Customer Reviews

Star Wars Battlefront

5 star:		(114)
4 star:		(49)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I love this game. I totally understand where many of the negative reviews are coming from...but as a person who only plays games once in a great while, I must say that I thoroughly enjoy this title.

It's easy to learn and you can just jump right in a play for ten mins or 5 hrs and not get bored...granted, if I played 5 hrs a day every day for a couple weeks this game would get old REAL fast...but it's certainly a solid game with good graphics.

If you are a Star Wars fan but not a gamer (as I am), this is a great game for you.

All in all it's an alright game with lots of fun things to do and shot. Many of the different vehicles you can use if you can find them and there are a variety of different weapons and people to use. However, Do NOT count on being darth Vador or Luke or any of the other main characters other than Chewy, He's the only one you can be. There aren't any Jedi knights you can be, or not that I have found as of yet. The overall game is difficult but interesting and tends to keep your attention. I was very pleased with the sniper view on some of the people you can use, however enemies when very close up seem to disappear and re-appear all over the place.
The graphics and movies are good, wouldn't say the best, but they are good.
All in all if you like shooting and blowing stuff up, and enjoy the Star wars movies and idea, then this game would be a good addition to your collection.
Good luck and happy hunting...

I'm not a Star Wars fan, but this game is so much fun. I haven't had this much fun on a game for a long time.

GOOD:
There are so many vehicles to use. There are also some cool characters....and jetpacks. The levels are creative and the "capture the base" style play keeps respawn play strategic. Playing with so many bots gives a big battle feel that I haven't experienced in a game. Also, there are many details from the SW movies that are added into the levels.

BAD:
The online servers aren't set up very well. It's hard to find a game with a friend, or any specific room at all. Also, some of the blaster guns trail way behind your crosshairs and this gets annoying. As with any online shooter there are occasional teamkillers.

If you like first person shooters and/or Star Wars than get this game. It seems that Lucas Arts is releasing online patches quite often to fix all the problems in this game.

The Good:

Hey--it's Star Wars! Very cool to play in terrains from the films. And there's something both beautiful and ominous about turning around to see a gigantic AT-AT walker, silouetted in the sun, bearing down on you. The aiming and firing controls are top-notch and when you aim right you hit (none of the horrendous "I'm shooting but not hitting him" problem that plagues Socom 2). A little icon pops up when lag sets in, allowing you to re-think your strategy. And the vehicles are cool (but require some skill to fly). The awards given out at the end of each round are a nice touch and add a sense of humor (maybe on par with the terrorist chef in Zipper's game). The gameplay is fast--much more of an adrenalin rush than Socom. Like Dodgeball with Blasters.

The Bad:

Clans don't exist. And there's really only one game--a "Domination"-type game which has the serious potential of getting old really soon. The game is much, much more in the vein of "Unreal Tournament" and "Tribes: Arial Assault" than it is "Socom 2". It's worth noting, by the way, that those games are three years or more old already. Gamers today expect more sophisticated stuff. The "open mike" concept may work for chat rooms and cocktail parties, but hardly anyone is using it here (it smells like a gimmick) and more times than not you wind up hearing the sounds of some anonymous player chomping on his crackers while he/she's playing.


The Dark Side:

When I first posted this review I spoke at length about the problem with the sparse number of available servers. I promsied that if things changed I would retract my statements. Well, the folks at Gamespy or Lucasarts heard (I'm hoping) this common complaint and responded. Tonight there were many, many servers from which to choose and logging into the game was a breeze. I've edited my post here as promised.

So what, then, is the game's Dark Side? Well, with the server problem fixed there really isn't a dark side. Obviously I've made a lot of comparisons to "Socom 2". But I came to realize that Socom 2 and Battlefront are really two different games. Apples and oranges. They both serve different purposes in the online gaming world.

Don't expect "Star Wars: Socom". It's not, will never be and isn't intended to be. Likewise, if you like Battlefront and are thinking about trying Socom, you'll soon realize what I mean here.

