Star Wars: Battlefront

Perhaps the design of the game was rather unoriginal but when the delivery is as consistently fun as this game then it is hard to really take issue. Many games have copied the Battlefield formula but doing it within the Star Wars universe was a great idea. I approached it on the back of hearing good things from other people and, on the first night of owning it, I quickly picked up the control system thanks to the similarity with other games but there was a downside to this – I played it from 6pm until 4am, slept for 2 hours then went to work as normal! Luckily this got the gluttony out of my system and I settled down to playing it for much more controlled and sensible periods of time. The game itself is perhaps a bit too short and simplistic to present a lasting challenge. I have not played the multiplayer (56k for me) part of the game but the single player game was a bit too easy to complete. There are a couple of different ways to play, whether it is the straight story, the galactic conquest or just instant action option but all are fun for the simple reason that they are very well delivered within the world of Star Wars. The levels are recognisable from the films and are a good mix of open spaces (which I dislike), building complexes (which I love) and structures that are a mix of the two. Even years later I still regularly pick up the game, beat a few levels and then go about my day.

It is not perfect though but the problems are not really more than niggles. The Jedi's etc are pointless drones who can't be killed, some characters are hard to kill when you are against them but very weak when you play as them and so on. I don't like the way that on some levels the success of your side is down to how many you can kill rather than part of the teams being even. Other reviewers have mentioned how they play tactically but personally I found it difficult to even control a handful of men around me – they tend to just bump me and then get accidentally shot! This isn't helped by the fact that you could have 30 men around you but the enemies will still always aim for you in preference to the AI characters. These issues were addressed in the second Battlefront game but they were never really much of a pain for me with this one.

Overall then it is not a perfect game and it is a bit derivative but it is effective for what it does and benefits greatly from being in the Star Wars world. Enjoyable and engaging and, as if anything else was needed, you also get to shoot Gungans, Ewoks and Wookies!

Star Wars Battlefront is a nice and amusing multiplayer shooting game for nostalgic people and those who never liked the remake.

Despite its age, it aged gracefully - the units are recreated pretty accurately, and the maps are big and detailed. As for the game modes, there's only one - conquering the map territory.

You choose your class, run around and shoot stuff, while conquering important strategic points on the map. You can cooperate with your AI teammates and, frankly speaking, they're not that dumb as you might think.

The game feels rather lacking with single player content. You get 16 missions across 5 movies (Episode III is missing because it wasn't released yet), and, also, the galaxy conquest mode.

Said conquest mode has a whopping number of 8 different planet setups, but most of them differ only in the way the planets are assigned to each faction at the start.

The unlockables are pretty poor too - some concept artworks, some prop photos. And most annoying that can be in a licensed videogame - poor quality stills from the movie. Ugh.

After more than a decade after its release, it is by no means a "must-play" (especially considering that the superior sequel exists), but if you're a fan and decide to spend 7-10 hours to unlock all maps, you won't have a bad time.

Overall, it's a fun distraction for lonely people - for a few evenings in a familiar setting of Star Wars. And if you have a like-minded nostalgic friend, you could try the co-op mode as well.

