Just when you thought the circle was complete... (Star Wars: Battlefront II (PS2))

Member Name: Dhanjai

Product:	Star Wars: Battlefront II (PS2)
Date:	21/12/05 (164 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well realised, well crafted, and frantic as hell.

Disadvantages: It's repetitive. 1; It's repetitive. 1; It's repetitive...

When we see little kids mimicking asthmatics and waving torches at each other, we know Star Wars is upon us once again. Now wars games have come in many shapes, sizes and genres, yet all have a common stigma attached to them - in no small part due to the fact that historically, most have had about as much appeal as Noel Edmonds. But this third person shooter cum war-sim is the follow up to the biggest selling Star Wars game of all time, so expectations from both developers and the public are soaring high.

Now you would be forgiven for thinking that after 6 films spanning four decades we would know everything there is to know about Lucas’ saga. Well not everything it would seem. Battlefront II veers from the paths trod by any particular characters, allowing you stand amongst the ranks of the CIS (separatists), Republic, Rebel Alliance or Empire. Stalk the field as a Jedi, dominate from an AT-AT, rampage as a hairball Wookiee or a tinpot droid – simply engage in the Wars however you see fit. It’s actually a rather refreshing stance as you get to experience encounters either only touched on briefly in the films or just assumed to have happened behind the scenes, such as the defence of Kashyyk or hunting for the stolen Death Star plans before they were traced to Leia’s ship.

Of course such freedom would be worthless if it was all implemented with the grace of a drunken Jabba the Hut, but thankfully Lucas Arts have largely resisted the urge to tamper with the successful game engine and simple controls used in the original. This, alongside large detailed terrains often strewn with vehicles and defensive turrets on which the planetary skirmishes occur, paves the way for fantastically chaotic melees, whilst the presence of pugnacious locals - Jawas, Ewoks, Genosians and the like - adds to the atmosphere and the carnage. By the same token, orbital dogfighting through asteroid fields in space combat is equally exhilarating, though the controls are slightly more suspect, it being all too easy to start rolling your craft and all to hard to right it (which is right pain because bombs still obey gravity in space. Apparently). Given this, the option to skip most space battles is both welcome and intelligent for those who aren’t feeling the force. Unlike your average shooter, Battlefront II has no ‘taking on the war machine single handed’ delusion of grandeur. The AI is both intelligent and accurate, and combined with a healthy and challenging difficulty curve, you’re Bantha fodder already. In fact in an almost total situation reversal, you actually have a limited number of reinforcements for your team (including the AI) available to complete the mission. The whole experience is enhanced by stunning audio and visuals, with film locations well realised and a healthy dollop of creative license used effectively to create astoundingly detailed arenas from what may only be a few seconds of footage, complemented by subtle orchestral’s, barely noticeable in deference to SFX authentic to the source material.

It appears however that an inverse amount of creativity has been applied to creating the missions as has to creating the scenery. Objectives tend to revolve around a vague pattern of capturing and holding command points, dressed up in various guises, not only making missions incredibly repetitive but sadly overlooking the tactical options of the different troop classes on offer. Given your limited reinforcements, the problem is compounded as victory all to often becomes a frustrating scramble of achieving whatever objectives you need to fulfil whilst you still have sufficient forces left to do so rather than any strategic assault, a fact at exact odds with the idea you can adopt whatever role you choose. Its a real shame no attempt is made to challenge how players go about things, because it makes all the inventiveness – special skills, jet packs, recon droids or anything else – merely throwaway gimmicks superseded by old faithful, the blaster rifle.

In addition to a rather meaty 18 mission strong solo campaign, we’re also treated to a revamped galactic conquest mode – a turn based Command & Conquer meets Risk galaxy conquest style affair (it’s better than it sounds!) – or ‘instant action’ mode where you simply pick a map and fight it out to the wire. Both are considerably challenging, but then the cancer of repetition rears its ugly head again. Galactic conquest allows you to play as any of the four factions, but the troop types for each are practically the same with different pseudonyms - you may as well be looking at the same thing through different shades of glass. Likewise, instant action mode is largely resigned to simple conquest and capture the flag encounters. The only notable additions are the Assault mode (a fanboys wet dream – an all out Jedi vs Sith brawl) and Hunt mode, fighting as (or against) indigenous populations, which provide quirky breaks off the beaten path. Admittedly I haven’t been able to try it online though, which may very well be an entirely different kettle of fish.

So does the lightsaber cut the mustard? Extremely well crafted, easy on the eye and compulsive to play, Battlefront II surpasses its predecessor. Indeed it does what it does very well. And it has much more appeal than Noel Edmonds. It’s just that its tedious nature means it doesn’t do very many things. Which is a pity for a game promising so much freedom.

Summary: Slightly limited, but a cracker of a game all the same