Will it appeal to all of the Socom loyalists? Well, tonight (Thursday, 09/23) the Socom servers were at half their capacity. That hasn't happened in months-- if ever. In other words, roughly 15,000 people went somewhere. Yeah--probably to Battlefront. Will they stay with Battlefront?

Only the Force knows...

Hi there. It's The Reverend again reviewing Star Wars Battlefront (SWB).

First of, I'm a big fan of the Star Wars Universe, so this is where this review may be a tad subjective. But I am also pretty sure that even if I had never heard of it before, I'd still love this game.
Second, I don't play multiplayer at all, so I can't tell you what SWB's multiplayer mode is like.

Now let's go:
In my opinion SWB is the answer to the prayers of Star Wars fans throughout the world. You get to choose from a bucket-load of battles to play. From the icy wastes of Hoth to the lush forests of Endor, from the battle around the palace in Theed (Naboo) to the domed cities above Kamino's oceans - you can join every battle you have witnessed in the movies.

The variety of unit types you can choose from as well as the amount of different tactics and strategies that each class implies is KILLER! I mean that in an entirely positive way. The variety may seem overwhelming in the beginning so that you may want to stick with a certain character class just to get the hang of the game, controls, strategy, etc.
But let me tell you: you're going to appreciate the incredible vastness of possibilities later on - it keeps the game fresh for weeks and weeks and months and some more months. I've been playing SWB like a maniac and I still go: "DUH!" every once in a while when I remember special abilities of a certain character class I completely forgot about:
Example:
- The Rebel Vanguard not only has a powerful rocket launcher, but can also secure captured command posts or his own butt with mines around him.
- The Pilot class can repair vehicles, gun turrets, space ships and gadgets on the go. So don't board an x-wing without him or it'll be a short flight. He can also drop ammo and health packs - which, of course, he can use for himself, too (man I kept forgetting that again and again complaining about how weak the character is outside a ship)
- The Sniper can also send out a droid into a cluster of enemies, who serves as a homing-beacon for orbital ion-cannons...

And so on. It would completely blow the proportions of this review to explain the myriad of classes in detail. But they come in four different categories: Rebels vs. Empire, Republic (Clones) vs. Separatists (Droid army).
Each of the 4 factions provides different classes such as: regular soldier, sniper (special agent), heavy weapons expert (rocket launcher), pilot and special character (such as Wookie, Killer Droid, Dark Trooper). Each of these comes with at least 3-4 different weapons equipped (including anti-personnel and armor piercing grenades), some of which have different firing modes! The special characters even sport unique weapons - while the Wookie has a grenade launcher and bowcaster and the Killer Droid sports rapid fire twin lasers and an almost impenetrable energy shield, the Dark Trooper uses a jet-pak to fire down from high above or snipe down from buildings! Now add special abilities that come with most classes and you have plenty to choose from and to experiment with. Did I mention the special non-playable characters you'll meet - local species like: Gungans, Ewoks, Tusken Raiders, Wookies... and yes you can shoot them too depending on which side you're on - or which mood you're in (watch out for that "traitor"-rating in the debriefing, haha). Here's the best: you're also gonna meet some of the Jedi/Sith at times. Meet Darth Vader, Mace Windu, Luke Skywalker and Count Dooku on the battlefields. Man, I never saw that coming. Here I was dancing around merrily inside the igloo on Uncle Owen's farm on Tatooine (I had just captured the command post all by myself) when out of a sudden I hear this noise... shot circuit? A defunct toaster? A bad karaoke show? No, it sounds more like a darned light saber right behind me. Next thing I know is I'm dead and the death cam shows good old Darth swinging happily on with his Jedi-toothpick. Was I bummed? No, I burst out laughing and wowing. What an honor to be killed by the best!!! :-) It's not just about winning, it's about being there, having fun and experimenting.