As much as I'm not usually big on either of the things that this is... those a being a game based on an already existing(and popular!) one(if this doesn't, right down to the name, remind you of the Battlefield series, then surely you are the only one... and that's coming from someone who hasn't played a second of any of them), and a war VG... I gotta admit, this is an awful lot of fun, and it's easier to start playing it than to stop again(and it doesn't have any unlockables or other things to raise the replayability value; it simply does not need them). In spite of being licensed, this is great. It includes all four major forces of the whole saga, and they all get the arsenal and equipment they ought to, and are well-balanced. With few exceptions, every soldier has a reasonably accurate and useful enough damage-dealing-wise Blaster Pistol with infinite ammo, as well as at least one type of grenades, so you'll hardly ever be out of options. The sides all have five classes each, including one that can repair and restock. Rebels also get a Wookie, and CIS(Separatists) do, indeed, get the Destroyer Droid, or Droideka. It demands mention, because it is one of the best aspects of this. So very successful, for something so potentially unfair. Its shield can be drained by sustained fire(or a few hits by a rocket/missile launcher, and all teams can spawn a unit who starts out with one of those), and it can then only be recharged by leaving it off. The rolling, which is an immensely fast method of travel, leaves it rather vulnerable, and it does take a second or so to unfurl when you stop. It does shoot rapidly, though that can't be kept up for long without requiring a pause, and it turns slowly. It all adds up and makes it *awesome* to play as, without making it impossible to waste. There's next to no weapon or vehicle(over 30 total!) seen in the six films(that makes sense to include) that isn't here. The X-Wing, Speeder Bike, AT-ST, as well as various hovering tanks and aircrafts. You can steal the enemy's, if they're not occupied. Most of them take more than one person, too... heck, with a friend, you can reenact the bit of Luke taking out an AT-AT with the tow-cable. This has every major location that you could imagine it to, such as Hoth, Bespin, Geonosis(oh yeah!), heck, Kamino's there(and oh my, how it rocks). Honestly, just about everything from the SW universe that fits here, is present. And the only thing that can really be called an unfortunate addition is the Jedi that you can find fighting with or against you in some situations. It seems unkillable, and it is nothing other than a gimmick. This is obviously a MP VG, and I've not had a single problem running them across Internet or LAN. There are bots, so you can play by yourself and still face an army(and be backed up by one, and you can issue them orders, and they will follow them), and the AI is excellent. SP consists of 4 things. You can try every of the well-designed(and neither small nor excessively large) levels in Instant Action. Then there are two Campaigns, where you gradually play through both trilogies. Story-telling consists of clips from the movies, occasionally awkwardly and slightly edited, and a short briefing prior to the missions with voice actors doing poor(once or twice downright astonishingly so) impersonations of characters from the films. It switches back and forth who you're playing as so often(for every win, perhaps?) that you barely into playing as one before it's time for the next one, and it doesn't always seem logical who you're playing as. Finally, there's Galactic Conquest. There are a half a dozen or so suspiciously similar ones, about half of them allowing you to choose between 2 opposing groups, and where you take over all of the 6-7 or so planets, defeating the others on them once or twice. You get to select an advantage before you play, and that's all the variation there is to that. The focus here was definitely put upon the game-play(and boy did it pay off), and particularly on multi-player. With that said, the graphics are marvelous, with smooth and natural animation, enabling the non-stop action to be intense with no lag, without needing that high-end a computer. The audio is crisp and fantastic(I tested out my new sub-woofer with this... nicely done, LucasArts), and absolutely *everything* sounds exactly the way it should. This has tons of music that all us fans instantly recognize, and it further helps the atmosphere and mood. There is only one "mode" to play this... there are counters at the top of the well-done interface showing how many men remain available(starting towards 250) to the alliances involved in the conflict, and once one of them reaches zero, they lose the match(they tend to take between five and fifteen minutes, it hardly goes above that at all). The other stated goals that do appear here and there don't matter that much. There are checkpoints that can be captured, and that is what is gone for, almost all of the time. It is a little disappointing once you realize that you'll seldom get your victory by other means than wearing out the others. That gets tedious and repetitive, and you'll be missing other options, or bonus stuff... "smash this or that", "do this or that in x amount of time", etc. Something, anything. On the plus side, you won't at any time be unsure what you are to do, and the rules are extremely quickly learned. There are nearly no bugs or glitches, and no big ones. This contains no blood or gore, and is in general utterly inoffensive. I recommend this to anyone who can see themselves enjoying this, because they're likely to be right in thinking that they will. 7/10

Warning: I will be basing my comment of Battlefront on the X-Box version of this game since that is the version I have the most experience with.

Battlefront is a pretty basic video game. It is similar to other first person shooters like Halo, but the fact that it is Star Wars related gives it an edge over most other games similar to this. Sorry for being biased, I just love Star Wars.

You can choose from being one of four different armies, CIS, Republic, Rebels, or the Empire. You can then play as one of several different types of soldiers from that army. I prefer the CIS because you can be all of the different droids, Superbattledroids, Droidekas, Snipers, Missle Launcher droids, and droids that shoot mines. But each army is good. Also each army has one type of sniper, missle launcher, and mine shooter so whichever army you pick will consist of similar type soldiers that are in each army, just different looking.

You then battle against the opposing army to whom you are using. If you play in the Galactic Conquest style then the point is to defeat all of the enemies on the opposing side to gain control of the planet. Once you have taken control of an entire system of planets you have conquered the galaxy and beaten the game. Otherwise you can play Instant Action and just choose which planet you want to play on.

The controls overall are not bad at all. You just move around and use the map on the screen to gage where you are going. Red dots on the map represent enemies and green dots are on your side. Its pretty simple to aim your weapons and fire, just it may take some getting used to using the map on the screen.

You also get to use Vehicles in this game. You get the chance to ride in such historic Star Wars Vehicles as the AT-AT Walker, Snowspeeder, Speeder bikes, Spiderdroid, CIS Tank, Republic Walkers, Tauntains, and many others. Getting to ride on the land going vehicles is awesome. Especially riding in the AT-AT Walker since that is such a devastating vehicle to opponents and nothing can stop it seemingly. Flying in vehicles is not the same. There are no space going levels in this game so if you fly in a vehicle you will just be flying overhead a battle. This would be fixed a little in Battlefront two.

The levels you play on in this game are amazing. They really look the way they are supposed to and look just how they did in the movies. You can play on Hoth, Endor, Tantooine, Yavin, Bespin, Kashaaek, Naboo, Coruscant, Geonosis, and many others. Any true Star Wars fan will find the levels to be awesome and just like being in the movies. It also is similar to the movies in that you can recreate battles from the films, like the Battle of Hoth or the Battle of Endor. That is always fun because you can change the outcome possibly.

Music, like in all Star Wars games, sounds just like it did in the movies. That is good because how good would Star Wars be without the music? Not as good I would say but still good. So it is great to hear classic Star Wars songs while fighting.

So this is a must play for all Star Wars fans. Play it and you will not be able to put it down. Highly recommend.

This game will have you playing for hours without even noticing. Its a classic Star Wars game.