Star Wars: Battlefront II

The Good
To be honest, there wasn't much about this game that I liked. I'll preface that now, so that you can read the rest of this review with a grain of salt. I am not a big fan of online FPS games.

The graphics were quite good, though not quite top of the line, which is understandable given its target demographic of online players. A little less CPU intensive graphics would (hopefully) provide for a better game experience online. The sound, as with pretty much all Star Wars games I've played, was significantly better than average.

What I like about this game was a notion I had about it before I got it. I'd read with considerable interest that this game would include what amounts to a flight simulator mode.... essentially X-Wing or TIE Fighter! Wow! Even with that feature though, there wasn't enough about the game that intrigued me enough to get it when it first came out.

As a shooter game, there's really not much to be said about it. It has the genre standard game modes and weapons and classes, all with LucasArts' typical Star Wars veneer. Nothing exceptional, either good or bad.

The Bad
The disappointment upon finally getting into a spaceship. I was so eager... playing an FPS game in the vein of Jedi Knight and then running up to an X-Wing, getting in it and taking off... and finding myself flying a go-kart with wings. There was no sense of speed or power (or physics, a constant problem with the Star Wars universe... but I digress).

TIE Fighter is one of my personal favorite games of all time. I was basically hoping for that to have been transplanted here. Now, since it wasn't, maybe that's biasing my opinion of the rest of the game. But that feature was the sole reason I was even remotely interested in playing it. And discovering that it was an arcade implementation rather than a simulator implementation was definitely a let-down.

The Bottom Line
This is not the worst FPS game I've played and isn't even close to the best. When it came out and was discussed in the gaming media I was glad to see LucasArts try to expand the gameplay in the Star Wars universe with the mix of styles or genres in one game. But I was disappointed in the end result. (Same thing I'd say about the space combat in Star Wars Galaxies.)

Long story short - I played it a couple of times when I got it as a gift, haven't touched it in years, and would almost bet my left big toe that I'll never play it again. It's just not my thing.

The Good
Practically everything was great. The graphics are great, the storyline is great and the places you go to are even better. I just so love the idea of the space battles. And we get to play as Jedi now! How cool is that? Even though you can only do four lightsaber moves with them (minus lightsaber throw) It's still great to play as the Jedi, and Sith of course.

The Bad
A real disappointment is the amount of planets they took away, like Bespin and Rhen Var. Another thing is how small the space battles are. They should be as broad as the movies. Another con is the Jedi character voices. They don't sound a thing like the movie voices. The only exceptions are Jango Fett, Boba Fett and Greivous.

The Bottom Line
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (in "Rise of the Empire" mode) is about a clone legion known as the 501st. It features planets such as Tatooine, Geonosis and Kashyyyk. The game also space battles. My advice is Buy It NOW!!!!!

The Good
As the title suggests, Star Wars Battlefront II allows players to relive their favorite Star Wars battles on the front lines as a member of the infantries that set the backdrop of these masterpiece films.

The objective, like in the first game, is to invade various command posts on a map and to completely destroy the opposing force. Players choose which command post they wish to deploy from and can choose from a variety of infantry classes. The basics units are well rounded, the engineer classes can repair useful objects and heal others, the commanders can deploy recon droids to scout the area, and there are other classes as well with their own unique skills.

Several improvements have been made to the original formula as well. Heroes and Villains from the Star Wars universe can be controlled for brief periods of time (Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Han Solo, Yoda, and many others) to level the playing field. Vehicles can be used on the battle and there are even space battles where the goal is to do as much damage to the enemy fleet as possible (each side gains points for destroying parts of the enemy ship and destroying enemy fighters. The first team to get 180 points is declared the winner).

A new game mode gives Battlefront a story mode (of sorts) for the first. Players play flash backs from the war journal of the 501st legion (The Emperor's personal task force) from Clone Wars (Set during episodes 2-3) and the Galactic Civil War (Set during episodes 4-6). In this mode, players not only take command posts but are charged with defending key grounds and retrieving important items. By completing these objectives, players become more familiar to the games other modes like capture the flag and defending their ground.

The highlight of the game is the online play. The PS2 version features 24 players simultaneously and offers all the game modes in the single player mode (Capture the flag, Conquest, and Galactic Conquest).

The Bad
Unlike the previous Battlefront game, players have no command options or control over their units. This can result in your troops being scattered all over the map and leaving key terrain unprotected from capture, resulting in many casualties fast.

While auto target helps to keep enemies visible, it often times will result in a bit of frustration because other enemies will attack and player's fire will not be directed towards the enemies in front of them but the target who ran off to shoot at someone else, leading to deaths that players don't deserve.

It is often at the critical stages in a battle where a game becomes frustrating. When it comes down to the player being the only person on the map with 11 other enemies left, the game automatically ends with the player loosing, even if they have not been killed or if all the command posts have been captured, resulting in many angry words being directed to said player's television set.

While the game does have a story mode it leaves a lot to be desired. The only cut scenes shown are filtered over images of gameplay with an unidentified Clone Veteran narrating the tale. Even the ending videos of the Galactic Conquest mode look and feel cheaply made and do not make a good reward for the player's dedication to completing the game.

The Bottom Line
Star Wars Battlefront II is an online game and is best suited for LAN parties or playing against millions of strangers, as indicated by the leader boards at the end of each battle along with a statistics tracker for each player profile. However, playing online is not the only way to enjoy Battlefront II and for those who don't have online will find themselves playing Battlefront II as much as online players would. The brief story mode helps to keep players intrigued with the game and Galactic Conquest will unleash the inner Genghis Khan in anybody. Star Wars Battlefront II offers something for almost everyone and those who buy it will not be disappointed with their purchase.