Reviewed by: Ebow
Developer: Pandemic
Publisher: Lucasarts

I so very wanted to be right this time. A Star Wars video game that lived up to the hype and delivered what the trailers suggested it would. A game that I would still be playing in 6 months time. Probably only going to be the latter, and that's if they can be bothered to patch the "joining session" issues...

Star Wars Battlefront had been compared to Battlefield 1942 even before it was released. The game gives you ground and air combat allowing you to jump into any vehicle. Gameplay is of the "Conquest" flavour - multiple flag points around the map need to be capped to win, with the ticket count going down faster the fewer flags you hold. There is already a BF1942 Star Wars mod (the ever improving Galactic Conquest), and I don't think I was the only one thinking that mod would quietly fade away after the release of Battlefront.

How wrong I was.

Before I go any further, let me say that I am a huge Star Wars fan. I admire Lucas for what he did with the films and has done with his various companies since. I'm always first to defend the films whenever someone's mocking them. I'm a big fan. As a big fan, I think it's within my right to express some disappointment when the franchise is managed badly in whatever form (eg. Chewbacca Pez dispensers, Princess Leia bathrobes, Star Wars Battlefront), but in the interests of fairness, let me begin with the positives.

It looks great. It really really does look great. From the animations of the AT-ATs to the sunlight shining through the trees in the forest maps, there's no denying this game looks like the films. There's even a little wiggle when you turn the speeder bikes. In the single player game everything zips along at breakneck speed (and for those who've whined, the speeder bikes are SUPPOSED to be that fast. dur) and with background effects adding to the overall tableau, you really do feel like you're there.

The sound is also great. Ewok's chatter as they rush to attack Stormtroopers, lightning flashes and thunder rumbles over Kimino and the ray guns sound like proper ray guns (where "proper" means they're out of Star Wars ;)).

And that, dear reader, is where the positives end. That I am not a console user, nor that this game is the first or second I've ever bought, may go some way towards explaining my cynicism.

Gameplay is... compressed. It feels like they've taken a huge BF1942 map, cut off the outside bits and left us with the main combat area. While this certainly increases the amount of time you spend fighting, one of the big things about BF1942 is the size of the maps. Battlefront maps feel like you're playing in the conservatory when you want to be playing in the garden. The maps are also dubiously designed. The Bespin platform map especially - bottleneck in the center of the map, so the only way forward is to press through this (which quickly becomes dull) or leap in a starfighter and fly round the back (which is not easy as the enemy turrets are 3 feet from where you take off). I appreciate the need to cater for the console crowd with this game, which may explain the ickle levels, but why why WHY do the PC users have to put up with the same thing? If I want to play a console game, let me decide that for myself and go and buy a console. When I buy a PC game I expect, nay DEMAND, that what I'm getting is going to use the strengths of the PC platform, instead of just being a copy and paste of the console version. Grrr.

Multiplayer is rather special. In that I've not seen such shocking implementation of something so very obviously not tested since erm... Windows 2000. The in-game server browser worked for a couple of minutes and now sits empty. Playing via Gamespy itself (the in-game system uses Gamespy as well) displays servers in my country (including the always excellent Jolt fellas), yet clicking to join loads the game up (with all the sodding intro credits - grrrr), then connects me to my Gamespy account again (WHY???), then gives me a nice Joining Session display for 60 seconds before it gives up. It's not like other people haven't had similiar problems before (H&D2 had some issues like this), so WHY IN THE NAME OF THE SWEET BABY JESUS DID NOBODY IN THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM NOTICE???? It's almost criminal. It's like releasing a motor car without securing the wheels.

Singleplayer, given that that's all I can play, is OK, and to it's credit is slightly more fun than SP Battlefield 1942. Yes, the AI is dumb, but linking the maps together in some form of Clone War or Galactic Civil War theme is a neat touch and does make it feel like it could standalone and work. Uber-characters from the films leap into the single player games (Count Dooku, Vader etc) and slash their way to the top of the leaderboard. Cool. Not. Why? Why are they there? Why why why? This has gone from being "seeing the Star Wars films through the eyes of a front line grunt" to "look Ma, even THIS ONE HAS SODDING LIGHTSABERS!!!". But this time you can't use them. Or defend against them. Sigh.

Apart from the graphics engine, the whole game feels rushed and incomplete, like somebody somewhere said "Yes, it will be ready to coincide with the original trilogy DVD release" without actually speaking to the people making the game. The manual is 3 pages long and as informative as a pile of Bantha poodoo. The joining a multiplayer game code is unforgiveable, like someone said "Look, the console MP works, sod the PC users, the money's in consoles!", and when you actually do get in a game the lag is criminal and renders the air vehicles useless and the rolly droid thing uncontrollable when it's rolling. How did nobody look at this? Is this why there was no demo? CAN I GET MY MONEY BACK NOW?

But, it has potential. A few tweaks to the netcode, a massive overhaul of the MP connection system (and allowing use of PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN to go through the server browser... aaargh, more console legacy stuff) and allowing the mod community to create some balanced maps would make the game work. Unfortunately I can't help but feel that the game is supposed to keep you involved for a few months until the next Star Wars game comes out.

Shameful.

Presentation	9
Only the character textures let it down. The closest thing to being in a Star Wars battle you're liable to get. Until version .5 of Galactic Conquest, probably.
Gameplay	5
Claustrophobic, cramped, but intense.
Value	3
Get BF1942. Download Galactic Conquest. Or wait until they patch the game so multiplayer works.
Benchmark	1
Yes, ONE. If we set aside how lovely it looks, what do we have? A console version of BF1942? No, a console version of BF1942 before someone made it a good game.
Score	4
It's 4.5, but I'm going to round it down because, hey, if games developers can release games that don't work, games reviewers can round down, can't they?

Buy 'Star Wars Battlefront' from GAME!

Minimum Spec	Reviewed on
1 Ghz processor 256MB RAM 64MB gfx card	Athlon 3000 1GB RAM 128MB GeForce 4400 Ti