of the 501st Infantry Division from the Clone Wars to the Galactic Civil War. While most of the objectives consist of taking over command posts, this mode will keep you playing for a while.

Galactic Conquest has been expanded as well so that there are quite a few planets to take over, and you must in turn defend the ones you already have. Integrated into this mode is the ability to build new fleets to help you better control your galaxy. If fleets collide, expect a space battle, which can help a great deal.

Records are kept now as well. Doing certain things in battle earns you awards, and the more of that award you earn the better. Once you reach a certain status with each award, you will then have that bonus starting out in battle. It's a really great component and adds a lot of replayability to the game.

Overall, Battlefront II plays a lot like it's predecessor in terms of actual execution. With the addition of heroes and space battles it is made to feel more fresh, however.

Graphics
Not too much to say here. The space battles look ok, but nothing spectacular like what was seen in the Starfighter games earlier on in the PS2 development cycle.

The ground combat has stayed relatively the same as well. There have been slight improvements in the graphics, but for the most part there is still some draw distance issues, and I've encountered slow down in certain levels (see: Tantive IV)

Do not expect any dramatic improvements from Battlefront, but again, that isn't necessarily a negative issue.

Sound
This is a no-brainer. The Star Wars musical score in my opinion is the greatest score of any movie, ever.

The blaster sounds are crisp and sound just like the movies, and having Battke of the Heroes playing in the background was enough to make me go crazy with Star Wars geekness.

Now the heroes? Yeah, the voices aren't that well done. The voice actors tried hard to duplicate the actors they were portraying, but some of them (see: Mace Windu) fell horribly short. But, who could imitate Sam Jackson correctly?

Aside from that minor complaint, the sound is great.

Replay value

You can play Galactic Conquest over and over again with different factions, you have two difficulty levels to get through, and you have offline and online multiplayer modes.

The awards system and stat-tracking is also a great thing. It really takes the replayability of this title to a new level. I'm glad they included this.

Gameplay-Nice additions to the Battlefront formula, but nothing too crazy-9/10
Graphics-Not too much of a change from the original. Some slowdown was experienced-7/10
Sound-Star Wars musical score-what else can you ask for? Voice acting leaves something to be desired though.-9/10
Replayability-It will take quite a bit of time to get through all of the single player modes on both difficulties, and the record keeping may keep some gamers (like me) coming back to build their stats. With great co-op and vs. splitscreen play, and online play available, there is a lot to do be done with this title-9/10
Overall-Any fan of Battlefront needs to own this game. Any Star Wars fan needs to at least rent it, and the haters will probably still hate. Oh well, it's their loss.-9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/09/05