Star Wars Battlefront (Xbox, 2004)

Ask any Star Wars fan and they will tell you that Star Wars video games have been going downhill since "Return of the Jedi" on the SNES with few excpetions. Only lately with games such as "Rogue Leader" and "Knights of the Old Republic" have fans been given a reprieve from the status quo of mediocre games. "Star Wars: Battlefront" is next in the line of good, albeit not superb, games of the beloved trilogy.


Gameplay: The bulk of the gameplay centers around a Star Wars version of "Capture the Flag". On each world that the Rebels/Empire, Clones/Seperatists, Gungans/Trade Federation, etc. do battle, there are five or six bases that either side can capture. You need to either capture all of the bases or kill all of your opposition in order to declare victory. On paper, a mix of Star Wars combat and Capture the Flag, doesn't sound all that appealing, but once you sit down and play, you'll most likely be sucked in and, before you know it, four hours of your life will have disappeared.

One of the nice things about this game is that you can choose which side you want to fight on in the "Instant Action" mode of gameplay. For each affiliation (Empire, Rebels, Trade Federation, Clones, etc.) there are numerous different soldier types that you can fight as. For example, if you decide to fight as the Empire as I like to do, (DIE REBEL SCUM! MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!) then you can fight as a regular Stormtrooper, a Darktrooper, a Scoutrooper, an Imperial Officer, or others. Each different soldier has different strengths and carryies a different assortment of weapons.

In addition to fighting on the ground, in each level you can also take control of AT-ATs, AT-STs, AT-TEs, TIE Fighters, TIE Bombers, X-Wings, Y-Wings, Snowspeeders, Cloud City Fighters (I don't remember their name), Skiffs, Landspeeders, Tanks, and just about anything else your nerdy little heart could desire. You can also take control of enemy vehicles and rain death down on their unsuspecting troops. Be warned though, although you have a great many vehicles at your disposal, none of them control particularly well and so therefore, you'll probably be spending the majority of your time wth this game on foot, laying waste to Rebel or Imperial troops.

Graphics: The game takes place on such notable Star Wars locales as Hoth, Yavin 4, Kamino, Geonosis, Tatooine, Endor, Naboo and others, so the environments are quite varied and, considering the scope of many of the battles, the graphics are a sight to behold. The explosion effects are quite nice as well. You'll also get a sneak peak at Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld, which is said to play a part in Episode III.

Sound: Familiar Star Wars tunes and great battle sounds. The voiceover of commanding officers saying "Our reinforcements have been cut off!" or "Victory is imminent!" does get very repetitive after a while, but that's pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

Misc.

-In each battle, whichever two sides are fighting always have the exact same number of troops. It would have been nice if in some battles, you were outnumbered, and had to formulate a strategy that would even things up.

-Watching your charater get hit with a grenade and go flying trough the air is great and NEVER gets old.