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Game Title: Star Wars Battlefront II
Platform: PlayStation 2/XBox/PC
Developer: Pandemic Studios
Publisher: LucasArts
Genre: First Person/Third Person Shooter
Age Rating: PEGI: 12+, ESRB T for Teen
Release Date: 31st October 2005 (UK), 1st November 2005 (US)
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Game Score: 8.0/10
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Summery:
Star Wars Battlefront II adds Space Battles, the ability to play as the Jedi and also tense and enjoy conflicts of the Star Wars saga.
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Star Wars is one of those timeless movies that expands itself very well into the video game world. Ultimately one of my most memorable Star Wars moments in gaming has to be with Battlefront where the idea of joining the famous battles as a trooper was a sweet deal, the original game proved popular enough for the developer Panemic Studios to create a sequel. It was also at that time when Episode III Revenge of the Sith was out in theatres before later getting released in DVD months later so the timing was perfect.
As you would expect the game focuses on battles seen from both the original trilogy and also the prequels. The game is played in either in First Person or Third Person perspectives as the players decide. It features new maps that are featured from the films and also new modes where you get to fight off in space. The game's main focus is on the Conquest mode but it also has a Capture the Flag mode to play as well.
In Conquest you pick from a starting command post to spawn in and then you select your trooper class to use. Classes range from Standard infantry, there is an Engineer class, a Sniper class, a Heavy weapon class, a Jet trooper who can fly for short distances and lastly a Commando class. Each of the various classes have their own weapon like standard blasters to shotguns and rocket launcher to use which can give players different ways to gain advantages over the opposing side. The goal in Conquest is to deplete the enemy re-enforcements to win the game, you start off by capturing command posts that are scattered around each of the maps. When you are near an empty command post you can capture it for your allies, you and a few troops need to stand near till the meter reaches empty for the enemy to lose control and then waiting for meter to reach full so that you have control over it. When you have control over the command posts you can spawn there if you die or when you activate it you can change your class freely anytime you wish. When you're the Engineer you can place or repair turrets which can be used for troopers in the field and also medical and ammo droids which can also be repaired to give ammo and heal as well. Outdoor environments also have some vehicles placed around the map which can be used in combat as well, all the fan favourite vehicles like speeders and At-ats are all present in the game and each of them pack a real punch as well as being fun to use. You earn points by either taking out enemies or gaining control of a command posts and when you do get enough points you can use the later classes I already mentioned as well as eventually play as the Jedi.
Playing as the Jedi is one of the new and great things they added for the sequel, the various Jedi use their own Lightsaber colour and style like they do in the films, dash faster then the troops and can also use abilities like blocking blaster fire, choking, force push and saber throw which all work well have many distinct advantages against enemy units. You don't just get the Jedi characters to play as but arenas will have characters like Han Solo, Baba Fett and Princess Leia which relay on guns. Each of those characters operate on a timer which decreases when taking damage but increases when they kill an enemy, the hero character you use dies when the timer reaches empty and you have to wait an amount of seconds before you can use the hero character again. Using these characters can help turn the tide of a difficult battle if things are getting out of hand.
Star Wars Battlefront II also introduces battles where you fight out in space, each side has their own range of ships to pilot like X-Wings, Tie-Fighters and trooper carrier ships. The goal in these space battles is to take down the enemy ships using lasers and missiles as well damage the enemies starships and cruisers while defending your own. You can damage them from the outside or land in the enemy's and damage their points inside. Much like Conquest there is a reinforcement limit but you can also win if you destroy all of the enemy ships major points effectively. You can lock onto an enemy ship to make fighting easier and every single ship operates very well and controls really well, you can do slow moving barrel rolls or do dodges to avoid enemy fire.
On top of the Conquest and Capture the Flag modes there is a hunting mode where players are restricted to one class as they hunt down a number of their enemies to reach maximum points within a time limit. There is also a mode where everyone controls all the leading characters from good and evil sides and honestly it's both amazing and humorous to see characters from both the original and prequel trilogies actually fight off against each other. I especially like it when you get to see Luke take on Anakin as his younger self.
