Difficult Simple

Star Wars Battlefront was the best-selling Star Wars game of all time, and for good reason: it finally allowed players to engage in an approximation of the pitched battles that appear in every Star Wars film. Solid play mechanics, attractive graphics and an easy-access online mode via Xbox Live sealed the deal. Star Wars Battlefront II is the inevitable follow-up, and while most aspects have been improved, there are a couple of areas where the sequel takes a step back from the original.

Anyone who enjoyed Battlefront will love Battlefront II. That much is inarguably true. Most of the battlefields from the first game make their return in Battlefront II, while others are supplanted by new locales like Mygeeto (briefly glimpsed in Episode III) and Dagobah. Not missed is the meat-grinder Bespin Platforms level from Battlefront, but its Cloud City companion is a lamentable exclusion.

In addition to the shuffling around of the ground-based battles, Battlefront II also includes space battles. This would seem a natural, because the Star Wars films are synonymous with their outer space combat. Players are able to grab a fighter and go to ship-to-ship, bomb the enemy capital ships or even board the other side’s main cruiser and attempt to destroy vital components from within. These fights are a little less fluid than their planetbound counterparts, but still a great deal of fun.

Battlefront II ramps up the graphical side of the game. Return levels like Theed City look terrific by comparison, and the originals weren’t bad to begin with. All the various units from the prequel and original trilogy eras have been rebalanced and supplemented with new varieties. There’s never a situation where a player is stuck with a truly useless unit — Battlefront’s pilots, we’re looking at you — because there are no useless units. Aircraft have been removed from the ground-based battles, however, which is something of a shame; shuttling a batch of clone troopers around the field in an LAAT was pretty exciting stuff.

The new game also allows players to take control of name characters from the films. Whereas Battlefront had Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in them (among others), they were always under CPU control. Now a player can wield the awesome power of the Jedi for him- or herself, alongside Boba Fett, Darth Maul and a few others. Sadly there is no Kit Fisto until one coughs up five bucks for a downloadable expansion which also restores some missing levels seen in the original.

There are downsides to Battlefront II. If anything, the AI seems to have gotten dumber and it’s more difficult to command friendly units. Where in the original game one could order a group of nearby combatants to hold position or follow or what have you, one must now target a friendly and choose between move out or follow me commands only. It’s a hassle and a major oversight, as friendly combatants have the attention span of gnats and cannot defend vital command points to save their lives.

Similarly, the flight AI is less than helpful. Nowhere is this more apparent than on Hoth. In Battlefront taking command of a snowspeeder’s rear gun and wrapping a tow cable around the legs of an advancing AT-AT was simple and fun. Now, thanks to the twitchy AI pilot, it’s nearly impossible to even see the target, let alone hit it. A glitch also keeps passengers on a shuttle or LAAT from disembarking en masse when a player lands in an enemy hangar during a boarding action. Unless one lands and takes off repeatedly (a dangerous operation in a small hangar), the last remaining passenger will spring into the pilot’s seat once one leaves the ship and immediately fly it into a wall.

Rough edges aside, Battlefront II can be terrific fun. Galactic Conquest mode is much improved from the original, with deeper strategic elements and a way for players to customize their forces to their liking. Unfortunately online play is biased toward simple deathmatch-style confrontations and it’s difficult to find anyone willing to commit to this more involved, but rewarding mode.