Star Wars: Battlefront

Pros • Great graphics • Faithfully presents the feel of epic combat in the Star Wars universe • Solid multiplayer gameplay • Finally a chance to shoot Ewoks and Gungans!	Cons • Vehicles controls need improvement • Pre-game setup is light on options • Jedi units are too powerful
Bottom Line You'll need more than the Force to survive in this large scale battle for supremacy in the Star Wars universe. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (okay, more like 28 years ago in a London sound stage) George Lucas was hard at work trying to bring to life his vision of an epic space opera. Since that time, the Star Wars franchise has spawned numerous video games, with varying degrees of success. Now LucasArts has teamed up with Pandemic Studios with the release of Star Wars Battlefront, putting the spotlight squarely on the different military campaigns fought over the course of the Star Wars movies.

In Star Wars Battlefront, players take to the frontlines as a rebel soldier, a stormtrooper, a battle droid, or a clone trooper. Each side comes equipped with a fixed number of troop reinforcements, and fights for control of command points scattered across the map. One side wins when his team either controls of all the command points or wipes out his opponent's army. Adding a little more flavor to the ground combat, Battlefront also gives players access to various vehicles from the movies, such as X-Wings, AT-ST's, and Speeder Bikes. Some locations also include native units which will react differently to different factions. For example, on Endor the Ewoks will run around the map helping the Rebels taking potshots at the Empire forces, while on Tatooine the Tusken Raiders are content to simply shoot anything that moves. The downside of this is that its possible one team may get an unfair advantage in battle. On the upside though, there is little in life that's as satisfying as blasting away at Gungans, Ewoks, and even Jawas with maniac glee.

Everything in the game remains faithful to its big screen counterpart. The troop models and environments look amazing, and the audio effects sound like they were ripped straight from the movies. Even though many of the troop types play identically, the character models look and act different enough to give each side a unique feel. All of this attention to detail works wonders to draw the player into the game and deliver a completely immersive experience.

The multiplayer side of Star Wars Battlefront plays just like the single player campaigns do, only this time around some of the AI Bots are replaced with living breathing opponents. With upwards of 16 players thrown into the mix along with the bots, it can make for some very interesting gameplay. Without a doubt, it's the multiplayer gaming that going to keep people coming back to their controllers. Having said that, it's a shame no one thought to add more options to the pre and post game. The game would really benefit from a lobby of some kind. And where are all of those cool Xbox Live 3.0 options like clan creation and player ranking?

There are a few other problems I ran into while playing Star Wars Battlefront. For one thing, the game occasionally throws in Jedi units for single player games, and allows the option to include them in multiplayer games as well. These Jedi are just too powerful to be in the game. They can deflect most fire with their lightsabers, and kill units with one swing. This wouldn't be as big a problem if not for the fact that the Jedi CANOT be killed. During one game, I blasted Count Dooku over the edge of Cloud City, only to run into him again ten seconds later plowing through my clone troopers. In another game, a friend of mine blew through a mission by simply following behind Vader and using him like a human shield. Thankfully, this option can be turned off in the multiplayer and instant games, but too many people insist on having them in the game.

Another issue I had with the game was using the vehicles in the game. While I loved the experience of flying in a TIE Fighter and cruising around in a snowspeeder, the controls took a while to get used to. This is painfully clear when trying to ride around in any of the game's larger vehicles. Moving around in an AT-AT feels like you're trying to drive it through quicksand. It moves around at a snail's pace and rarely is able to draw a bead on any of the swarming infantry. On the other side of the spectrum, the lighter vehicles like the speeder bikes move so fast that you're more likely to die from a crash than you are from any of the enemy gunfire.

Even with these minor problems, Star Wars Battlefront is still a great game. The multiplayer experience alone makes the game worth the price. For fans of shooter games in general, Battlefront is a chance to apply some military strategy to epic scale intergalactic combat. And for Star Wars fans, the game finally gives them a chance to experience firsthand some of the best battles in the Star Wars saga.

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