 | | Battlefront II is the sequel to the best selling Star Wars game of all-time |
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Well I must say, this game is a pleasant surprise. I
enjoyed the first Battlefront, don't get me wrong, but that was still a game that pretty much survived solely on its Star Wars license. Without that, I doubt it would have exploded as it did, as it was essentially just a pretty run of the mill Battlefield clone at the end of the day.
Of course, EA's Battlefield 2 has since been unleashed on the PC, a game which set a new standard for these large scale online shooters. It really knocked all the rest down a peg, and as a result Star Wars Battlefront II really wasn't holding much interest to me...until I played it. The Xbox version is the one I've been spending my time with, but I'll detail some of the differences between the other platforms further down.
So what does this game do to stand up against the might of the Battlefield series? It's quite simple actually, it succeeds at the
one thing Battlefield games have always failed miserably at...it gives us an amazing single player game.
This is no mere bot match folks, Battlefront II's new single player campaign is the real deal. Subtitled Rise of the Empire, it basically keeps all the primary components of the multiplayer game, such as the massive levels, the spawn points and the choice of classes, but then decks out the maps with proper objectives, wrapped up in a brilliant ongoing storyline that integrates into Episode III and beyond.
The Force is Strong With This One Player Game
 | | The Rise of the Empire campaign follows the career of the 501st legion of stormtroopers, starting with the clone wars and working up |
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No more repetitive respawns and monotonous base capturing that fails to excite, the battles now have some real progression to them. On the first level for instance, I was playing a clonetrooper who'd just arrived at a command post on Mygeeto. Rather than just get on with my own thing, capturing enemy spawns as per usual, my commander actually radioed through instructions to blow some nearby anti-AA cannons, allowing for a Jedi Master to land in the area.
Huh?? Did a Battlefront game just give me an objective that
wasn't to capture a ruddy flag? Suddenly I was enthralled, and it didn't stop there. By the end of that mission, I had steadily progressed to disabling force-fields, blowing up a generator, fighting my way into an enemy base and finally capturing an item for my commander. Fuck me...a proper
level.
It's a similar feeling you get from playing something like Call of Duty, except the action is less scripted and pre-determined here. Sure, there's a linear series of objectives laid out for you to accomplish, but enemies and squad-mates are running around purely on AI, with less emphasis on trigger points and such pap. So when a tank comes hurtling around a corner and blows you away, it's not because some designer told it to. That's frickin' cool, man.
This is of course, amidst all the usual Battlefront shenanigans you'd expect. Wiping out troops, taking down vehicles and as a new addition that pleasingly helps segueway into the next paragraph, even busting out some Jedi moves.
Full Force Fun
 | | Jedi are playable this time out, although you have to unlock them first |
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Oh yes, that's another sweet addition to the series; the ability to play as them wielders of laser swords and bad acting, the Jedi (not to mention the Sith). Thankfully, they handle great. It's simple stuff really; one lightsaber attack, a couple of force powers and a super charged force jump, but my god is it a blast. They really capture that high speed feeling of the Clone Wars series, with Jedi leaping around and wiping out hordes of enemies amidst hails of gunfire.
The Jedi are a rarity though, a special treat for completing specific objectives, and a short lived one at that. Even though it's a bummer to see them used less than they could be, this keeps 'em special and unique. Oh, and these "hero" character aren't strictly relegated to users of The Force either...Boba Fett fans will get their turn too, among many others.
 | | All other central characters from the movies are unlockable too |
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These special characters are specific to the levels you play on. So Luke is available in Jabba's Palace for instance, decked out in full Return of the Jedi gear, while General Grievous shows up during the battle of Utapau, and so on.
In the single player game there's great context to all these battles, thanks to an ongoing voiceover courtesy of your clonetrooper. He talks about the war in-between missions, and the overarching plans of the Empire throughout all this, giving the single player campaign an interesting and original insight into the troops. Without giving too much away, there's some nice details thrown in regarding the whole Order 66 twist that we never really got in the movie.
When combined with the rest of these upgrades, Battlefront II boasts the only decent single player game to be found in
any of these Battlefield-esque titles. Although I must admit, I've yet to try out Modern Combat to see how that compares.
