Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1061 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: ACTIVISION
• Released on: 2005-10-31
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.co.uk Preview
With the latest movie almost making up for the quality of the first two films it looks like Star Wars has won back the hearts and minds of fans everywhere and Battlefront II aims to be the perfect celebration of that. Like the original it’s a sort of Star Wars version of PC hit Battlefield 1942, where two armies face off against each other, either off or online, jumping in and out of various vehicles as they find them.

Of course in Battlefield 1942 "various vehicles" meant jeeps and tanks, in Battlefront II it means X-wings, TIE Fighters, AT-ATs and, for the first time, Episode III vehicles like the BARC speeder, Jedi Starfighter II and V-wing.

The biggest change to the game, apart from the new vehicles, is space battles with several of the levels taking part aboard giant space cruisers which you can exit in starfighters, have a dogfight in deep space around and then pilot back to for a bit more on foot combat. Levels include the Blockade Runner from the beginning of A New Hope, the space battle above Coruscant and Utapau and Mustafa from Episode III.

Another long awaited addition is playable Jedi, although you can only be one for a short time so as to not unbalance the gameplay. Although the emphasis is on online play the single player mode has been beefed up with better artificial intelligence and a proper story linking all the missions. "Star Wars fans, like this, they will", as Yoda would say (if he was real and wrote game previews instead of being a Jedi Master). -- Harrison Dent

This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game.

Manufacturer's Description
Star Wars Battlefront II improves upon the original game's single-player experience with open-ended, mission-based objectives inspired from all six Star Wars films. The compelling storyline spans more than 12 new locations, many from Episode III, including volcanic Mustafar and the space battle above Coruscant. All-new classic movie moments complete the Star Wars Battlefront II experience, as players battle within the interior of the Death Star and visit Princess Leia's blockade runner, the Tantive IV, as seen at the beginning of Episode IV A New Hope. In addition, at certain key moments within the battles, players can feel the Force as a Jedi.

For the first time ever, Star Wars Battlefront II players can engage in space combat and, during the same battle, board enemy ships to attack from within. Starting on foot inside a capital ship, players can enter the spacecraft of their choice and travel into space to dogfight with the rival faction. From there, they can dock within the enemy's capital ship, overtake the ship's command posts, man its turrets to disable its shields and destroy it from within! Or, they can simply stay inside their own capital ship and defend it from attacks and enemy fire. The choice is theirs.

The stellar online play that marked the original Star Wars Battlefront returns even bigger and better for Star Wars Battlefront II. Players can locate their buddies and track their stats as they battle alongside more players than ever (up to 24 on PS2, 32 on Xbox, 64 on Windows).

Customer Reviews

An excellent sequel
Unlike Battlefront 1, this sequel's major selling point is that it allows you to experience warfare in the completely new environment of space. Command posts are not used in these space battles, but instead you play until a certain amount of points is reached. Points are earned in several ways and are distributed according to the method you have earned them. For example, although killing a foe provides you with just one point, destroying one of the enemy capital ship's vital systems earns you 20 or more points.
These vital systems can be disabled on both the outside and the inside of the ship and include its engines, sensory relays, life support systems and the command bridge. During space combat, you spawn in your capital ship's hanger where a variety of different spacecraft are stationary and awaiting a pilot. This game offers slow, powerful bombers like the Y-Wing and Tie Bomber, fighters (good all-rounders) like the X-Wing and Arc Fighter, and small speedy interceptor craft such as the Droid Tri-Fighter and A-Wing.
During space combat, you can choose to either dogfight in space or you can infiltrate your enemy capital ship's hanger and plant devastating time-bomb explosives to blow apart the vital systems inside. Either way the space battles are a nice new addition to the game.

There are still many land battles to be fought however, and this game introduces several new land maps as well as keeping some of the classics from the first (such as Hoth, Mos Eisley and Kamino). These include the hazardous Jabba's Palace, with armies clashing in the gloomy corridors and even in Jabba's expansive court- some falling prey to the rancor lurking below. The murky Dagobah map is also a new addition, featuring Yoda's hut and a familiar X-Wing half-submersed in the swamp. The Jedi Temple on Coruscant is added, as well as a fiery Mustafar map from the latest film. The Death Star is also a welcome new addition, with violence ensuing down its clean corridors, hangers and even the prison facility as seen in Star Wars IV A New Hope. These however, are just some of the new maps and others include Utapau, Mygeeto, Polis Massa, Leia's Blockade Runner and a few more.

