Losing the light sabers ain’t so bad

By Yusuf Abdol Hamid UrbanWire
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Overview

The force is with Star Wars fanatics, who probably have nothing to do in the months leading up to the release of the movie Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. After a few hours playing Star Wars Battlefront, it’s quite possible to imagine Ben Kenobi revisiting his glory years in front of the Xbox, thanks to the beautifully rendered maps and thoroughly absorbing gameplay.

Storyline

Battlefront succeeds in recreating most of the big battle scenes of the 5 Star Wars movies with impressive accuracy. For those who actually know the names of the planets in the Star Wars universe, you’ll find all of them, from Geonosis and Naboo to the classic environments of Tatooine and Endor, here.

One of the strengths of the Star Wars movies is the elaborately planned movie sequences. I mean, who could ever forget the battle of Hoth? Battlefront draws on these strengths and sucks you into the battle quite literally.

While the perpetually opposed Jedi and Sith are peripheral characters in the game, it’s refreshing to see a Star Wars game that does well without them. Move aside Darth Vader; it’s time to let those otherwise insignificant Stormtroopers and Gungans show us what they’re made of.

Gameplay

You could call Battlefront a much-improved version of the once popular Team Fortress Classic, which grouped players in opposing teams to slug it out, and gave them specific classes with special abilities. Battlefront expands that concept to include all the factions in the Star Wars universe, such as the rebellion or even the droid army of the Trade Federation.

Each faction has 5 different classes to choose from:
1. The basic soldier who wields a blaster rifle and grenades,
2. a heavy artillery soldier with anti-vehicle rockets,
3. a sniper variant who wields a deadly sniper rifle,
4. a pilot class that acts as a engineer, medic but is best suited for manning vehicles, and
5. a unique class with its own strengths depending on which faction you’re with. The Wookie armed with a bowcaster for the Rebels, or the Dark Trooper of the Republic who can jet around the map and fires a powerful blast cannon.

The main objective of each battle is to obtain the most command posts, which are mini bases that can be taken over by simply securing a specific area. If your character were to die, you can choose where to respawn at any of your command points. This explains the advantage of controlling more command points as your team can respawn closer to the enemy, pinning them in. Once a majority is achieved, it’s just a matter of time before victory is secured, unless the enemy can fight back and hijack some command points from your control.

There are 2 types of play to choose from: Single-Player and Galactic Conquest. Single-Player mode restricts you to following the timeline of events in the movies, such as fighting the battle in Naboo before moving onto the epic clash on Geonosis. Galactic Conquest mode is more laissez-faire in that you can select the order of attacking enemy planets. There’re 2 battles to be fought to determine control of each planet, and helpful bonuses come with controlling each planet, one being the option to fight together with a ‘Jedi Hero’ such as Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker.

Though initially you may feel that Battlefront is a game more suited in a multiplayer environment, the single-player mode is surprisingly satisfying as the AI (artificial intelligence) is actually capable of decent team-play.

Controls

As with many games that include vehicles, the controls may look a little intimidating. But all it takes is a couple of minutes playing the game to figure out some of the more obscure commands such as giving simple team orders or how to board vehicles.

Controlling vehicles is a simple task, which leaves more room for enjoyment (eliminating the enemy). It’s a joy to fly the X-Wing or stomp around in the infamous AT-AT, with the option of controlling the separate turrets that different vehicles have.

The player can switch between 1st and 3rd person viewpoints, which work well when shooting enemies in first player, and then jumping into a vehicle and moving around in third person.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics are what you would expect of Xbox games, offering a high level of detail for environments and characters, and some beautiful renditions of original movie scenery, such as the map of the stunning Naboo palace.

Some of the death sequences are perhaps a little over-exaggerated, for example the Gungan death sequence which involves the figure flying through the air, arms flailing. Overall, it’s quite satisfying to see your foe die a painful, gruesome death, complete with the agonized groans.

The soundtrack of Battlefront comes directly from the movies, and you’ll find yourself humming along to the familiar tune of the “Imperial March” from time to time. Like-wise the sound effects are carbon copies of the film, and it’s as Star Wars-like as it could possibly be.

Verdict

Battlefront appeals to anyone looking for a rollicking good time in the battlefield, controlling vehicles, as well as traditional first-person shooting. The excellent graphics and gameplay only help to fully immerse you into the game, and makes for a complete experience.

If you’ve got Xbox live, go online and you can proudly say, minus the mechanised voice of Darth Vader, “The circle is now complete”.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pictures courtesy of Xbox.com