And experiment you will! Because you will die a lot in the beginning! Here you are NOT the ultimate hero running across the battlefield like Rambo seemingly unharmed by bullets or his lack of brain cells. No Sir, here you are just General XY, who may be smarter than the computer AI around but just as vulnerable as every other Private on the battlefield. So watch your butt out there! Get ready to die a lot in the beginning! A LOT! But once you get the hang of the game (give it 1-3 hours) you'll die a lot less and you'll probably finish one battle with very few characters (you respawn after you die and you may choose where you want to respawn and which character class you want to be next!) or just one. It's frustrating at times when you just had a good thing going, but you'll get over it and probably get to like playing different classes within the same battle so you can say: hey I bravely fought along the frontline, then I piloted a ship and blew enemies from above, then I helped out sniping back around Base 1 protecting it from being reclaimed by the enemy.

The variety is awesome. You may play the same map (there's a whole lot of battlefields!) 100 times and you can still do completely different stuff. Plus you can order allies around with simple commands like: follow me, hold position and defend, move on.

The coolest thing is that you can board every gun-turret and every vehicle, and ship Grand-Theft-Auto style. And here's the best: you can board any kind of enemy vehicle and use it against them! It just feels good stealing an unmanned AT-ST on Endor and sending unsuspecting stormtroopers to kingdom come. If it's a large vehicle/ship you may even command AIs around you to board it with you. They will automatically take positions and man available gun turrets. You can then pilot the vehicle or cycle through all other positions and let one of the AI soldiers do the steering instead! This Rocks! You may then land the ship behind enemy lines, command fellow soldiers to get out and try to conquer an enemy outpost from behind. Wow! That simply feels good.
Talking about the AI: it rocks, too! You'll be amazed when you're low on vitality and a fellow pilot drops by dropping a health pack for you, or when you're busy sniping from up above running out of ammo and someone comes by and drops clips right next to you so you can hold your vantage point without moving an inch. Sweet. You'll be amazed how much other smart stuff the AI is capable of. It just keeps surprising you.

The graphics are pretty darn good. Especially considering how busy the PS2 already is calculating the AI for dozens of troops, vehicles, ships, special FX etc. etc. The only complaint may be that in order to maintain a constant frame rate, the graphics blur out a tiny little bit (effect similar to GTA Vice City) - it's a trick to hide a relatively lower framerate (comparable to cartoons, where on picture blends into the other). But hey, this is all the PS2 can muster - you really can't blame the programmers. Just don't say I didn't warn you once you notice it ain't as fluid as say Timesplitters 2. But again, the framerate is good and the graphics pretty good, too.

We don't need to discuss the sound. It's STAR WARS in all it's Dolby Pro Logic glory, nuff said!

If you're a Star Wars fan, this is a must have. If you're not a Star Wars fan ... - become one for the love of God !!! :-) . This is certain: you'll still think this game's a blast even if you're new to Star Wars.
Unfortunately I have read some official reviews criticizing the single player mode and claiming it was dull and uninteresting. Sorry, I don't know what those guys were smoking, but I have been playing this game for months and I'm still hooked finding out more and more cool new stuff you can do. Whatever the multiplayer mode looks like, I bet it will just add to the great quality of this game!

Now stop watching the movies and LIVE the experience.

The Reverend.

For anyone who has ever wanted to step into the boots of a storm trooper and eliminate that pesky rebellion, or for those who want to crush the maniacal empire, this is the game for you. The game offers two different playing modes: historical campaign - a chronological order of battles from either the original or prequel movies - and a galactic strategy game that gives you the ability to fight for control of a planetary system. While the campaign portion flies by a little fast, the strategy section is certainly this titles major draw. Combined with a nice selection of soldier characters (foot soldier, sniper, jet-pack soldier, to name a few) makes this a wonderfully fun game to play with a very high replay value.

When I first played the game, I was a bit frustrated at the ease with which I died - even playing on EASY level - you can get swarmed if you aren't careful! After a few rounds however, I realized some of the pros and cons of the characters (most notably, the foot soldier has been the best to play with on EASY due to the machine gun like blaster he carries for run-and-gun) and I developed some strategies on how to attack the enemy. But whether you put your skills into destroying enemy vehicles or finding remote locations (in an excellent selection of maps) to peg people in the head, this game will have you hooked for hours.

