Customer Reviews

Star Wars Battlefront II (Mini Box)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

Again, a case of not finding this game in stores, while easily finding it on Amazon!! I love this game, I have it on Xbox as well. I like it much better on PC, mainly because of the XL mode and the huge amounts of AI you are able to play against. I haven't yet tried it online, but I'm sure that it would be even better!!!

My husband and son spent a good deal of time playing this game Christmas day.

I used to have an XBox with this game when it first came out, and it was a blast. The game itself is really fun. It is not realistic at all, but is more like an arcade type of combat. All of the soldier classes are balanced, and the game modes are fun. Plus, it's Star Wars, so chalk that one on top of all the other good things. I have tried the PS2 version with my cousin's PS2, the XBox version, and now the PC version, so I will sum up what is what.

I bought this PC version when my XBox broke down, and I noticed that it is not as good as the XBox version. The reticule has taken the largest hit, with some features missing, like a reload ticker for your guns and its a little block in the middle instead of a precise dot, making long-range aiming harder. The graphics are better, but not too much. It is much easier to aim with a mouse, but movement isn't as good as the console. Also, in galactic conquest, it is very hard to see the map for some reason. The XBox and PS2 versions are pretty much the same, with the PS2 having noticeably worse performance and graphics.

To sum it up, buy the PC DVD version of BF2 only if you have just a PC or a PS2 and a PC. Buy the XBox version first if you have an XBox at all. If you have just a PS2, then rent it to see if the performance hit is worth buying the game for. So, 1st Xbox, 2nd PC, 3rd PS2.

I originally bought bf2 for the ps2. Had the original for computer. BF2 was great then I got a copy for pc because my son wanted to play too by himself. The computer version is even better. Crisper images and better gameplay. The online play is really addictive and fun. But be careful. It is open to playing with less than pleasant and sometimes very bitter and angry people. Give it a try though you'll enjoy it even if not a star wars fan.

You need two individual copies if you wish two people to play online in same server room. Also its great because it only has to verify you have the cd/dvd at startup and then after you don't need to have disc in drive.

A great shooter which allows for variable gameplay and strategy.

Overall this is a fun game. The graphics and controls are a little better than the original Battlefront, as is the single player storyline. My favorite enhancement over the original playable Jedi characters. My only complaint is a couple of the levels are so insanely difficult I had to use a trainer to beat them. (Google for "Battlefront II trainer" if you don't know what a trainer is).

I just got this game, and so far i really like it---and it loads very quickly on my PC. GFX look great and the controls are intuitive out of the box for the most part. It plays well and seems to have no glitches other than a slight incompatibility with my widescreen monitor, but it only causes a quick flash of an incompatibility screen that dissapears after a couple second severy time you go into a 3d mode (ie load a map).

Also, if you find yourself in need of a nice gaming PC, contact me through amazon! I build the best

This game is much better than its predecessor. Very few multiplier connection issues, kick ass game play (just like Tie vs X wing in some cases). I really like the hero aspect. Yoda on Degaba is riduculous. He's so short, all you see is a green light saber flying at your head in the tall grass. Force choke for Vader is pretty sweet. Haven't really found a big weakness in the game. It's just plain fun!

This game is awesome! tou get to play on planets from all star wars episodes Including episode 3! there are tons of vehicles and planets ranging from the endor scout speeder to the incredible AT-AT! In instant action you can play on any planet or above any planet in a space battle! and if you do mos eisly asault you can play as any of the heros except there normal soldier units!
this truly is the greatest game I have ever played.

Wow...That's all I have to say. This game is magnificant and tops all other star wars games. You have the ability of playing from 20 something levels and choosing or playing as a variety of characters. The graphics are intense and the gameplay is great. For any great Star Wars fanatics interested in choosing a top-quality game, go with this one...cause you won't be disappointed.