Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005)

“When 900 years old, you reach… Look as good, you will not.” -Master Yoda

Star Wars Battlefront II, beginning as a mod for the acclaimed Battlefield series and later attaining its own featured release, has been, is, and always will be one of my favorite games. While writing this review, I was at a loss for words in regards to the overabundance of joy that this game has brought me through the years, and I can proudly say that I own every variance of this game, including the PC, Playstation 2, and Xbox versions. Overall, I have spent more time playing this game than any other game in my library, which includes a massive set of classics such as the Jak & Daxter series, 007 Goldeneye, the Sonic the Hedgehog collection, and even the Pokemon franchise, which I have solely worked over hundreds of hours of play! I apologize that this review may not be as professional, and will be more of a fan’s remembrance to this awesome game. Before I begin, I would like to give a special thanks to some good friends-one being Lime Dorito-that put up with pre-reading this review, as well as my brother, Matthew, for playing countless hours of this game with me on the other ports.

Here are some things that I love about Star Wars Battlefront II:

Gameplay - Star Wars Battlefront II is a war game, plain and simple. There are about six classes to choose from in each of the respective four armies, and playable Heroes such as Luke Skywalker and Boba Fett are available. This title also allows players to engage in vehicular combat, even hosting maps for dogfights in space against two rivalling fleets. Described earlier, there are several game modes similar to that of the Battlefield games, though Battlefront II has a unique game mode known as Assault, where Heroes from both the Good and Evil spectrums of the Star Wars films battle against each other. Overall, the game balances very well between aerial and ground combat, and evolves into a truly unique experience over multiplayer; unfortunately, the company that originally hosted the dedicated servers for Battlefront II, GameSpy is no longer operational, so other means of multiplayer are required on the PC port.

Game Modes - In Campaign Mode, you mirror the Star Wars trilogy while playing as this group of soldiers as they influence the structure of the story that fans of only the movies know and love; this concept is similar to Star Wars Dark Forces in which the character Kyle Katarn is the one who was said to steal the Death Star plans for the Rebellion. Unlike the other Star Wars games such as Bounty Hunter and Dark Forces, Battlefront II maintains a focus on a specific group of Stormtroopers-rather than a single individual-infamously known by fans of the extended universe as the 501st, or Vader’s Fist. The Campaign introduces gameplay unique to the rest of the game in that it is objective-based, contrary to the usual skirmishes. For example, instead of a player dropping into a battlefield without an pretense as to what to do and why they’re fighting, the player is briefed on the purpose of the mission beforehand to perform a specific task such as protecting a Command Post for a given amount of time, or to locate a driver for a downed AT-AT that requires services.
/// Galactic Conquest Mode is a change of pace, as players strategically maneuver battleships across a large map in an attempt to overtake all territories. This game mode features out-of-battle unit purchasing as well as upgrades that allow the player to determine how they want to progress in an all-out war against a rivaling army; the opposing force depends on which era of the Star Wars universe you are in, and pits either the CIS against Clone Troopers or the Empire versus the Rebellion.
/// Don’t want to worry about progressing through the story in Campaign Mode or strategically planning your way through Galactic Conquest? Give Instant Action Mode a go! Skirmish is exactly what it sounds like: you pick the game mode you want to play-between Conquest, Hunt, 1- and 2-Flag CTF, Space Assault, Assault, and Space 1-Flag CTF-and go from there. There are various settings for each, as well as playable Jedi/Heroes.

Class System - Like Battlefield, this title has multiple unique classes that operate differently. Every class has their own unique appearance, primary and secondary weapons, statistics, and secondary equipment. For example, the Engineer class is much quicker due to his primary weapon being a shotgun. This class has a low rate of fire and a quick land speed, and is meant to splice into or repair vehicles with their Fusioncutters; it is played like a support class in most instances, but can easily clear singular enemies without a problem. The Engineer is also equipped with Detpacks-which are detonated remotely-and health and ammo dispensers.

TL:DR - I had planned to write about weapon similarities between this game and the movies, as well as other topics, but if I had to talk about everything that is good about this game I would be typing for days. As you can tell from the above quote and through each of the screenshots, the Battlefront series does not look as polished in comparison to modern titles. However, this is just one of those games that stands the test of time with its amazing feel and fanatical impression. If you are a Star Wars fan, this title should not be passed up; if you are a Star Wars Battlefront fan, this installment to the series will not be forgotten. Thanks for reading.

Do you feel this review helped in any way? Feel free to visit my Curator Page at Spearpoint Reviews.
Originally posted July 27, 2015. Last edited May 1, 2018.