Recommended for any fan of the Star Wars universe, fair-weather fans and those who enjoy a good sci-fi war - you'll get a kick out of taking over tie fighters, speeder bikes and AT-STs or just running around and blasting Storm Troopers, Sand People, Ewoks and Wookies. JUST STAY AWAY FROM JEDIS, they'll tear you up!

(NOTE: BF2 = Battlefront II, the successor of Battlefront)

The Good:
1. Navigation is hard to get used to at first, but becomes second nature very quickly.
2. Awesome infantry with many different weapon options including the concussion grenade (very cool), shock pistol and sniper rifle.
3. Great vehicles that are easy to pilot such as the AT-AT, AT-ST and snow speeder (and if you prefer head-to-head, you don't have to use the vehicles at all).
4. Wonderful worlds from the Star Wars saga including Naboo, Hoth and Geonosis (my three faves).
5. Different mission styles, difficulty levels and objectives create a replayable experience that rarely gets old.

The Bad:
1. Unfortunately, you can't play as a Jedi, like in BF2.
2. Not all of the worlds from all six movies are present (but this is understandable because of the time the game was made).
3. I've noticed that the sound gets mixed up every once and a while, but this is easily remedied by restarting the game.
4. There are not as many options for gaming as BF2. There are only three different types of options: Galactic Conquest, Historical Campaign, and just a single-player mode where you can choose the battle arena and what side you want to play for.
5. The controls are a bit hard to navigate at first, and I got the hang of it pretty quickly, but there are still things I haven't quite learned how to do yet.

This is my advice to anyone thinking about buying this game or BF2. Buy this game first, play it until you've mastered it on the highest difficulty level, then consider buying BF2. By that time, you'll have a better understanding of the controls and features of the game (which will eliminate the learning curve), you'll be ready for the higher skill level required for BF2, and the price of BF2 will have dropped some. That's my strategy and I think it's a good idea for every gamer that's considering this game. Anyway, buy this game if you like Star Wars, or even just like to play video games. It's really fun and addictive.

For some reason Star Wars and video games don't seem to get along very well. There really haven't been any good Star Wars games on consoles since the SNES Super Star Wars series back in the early 90's (Jedi Outcast for PC notwithstanding). Star Wars Battlefront is looking to rectify that. And it, to all intents and purposes, comes pretty close.

Star Wars Battlefront can be best described as Battlefield: 1942 with a Star Wars mod. You have the basic classes of soldiers from the Star Wars universe; Rebel solider, Pilots, Stormtrooper, Snipers, and even Wookies. All with thier unique weapons and abilities. There are squad commands to a limited extent. Basically you can order who ever is in your close proximity to back you up, hold position or advance. Personally I was looking for a little more deeper command structure, like in the EA game Freedom Fighters. The graphics are very good. Everything has a very Star Wars feel to it.

The controls are somewhat confusing at first. About 2 one hour long sessions are required to really get used to them. Piloting flyable vehicles is quite difficult. Though the maps are large, it's a constant challenge to NOT crash into anything. The game environments run the gamut of the Star Wars universe. From Yavin to Hoth they're all represented. Some of the game environments are more combat friendly than others. There's lots of open space and at times cover is hard to find. One thing that didn't make it into the game is the player's ability to "lean out" from behind cover. This makes things difficult when in the middle of a fire fight. Also the single player campaign could have benefited from more depth. There's Galactic Conquest mode and Historical Campaigns, but there's no real story line and no othe objectives other than "capture command posts" which are indicated by beacons of colored light. There's no "storyline" to speak of, but footage from the films is used to try and give the action more context. Again, I was expecting more of a Freedom Fighters type of single player with more compelling objectives. But unfortunatley I didn't find it. During Galactic Conquest there are "Planetery Extras" you unlock. For example, if you're playing as the Empire you can unlock Darth Vader to fight along side your troops. Sounds cool and to and extent it is. There's also Split Screen action so you can take on a friend or play co-op. One thing that bothered me was that in training mode you are only shown videos of how to do things. The passive training mode did little to help me during the actual gameplay. A more interactive mode would have benefited players more.

