Star Wars Battle Front II

Um, yeah, novel got sidelined by a new Xbox game. This is an atempt to produce something useful out of it.

The original battle front was innovative. Instead of being the ultimate hero you were just an ordianary soldier. You join with hundereds of other stormtroopers, clones ect to decide the fate of the universe. Its surprising how much one soldier can do.

Battle Front II remains true to the original game, just adds lots of extras. The coolest new feature is the Jedi. You get to weild lightsabers and the force in deadly combinations. Some maps let you play as other heros, including Bobba Fett and Hans Solo. The Jedi life concept is new, instead of picking up health you gain life by making kills.

Space combat is another great feature. You can't participate in the attack on the death star, or run the blockade of Naboo. But you can get involved in a number of smaller battles. The space combat is initially fun, but quickly gets old. The AI is pretty weak, in all my hours of space combat they never once landed inside my hanger. There are only so many ways to win, once you've done it a couple of times you've done it all.

The single player campain is weak. Battle Front I allowed numerous ways to win each battle, leaving the stratagey up to the player. Battle Front II dictates which command post to take, and in what order. Some great moments as Darth Vader attacking the Jedi temple, and later hunting down Pricess Leia. So while fun the campain loses the versatility that is the games biggest strength.

Conquest mode takes on a whole new level. Originally an after thought in the first game, its now worth playing for its own sake. Strategic placement of fleets can block the enemy progress. Credits won after each battle can be used to unlock other units or bonuses for future battles. Because of the AI weakness in space its an easy win, but great play.

Multiplayer has a cool new 'single flag' mode. Both teams try to move the flag into the middle of the opponents base. Trouble is there is to much 'helpful' text popping up on the screen, every time the flag changes hands. Makes it difficult to actually focus on the battle.

Overall I give it four stars.
BM out