Star Wars: Battlefront II

"The force is with this game!"

Star wars battlefront 2 is the sequel to the most successful Star wars game of all time. The game puts you in the body of one of the soldiers and lets you fight in one of the many battlefield s in the Star Wars Universe.

Story: N/A

The game itself has no storyline in the game instead I it's based on the Star Wars films which I recommend you see if you want to gain some background information to the game.

Graphics: 9/10

The games graphics are amazing but not the best in comparison to the other games on the PSP. However they are still very good. Hoth looks amazing with the land speeders flying overhead and the Empire bearing down with all its force. The characters are also clearly distinguishable and you can really feel part of the atmosphere. Space is the best example of graphics. As you fly along chasing after your target you can see ships blowing up around and lasers flying through the sky, amazing!

Music: 8/10

The sound is good but I feel is not as good as it could have been. For example there is no Imperial March at all in the game. As all Star Wars fans know the Imperial March is one of the most well know tunes and its exclusion surprised me. How can you play as Darth Vader but not have his signature tune? On the other hand the battle sounds really put you in the game. You can here the blasters firing and the rockets flying past on to their targets. When you are running along you feel a part of the action especially on Endor as you run through the forest with speeder bikes flying past.

Controls: 8/10

The controls on this game were one of the reasons that made me question if I should get this game. Without two analog sticks how would a first person shooter work? However I was surprised. It actually worked! The game uses the dpad as the symbol keys are traditionally used i.e. Get in turret, change weapon etc and the symbol keys as a dpad moving the camera. When you get the hang of this you will be able to strafe, which is a fundamental skill. I marked this section down because I feel it takes a while to get used to but once you do it is effective.

Gameplay: 9/10

This is the area the game is best in. If you have played any of the battlefield series you will be at home here. The main game is conquest where you have to run around the map capturing spawn points around the map. To assist you you have a variety of vehicles and turrets. You can select which soldier you want to be and they each give you certain bonuses such as weapons or jet packs. Some remain locked at first and based on your performances will be unlocked. There are other modes to accompany this such as capture the flag and my personal favorite assault.

One of the best features is the ability to play as heroes and villains. Nothing quite beats the feeling of controlling Darth Vader and rampaging around battlefields attacking helpless soldiers. All the favorites are here: Han Solo, Luke, Chewbacca, The Emperor and my personal favorite Yoda!

Another feature is space battles. This allows you to pilot one of the spaceships and dogfight around in space. Unfortunately it gets a little repetitive and unlike the console versions the running around in spaceships is not as important.

Lifespan: 8/10

This area I feel could have been developed. Although the levels never fail to amuse the lack of an Internet multi-player weakens the title. The game does have local multi-player but as I have not found someone to play with I cannot really review this multi-player function. An interesting feature is the medals. Based on your performance you may be awarded medals that give bonuses such as improved weapons and health reduction, which increase the life span.

Strengths

Playing as Darth Vader!
Brilliant Graphics
Very fun to play and amusing

Weaknesses

Sound not at its best
Lack of online multi-player

All in all I love this game. However I do miss the online multi-player. I would say buy this game but I recommend rent or borrow, as you may not agree with my opinion. My final comment is to thank you for reading this review. Thanks!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/19/06