Star Wars: Battlefront II

"EXACLTY how the series should have started."

A long time ago…
In a galaxy far, far, away…

STAR WARS Battlefront: II

It wasn't that long ago when the first Battlefront was unveiled, it was a solid game that gave every drooling fan actually what they wanted. Enter the world of the Star Wars galaxy where Clones, Droids, Rebels, and Storm Troopers Co-Exist. The second doesn't feel like an entirely new game, in fact it's basically the same. All I can say is that this is how good the first should've been.

The game allows you a few simple options; multiplayer through use of splitscreen, and two other galactic modes which have you play through areas preceding the movies.

Ever wonder what all those Clones where doing on all those planets in Episode III?.

The other, a simple quest to conquer every planet and save or rule the galaxy.

And hey what you do know!
You can now take your battles into outer space!

But there's still so much room to improve. You can simply forget about blowing up any small ships as the only thing to do is blow up small parts of their starship. This disable the shields and working back in forth to get into their hanger and destroy their shields and engines all while hijacking one of their own ships and flying back.

Much too my disappointment, they didn't fix the two biggest problems I had with the first game. One, being able to select how many units are on each side in a multi-player game and the other, the fact that the CPU can't keep up with my skill and therefore when I'm the only one left, it's still a defeat.

With complaints aside, let us move on to what really makes this game the best Star Wars game of all-time. In the last one, you were able to see some Heroes appear, but you could never play as them. All that's changed as every world and every group has a hero ranging from the Jedi and Sith to more atoned characters such as Han Solo and Jango Fett.

Adding on to what the prequel did, they threw in a more in-depth approach to a profile. You can now obtain statistics based on how well you've done in every mode available. And depending on how well you performed in battles, you earn medals for doing feats such as killing six enemies with one life or kill eight enemies with a small blaster. Which brings me to another aspect. You can't just pick any of your troops from the get go. This time you have to earn points (Kills score and Deaths decrease) to access the more advance fighters.

Visual wise, the game hasn't changed much. Characters are still mildly recognizable and can be glitchy at times. Vehicles have slightly improved but again, are glitchy. I'd say that the biggest improvement was how beautiful the worlds look. Felusia is jawdropping unless you've seen it before. And is only ruined by how things suddenly pop out of nowhere. But they still somehow pull it all together for a truly magnificent look.

For those of you who weren't lucky enough to play the first, here's the 411 straight from the battlefront. As the game starts, you choose which side you want, your character and then where you spawn. From here you have a couple of options, you can go after enemies and attempt to take out their reinforcements or simply try to take control of all the command posts. Both grant the same fate, VICTORY! But for a more enjoyable approach try piloting a vehicle into the midst of battle and unloading on the enemy. For the less frantic, grab a sniper or engineer and leave the attacking to the CPU while you take a well guarded - yet hidden spot. Those who do a lot of killing will soon realize that a hero will become available to them. If you get lucky with Darth Vader than you're in for some real fun. Not only can jedi jump for an extended period of time they can also use lightsabers and dispose of an enemy instantaneously – well usually, for some reason it takes more than one, sometimes. Instead of a life bar like normal troops have, heroes have a bar that goes down by it self and even more when they get hit but rises when they kill.

Surprisingly, battles are actually quite nice. The PS2 can keep up with everything going on and it doesn't appear that bullets are lost or appear from another dimension. Throw in some classic Star Wars classics and you got yourself one hell of a battle.

Simply stated, if you're a Star Wars nut, you should definitely pick this up. For others, I'd give it a try or two before dropping fifty. And once it reaches greatest hits, go ahead, everyone this is an absolute must-have title.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/03/06, Updated 04/22/09

Game Release: Star Wars: Battlefront II (US, 11/01/05)