With no Network Adaptor I was unable to try the online modes. But after playing the Single Player game, I get the feeling that the online mode isn't much different. Single player feels more like a practice mode for the online games.

Okay now, why did this game get 4 stars? Even with all it's problems, this still is a pretty fun game once you've been playing it for a while. It's also a very good game graphically. One thing I'm hoping is that Pandemic and Lucas Arts will take the foundation that they've laid down for this game and build on it. Giving it a more extensive single player mode and making some things a little more player friendly. There's enormous potential here. They just have to tap into it. Wait till this one is on sale.

This game is a lot of fun. After getting I dived right in and it is easy to figure out after only a few short games. True, I can't fly a TIE bomber to save my life and my control of a Dark Trooper needs work, but I love driving a AT-AT or a AT-Scout. You can play a short instant action game or play a campaign. Splitscreen allows two players to fight against each other or fight on the same side. And you can always play online if you want. Love the music, cool special effects and lots of replay value. Some of the battles are easy and others are hard but not impossible. The different soldier types mean you can either charge right into battle, guns blazing, or act as a support unit, repairing equipment and passing out extra ammo. Whatever your mood is this game is for you!

Star Wars: Battlefront may easily be one of the best Star Wars games ever [In my opinion]. It allows you to participate in those awesome, classic battles in the 6 Star Wars films [5, if you count out Episode 3 geared up to release sometime before the summer of 2005], with all the classic sounds of blaster bolts blowing up droids and starfighters zooming around.

Battlefront lets you re-create all of that, with a kind of classic capture-the-flag basis, except instead of capturing flags you are capturing command posts, special locations where enemies respawn from and capturing them will add them to the collection for you to respawn from.

Capturing all of them is how you win...or you can take out every soldier in the army that have "reinforcement points", which is basically how many soldiers are left. The game lets you take control of one of four armies: The Imperials, Rebels, CIS [Otherwise known as Seperatists] and the Republic. Each army has a soldier, sniper, anti-vehicle [Rocket-launcher equipped characters] and pilots [Characters who can fix broken turrets, ships, droids etc. etc.] plus a special class for each army such as Destroyer Droids for CIS and Wookie Smugglers for the Rebels.

The arenas are fun to play in, such as Hoth, an icy planet where Imperial troopers playing are constantly told to blow up a shield generator and Kamino, the planet where clones are manafactured and players can have fun crossing bridges and blowing enemies into water with grenades.

The things that happen in the game are also really fun. For example, when a player is hit by the blast radius of a grenade or bombarded by rockets, players can watch themselves hurtle into the air before hitting the ground and rolling around. For example, in one of the arenas which takes place in a maze, if you stand in the ancient bleachers above it, a well-placed hit can send you flying to the otherside, smacking against the ground or a wall, before rolling down the hillside into the maze.

A very interesting and fun feature in the game is vehicular combat. Remember those memorable games such as Jedi Starfighter where you drove a starfighter in first-person view and just blew up enemies without landing or anything? Well, in Battlefront players are free to jump into their ships straight from the movies such as Tie Fighters, X-Wings, Snowspeeders or Speeder Bikes and drive around in them while blasting enemies plus can steal their enemy's vehicles when they're not looking.

For example, in the Hoth level, Imperial troopers have AT-ST and AT-AT walkers at their disposal. However, travelling across a vast, snow-covered field to a hangar can allow them to grab a Snowspeeder and fly around bombing enemy troops from above, or even tie up AT-AT's just like in the movies. You can even turn on a mode in the options menu where Jedi and Sith alike come to help you depending on what army you are playing as. For example, Imperials gets Darth Vader, Rebels get Luke Skywalker, CIS gets Count Dooku while Republic gets Mace Windu.

Problems in the game, is that it only supports up to 2 players offline, instead of a 4 player capability which would make it more of a party game. I would seriously reccomend purchasing this game, though renting it first would be a better option if you are not a fan of shooting games or Star Wars. Otherwise Star Wars Battlefront is a great game, though it can be finished quickly if you play for a few hours and are experienced in it.