Also a new feature is the ability to play as your faction's heroes. To be able to access this, you must first reach an amount of points during a game. Like with space battles, these points are given due to certain actions performed (killing foes, capturing enemy's command posts, etc). Hero units include Chewbacca, Han Solo, Yoda, Leia and Luke Skywalker if you are playing as the Rebel Alliance. The Empire has the deadly Boba Fett, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. Yoda, Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ki-Adi-Mundi and Aayla Secura are the Republic's heroes. And finally, Confederacy heroes are Count Dooku, Jango Fett, Darth Maul, Sidious and General Grievous.

Overall, this game has many improvements over the last. The space combat, the new maps, the ability to play as heroes and the upgraded Galactic Conquest system are all examples of improvements within Battlefront 2. I feel that this game does its excellent prequel justice.

AMAZING
I bought this game after hearing really good reports on it. From then on its the only game i have really played. Before i bought the game, i wasnt really a big star wars fan, but now i am! You can fight in loads of different places, from big open battlefields(hoth,geonosis) to small places with winding corridors(jabbas palace, tantive VI). You can play as rebels, republic, CIS or Empire. The jedi are really fun i just love force pushing the droids into the lava at mustafar! they arent really a tactical thing; the kills dont count, but its still awesome.

The space battles take about 2 days to get used to, the controls are quite tricky, but once you've done that you can just have so much fun. Landing in their hanger is really easy, and sabotaging their systems and ships is really cool. You can be the famous TIES, the X wings, the jedi starfighters and many more.

The graphics are amazing, the maps have so much detail. You can command people to follow you, i once had 3 wookies following me! you can fight loads of battles from the movies. you can even set the reinforcements to 750 and have a massive battle. personally i havnt tried the multiplayer yet, but it sounds really good. the heroes are funky, i really like the mos eisly one where its all heroes versus all villians.

BUY THIS GAME

One of the best games of its type
I bought this expecting a lot and at first I was disappointed, finding it hard to control troops and getting killed too often. But once I got the hang of it I found myself hooked (tip - refine your skills over and over on a training mission). You can play various game types but Galactic Conquest for me is the very best. You fight a long campaign buying bonuses and various types of troops to battle for control of all the planets. Moving your fleets across the map you either engage enemy fleets above planets or attempt to conquer or defend planets.

I found the space battles a little odd at first but you work your way to 180 points to win the battle by completing objectives such as destroying the enemies engines and command bridge. You can also land on the enemy ship but I have yet to fully explore this. Some of the ground battlefields are a little too open, others perhaps too vast making it difficult to be involved at times as you run across ground trying to find the battle. If I have one criticism this game can be a little too quick, with only 150 reserves on either side you can find the battle over before you can apply any real strategies. On the flipside once you've been killed you can continue the battle so even if you aren't very good you're not out of it too quickly. Victory though can be completed without you feeling you've played much of a part. It can also mean a great amount of the wonderful battlefields themselves can go unexplored as the battle is long over before you've covered every inch of ground.

The bonuses are perhaps the most tactical part of the whole thing. You can choose a leader which can be a jedi wielding their light sabre, bcta tanks to continually replenish your side's lifeforce or garrison bonus to add a few reserves if your's drop too low. Maybe a little extra thought could have gone in as some of these seem less useful than others as indeed do some leaders. Han Solo for instance with his blaster is nowhere near as effective as Yoda and his light sabre. Vehicles can also play too much of a part, on Yashyyyk (Wookie home planet) the battlefield is too open and the enemy can use vehicle firepower to overwhelm your forces. The only defence I have found effective is the sabotage bonus to damage the vehicles making them easier to destroy.

All in all this is a fantastic game I recommend to anyone, it is very time consuming to complete but highly addictive. You can play Galactic Conquest as the Rebel Alliance, Empire, Trade Federation or the Republic so there are plenty of variations giving this game plenty of life once you've completed it for the first time.