In additions to the main modes you also have Galactic Conquest mode where the goal is too have all of the planets in the galaxy to win. After each of the fights you earn credits which can be used to add additional trooper classes as well as adding bonuses like increased blaster damage, add sabotage enemy vehicles, have turrets on your command posts and so on. They only last for one fight but you can purchase another if needed. The idea is that you need to make to a planet that an enemy is in control of and win the battle to claim it, if the enemy enters one of your areas do your best to win the battle to destroy the enemy squad.
Another mode is the story campaign which follows a group of the Republic known as the 501st Legion, it takes place in between the end of Episode II towards Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. In the campaign you do objectives to complete each of the stages, you don't just get on foot stages but also space missions as well to mix it up a bit. While it gives a proper tutorial on how to do the battles it gives the option to skip a space if you wish to. Objectives range from slaying a leading character, disabling turrets, collecting items to defending your posts. Many of these can be difficult cause you only have a small number of reinforcements to complete an objective but can get a bit more when an objective is complete. These are enjoyable for the most part and do serve a narrative to the Star Wars saga, I like it that in between each mission you get to see cutscenes which take in the form of a story log which explains about their involvement in the story, in the later stages where everybody is all clouding the screen up at once it does get ridiculously hard when you are trying fend of the attackers and vehicles.
The controls in the game work well for every side and function and thankfully it allows the player to use multiple control options as well as allowing you to customize the controls the way you like it. The game can be played alone or split screen with another player but unfortunately since I am reviewing this game as of 2016 the online features of this game are permanently disabled.
The game plays all the famous Star Wars related music tracks by John Williams and they all fit the intense action seen in the game and they are very good to listen to. It does have really good voice acting featuring the voice talents of the actual actors who voiced their characters in the films, the blasters used also sound the same as they do in the films and the other sounds are really good as well.
By now I am almost thinking that this game is one of the top rated Star Wars games of all time but however it's held back by it's various issues most of which focus on the PS2 version. First up would be some of the minor gameplay issues, the AI functions decently enough but there are times they will get stuck in walls or get within your line of fire which can be annoying if you are trying to fight off enemies. You can use commands on them if your rank is high enough of course to either follow you so that they can support you or just move out but it doesn't change much of their behaviour in combat. The worst is when you are fighting against a large group of enemies and when they manage to swarm you instantly. The worst enemies to deal with are the Ewoks which work for the Rebels side but if you are on the Imperial side they can easily kill a player by kicking them which stunlocks them for a few seconds which is rather cheap. Even worse is when doing the Hunting stage on Endor where Imperials take on the Ewoks and the Ewoks are easily slaughtering everyone with no troubles. Imperial players like myself are bound to find it unfairly frustrating to play.
Another main issue is the presentation, now to be fair the models of all the characters, blasters and effects all look really good and the overall environments are great with large outdoor and indoor areas. The main thing about the presentation is that some of the textures can sometimes act up a bit, I noticed maybe some of the game's environment build actually disappears for some reason. It kind of makes some of the great looking environments look like a creep show. Also worth noting for the PS2 is that the visual quality is low resolution and the frame rate is capped at 25 fps (30 fps for NTSC) and it lowers down when plenty of action goes on the screen making for a rather unsmooth experience. Lastly while the music is excellent however there's a glitch where the tracks play up at times. The presentation issues do not ruin the game in any fundamental way but it is worth noting especially since they try what is a very pleasing looking and sounding game.
Star Wars Battlefront II adds more content then the original Battlefront and makes the fights about as tense as they were in the films. You'll get the enjoyment of fighting alongside the various troopers as a trooper yourself or as a Jedi. The onfoot battles are entertaining but also the space battles are really well done and very fun to play through. If you're looking to experience the famous fights of the Star Wars Universe but also was disappointed with the recent reboot then I personally recommend Star Wars Battlefront II. If you are going to get your hands on the PS2 version be prepared for some performance problems, might I suggest getting the Xbox version or the PC version on Steam if you can make the game work on modern systems. Whatever the version of the game you own suit up solider it's time to enter the Battlefront and may the force be with you.
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The Good Points:
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1. Inclusion of Space battles which are enjoyable
2. Being able to play as the Jedi and other hero and villain characters
3. Conquest mode is still just as tense and enjoyable
4. Story mode and Galactic Conquest modes which add more fun
The Bad Points:
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1. Sometimes weak AI
2. Performance problems on the PS2 version
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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