Even better, you can play these missions in co-op mode on the console versions too, thanks to the inclusion of system link and split screen. This is actually worth the price of admission alone, and is
definitely something to bare in mind when deciding which platform to buy for.
Never Tell Me the Odds
 | | Space battles are particularly cool due to the fact you can disembark on capital ships |
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And yet, there's more. Yes, I am of course talking about the space battles, the other pleasing new addition to the series. They feel built from the ground up around recreating that same look and feel of the Rogue Squadron games; tons of action going off in all directions, high speed dogfights galore and massive capital ships to soil the whitest of pants.
It's great to see that kind of Star Wars game brought to the multiplayer arena at last, but all being said, it doesn't quite match up to Rogue Squadron for sheer visual or playable delight. I'd say the space sections are a pleasing bonus, but not as enjoyable or as pivotal as the ground game at the end of the day. As an extra game-within-a-game, I can't complain though, and dear lord, I can't stress how much better all the aerial combat is over the previous game.
Lastly I have to say how pleased I am with the controls on the console versions. Every facet of the game has fully customisable layouts, so playing as a Jedi can use a different config to playing as a trooper, or flying an X-Wing, or driving an AT-AT. Even better though is the amount of control you have over the less obvious settings, such as auto aim, sticky reticules and all the other controller-based settings so many console shooters get wrong. As a result, Battlefront II is one of those rare games that doesn't feel particularly worse than on a PC. It's very Halo-ish in that regard.
The Dark Side
All that positivity aside, I should play devil's advocate and mention that if you downright hated the first game, this one probably won't win you over. Yeah, the various additions detailed above are terrific, but the core game remains almost identical. It's still got the same old weapons, the same classes more or less and that same "interesting" AI. For all the flashy lightsabers and kick arse atmosphere that's been worked in this time, the first Battlefront still remains buried deep down beneath it all.
 | | There are times where it's impossible to tell this game apart from the last one |
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This is no more evident than in the multiplayer game. Altogether there's a whopping great 24 maps - including space - but despite some added fluff like Hero duels and Ewok Hunts, it's back to the basic command point capturing of its prequel. Although the addition of Jedi and space combat do give it a pleasing shot of much needed excitement, other than that, it's business as usual. In fact for me, playing co-op through the single player mode with a buddy is arguably more fun than the online experience this time out.
Graphically, it's using the same engine as the last game too. This sort of thing tends to piss me off usually, as there's nothing worse than a so called "sequel" that is really just some new levels thrown in with all the same tech as its predecessor. Battlefront II could be accused of just that, as it looks and handles so similar to the original that on the face of it they're hard to differentiate.
That said, it's got some slightly improved effects and a greater amount of action on screen this time out, and if nothing else I do feel like it earns its tag as a full blown sequel due to those previously mentioned enhancements to the single player game.
Music To My Ears
 | | The game nails the Star Wars look and feel perfectly |
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Music is wonderful, as per usual. It uses medleys of sorts, different cues and riffs from all the classic Star Wars tracks blended together to form awesome new battle music. Maybe it's just my imagination, but it also seems to alter to suit the action on screen. When picking up a lightsaber for the first time for example, the Force theme came swirling in. Coincidence?
The sound effects and voices are all stunning as per usual, my only prob is how quiet this ace music sits in the mix. Some tweaking in the audio settings had it ramped up to full blast soon enough though, and believe me, it's worth it. There's nothing quite like hearing Battle of the Heroes blaring out at you in 5.1 while blowing away bad guys on Mustafar.
 | | It's a clich?, but BFII truly does let you recreate all those battles and moments you've yearned to over the years |
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And that's what I love about this game. It grabs so many awesome sights and sounds from every Star Wars film and throws them together so that you can experience all the best bits for yourself. As well as that Episode III-centric campaign, it takes maps and characters from everywhere else too. Anakin vs. Obi-Wan, Vader vs. Luke, Han vs. Boba - these iconic moments are all present and correct this time out, set amidst that same epic warfare we had in the original title. That's genius.
With the last Star Wars movie now released, this is the first game we've had that really bridges the entire saga together into one complete package. I love that we go from the clone wars right up until the days of Vader and the Rebellion all within one game. It feels complete.
Battlefront II is way better than I expected it to be, and I'm now particularly excited in checking out how that PSP version stacks up.
