26-Oct-2004 Star Wars Battlefront could have been my dream PC game. A first-person shooter set across episodes I-VI, where you can join any side, play as a multitude of different soldier classes and fly a multitude of vehicles in massive online battles. Want to recreate the scene from Empire, where Dack and Luke attack an AT-AT walker in a snowspeeder? Sorted. How about the end of Jedi where the Imperials attack the forest moon of Endor with AT-ST walkers and Speeder bikes, allowing you to execute furry Ewoks at will? Naturally. Can you imagine how good a game like this could be?
All Too Easy Unfortunately (cue the sound of a baleful Wookiee roar) Battlefront is a bag of pearls in sick - it's utterly fantastic and woefully poor in equal measure. One minute you're marvelling at how cool riding a Tauntaun is, the next you're blinking in disbelief at an enemy Stormtrooper's thick-as-pigshit AI. Yet, despite the frayed edges, there's still plenty for Star Wars fans to enjoy - even those not satiated after the recent release of the original trilogy on DVD.
Battlefront is playable in single player using bots, with three varied modes: the self-explanatory Instant Action, Galactic Conquest (which has you battling for each of the ten planets such as Hoth and Kamino in turn) and a story-based Historical Campaign. However, we're here in Online Zone because the main thrust of the game is multiplayer, whether on LAN or over the Net, with more than 32 players able to join in at any time, complete with voice headset support.
The basic strategy behind Battlefront is to control the battlefield by taking over command posts, indicated by red and green markers on the map. Simply stand next to them and wait until they turn the colour of your team. This denies your opponents a spawn point, as well as decreasing their overall team points indicated by the bars at the top of the screen. Anyone who's played Battlefield 1942 will instantly be at home.
Usually, levels feature two factions - Rebel Alliance or Galactic Empire from classic Star Wars, and Clone Army or Separatists from the 'new' Star Wars - but occasionally a third non-playable faction will join in the action, such as the Ewoks on Endor or the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine.
Each of the factions has five classes of soldier to choose from, each possessing different skills and weapon sets. Highlights include the rolling fast-firing Droideka robots, the Wookiee smuggler (complete with bowcaster rifle) and my favourites, the Jet Trooper and Dark Trooper, who both possess a rather handy jetpack for leaping over buildings and dropping right into a battle from above. Nice.
Where It's AT-AT Combat is literally hit-and-miss. The basic blasters and rifles just don't feel meaty enough, although the turrets, rocket launchers and thermal detonators do pack a punch, blasting ragdoll bodies high into the air or through windows. Most importantly though, the 30-plus vehicles in Battlefront, including X-Wings and TIE Fighters, are enormous fun, allowing up to six players in certain craft such as the Republic Gunship.
Climbing aboard the AT-AT and blasting the shield generator on Hoth can be an almost religious experience, as can stomping through the Endor forest aboard an AT-ST, crushing Ewoks underfoot with every stride. Handling, in most cases, is excellent, and the velocity of vehicles such as the speeder bike, that can zip deftly in and out trees, is thrilling stuff.
Bots are available in both single- and multiplayer games to make up the numbers, but the AI is, like the game - very good and very bad. At one point on the cloud city of Bespin, a rebel comrade saw I was low on health and tossed me a Bacta tank - very useful. However, our Prezzer managed to confuse the Dark Lord of The Sith (Darth Vader) simply by climbing some stairs. Not the stuff of Star Wars legend.
There's no doubting that Star Wars Battlefront is fun to play, and has some really impressive graphics in certain levels. Naboo, with its classical architecture and flower beds, is absolutely gorgeous, as is Yavin IV, with dense forest and shimmering water fountains. This is Star Wars for goodness sake, and the licence makes it so much more enjoyable, with all the recognisable characters (including Vader and Luke Skywalker as NPCs), locations, vehicles and goosebump-inducing sound effects.
When you get a whole group of you as Dark Troopers jetting all over the levels, blowing each other up and causing ridiculous mayhem, Battlefront is laugh-out-loud hilarious. We've heard rumblings that Xbox and PlayStation 2 journos are absolutely loving Battlefront, and with online gaming being relatively new to consoles, they've every right to get a bit excited. Us PC owners, however, have somewhat higher standards, with Battlefield 1942/Vietnam (Battlefront's obvious inspiration), Joint Ops, Counter-Strike and UT2004 all just a fat broadband pipe away. In fact, the Troopers mod for UT2004 has some similar content to Battlefront, with more multiplayer modes, proper space battles and is absolutely free (see Rebel Strike box).
You can thank your lucky Death Stars that Battlefront is a decent game at all, but it definitely feels like Pandemic (responsible for Full Spectrum Warrior) and LucasArts have rushed to get the game out in time for the trilogy DVD release. If there's to be a Battlefront 2, we're sure that many of the issues such as ropey AI, unsatisfying combat and lack of gameplay modes can be addressed. But for now, this is not quite the Star Wars title we were looking for.
PC Zone Staff
// Overview
Verdict
Almost there, almos there...
Uppers
It's Star Wars meets Battlefield 1942! You can kill Ewoks and Gungans Vehicles are fantastic Great fun
Can you tell which of these shots is from Star Wars Battlefront and which is from the free UT2004 mod, Troopers? No, neither can we (and hopefully neither can LucasArts' lawyers).
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
It's Star Wars meets Battlefield 1942!
