Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a very ambitious game that tries to include nearly everything in the Star Wars universe--from Jedis and high-tech weapons to space battles and land invasions--in a single package. For the most part, it pulls this off credibly.
Gameplay: This game is primarily a first-person shooter, although it includes some simple flight simulation and strategic gameplay. The single-player campaign focuses on Darth Vader's unit, the 501st squad of Clone troopers seen in the most recent Star Wars movies. Over the course of about 16 missions, you'll go from classic location to location, fighting against rebels, Wookies, droid armies, Jedi, and others as you tighten the emperor's grasp upon the galaxy. There are a couple truly great missions. For example, the best mission of the campaign was a reenactment of the capture and invasion of Princess Leia's ship, as seen at the beginnning of Episode IV. It's an intense, nearly perfect rendition of the movie scene, with Vader and his army of stormtroopers entering the captured ship through a hole blasted in its hull and battling it out with rebels. Overall, the campaign is well put together and should last 15-20 hours. My major complaint is that the missions vary wildly in difficulty, from those which should be easily finished by casual gamers to others that will require as many as 10-20 attempts to complete for even a serious gamer. Needless to say, your frustration level will likely get high after trying to conquer Hoth (the last and toughest mission) after the tenth failed attempt.
The game has three gameplay modes. First, there are space battles. Generally, these are well done. The ships are detailed and scaled well, and you get an opportunity to fly many different kinds of craft. You can even land inside of an enemy capital ship, destroy vital systems, shoot it out with enemy soldier, and even fly off in an enemy ship. The flight simulation feels a lot like the old X-wing and TIE fighter games, but with vastly improved graphics. The second part of the game--and the major focus--is the land battles. These involve fighting to control certain points of the map, which produce reinforcements for your army. As long as you have reinforcements, you respawn after dying and can choose from among several classes to return as (e.g., trooper, engineer, scout, etc). If you hold certain captured points, you'll be able to respawn as a hero character like Vader or Boba Fett. These characters are powerful, but not unstoppable, and they are usually appropriate to their environment. Playing as a Jedi is enjoyable, but does not have the same depth of control and tactics as Jedi Outcast or Jedi Academy. Still, the entrance of a hero onto the scene definitely gets noticed.
The third element of gameplay is a Risk-like game called Galactic Conquest mode that allows you to fight a computer enemy on a map of 15 planets. The object is to conquer all the planets (classic Star Wars places like Hoth, Kamino, Tattooine, etc.) and destroy the enemy fleets. It's a decent diversion for a while and should give the game some replay value. Additionally, there are various skirmish and quick-play modes.One of the draws for this game is the multiplayer capacity, which is probably quite fun though I haven't played it (I'm strictly a solo gamer).
The game is well polished, and I experienced no bugs in the campaign except that I never managed to get the imperial officer's chaingun to work. The instruction book is thin but provides the necessary basics, and there is a decent in-game tutorial. Unfortunately, the game does not allow any saves within missions, which will be a bit annoying during a few of the tougher campaign missions. However, the interface is clean and understandable and all of the controls can be customized for a keyboard, mouse, and/or gamepad.
Finally, I feared that the AI in this game was going to be bad, based on things I've read. However, it's quite acceptable in most circumstances. Enemy computer opponents will hide behind cover, try to outflank you, dodge and roll, snipe at you, and so forth. Computer allies usually hold their own when the odds are even, but the game really wants the player to be the star here, thus you'll be doing much of the killing, capturing of points, and saving the day. So, the AI is not bad per se, it's just geared toward making the player the center of attention.
Graphics: The game looks very good. Character models, ships, terrain, and special effects are all convincing. The game has a number of cutscenes from the movies. Also, on a mid-range PC (3ghz Pentium, 1GB of RAM, Geforce 6600GT), I experienced no lag or studder in framerates, even with a lot happening on screen.
Sound: Everything was fine in this department. The grand Star Wars score played in the background at appropriate times, and all of the weapons, ships, voices, and so forth sounded as they should.
Overall, I recommend this game to anyone into the Star Wars franchise or interested in first-person shooters.If you only play the single-player component of games (like me), I would suggest waiting until the price of the game drops to about $30. This game really does beg for an expansion which could add another campaign, some more planets to add to the Galactic Campaign mode, more ships, weapons, etc. If you like playing multiplayer, then the current price ($40-$50) is a bit more justified.
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Star Wars Battlefront II (Mini Box)Product Description: Star Wars Battlefront II takes the best-selling
Star Wars video game of all time one Imperial-walker step forward with all-new space combat, playable Jedi, and never-before-seen environments straight out of the
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith movie. Fans of the original
Star Wars Battlefront will also enjoy an all-new single-player experience that takes players through an epic, story-based saga where every action the player takes impacts the battlefront and, ultimately, the fate of the Star Wars galaxy.
Battlefront II improves upon the original game's single-player experience with open-ended, mission-based objectives inspired from all six
Star Wars films. The compelling storyline spans more than 16 new locations, many from the
Episode III movie, including volcanic Mustafar and the space battle above Coruscant. All-new classic movie moments complete the
Battlefront II experience, as players battle within the interior of the Death Star and visit Princess Leia's blockade runner, the Tantive IV, as seen at the beginning of Episode IV A New Hope. In addition, at certain key moments within the battles, players can earn the opportunity to wield a lightsaber and use the Force as a Jedi. For the first time ever,
Battlefront players can engage in space combat and, during the same battle, board enemy ships to attack from within. Starting on foot inside a capital ship, players can enter the starcraft of their choice and travel into space to dogfight with the rival faction. From there, they can dock within the enemy's capital ship, overtake the ship's command posts, man its turrets to disable its shields and destroy it from within! Or, they can simply stay inside their own capital ship and defend it from attacks and enemy fire. The choice is theirs.
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