Star Wars: Battlefront II

Star Wars: Battlefront II
Developer(s)	Pandemic Studios
Publisher(s)	LucasArts
Designer(s)	LucasArts
Series	Star Wars: Battlefront
Engine	Zero
Version	1.1 (February 15, 2006) (PC)
Platform(s)	PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox
Release date(s)	NA November 1, 2005 EU October 31, 2005
Genre(s)	Action, Shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, online multiplayer, splitscreen
Rating(s)	BBFC: PG ESRB: T OFLC: PG PEGI: 12+
Media	CD-ROM, DVD, UMD
System requirements	Pentium 4 1.5 GHz or Athlon XP 1500+ 256 MB RAM 1.67GB Hard Drive Space 64 MB 3D Graphics card CD or DVD-ROM
Input methods	Gamepad, Keyboard & Mouse

Star Wars: Battlefront II is a first-person shooter/third-person shooter video game developed by Pandemic Studios, and published by LucasArts. The game is the sequel to the successful Star Wars: Battlefront and features new vehicles, characters, game mechanics, maps, and missions. The game was released in PAL regions on October 31, 2005 on the PC, Xbox, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 2 platforms, and in North America on November 1 of the same year. It was later updated to be backwards-compatible for the Xbox 360.

Unlike its predecessor, Battlefront II features a more narrative-based campaign, retelling portions of the Star Wars storyline from the point of view of a veteran Imperial Trooper, reminiscing about his tour of duty in service of both the Galactic Republic and as part of the Galactic Empire. Upon release the game was generally well-received as an improvement over the original. One of the new additions is the use of Jedi and Force powers such as Force Lightning and Force Choke.

Synopsis

Setting

Like most other Star Wars games, Battlefront II takes place on many of the worlds featured in the films. In addition to visiting locations such as Endor, Naboo, and Hoth, which were seen in Star Wars: Battlefront, the second installment features new locales such as the Death Star, and Tantive IV. The game also travels to locations seen in the last film in the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith, such as Mustafar and Utapau.

Plot

The game is told as an autobiography, with an unknown clone recounting the adventures of the 501st Legion. Originally, the Legion was part of the Old Republic, and fights against the Separatists across the galaxy, but eventually follows Order 66, carrying out a massacre of the Jedi at their temple on Coruscant, and helping the Empire establish power in the entire galaxy.

In the beginning, the clone army is leading an attack on the CIS on the planet Geonosis. Later, Chancellor Palpatine orders the 501st to destroy an advanced energy generator on Mygeeto, but secretly collects remaining samples to help power Palpatine's future space battlestation, the Death Star. Meanwhile, Palpatine himself is captured by the separatists, and the 501st clears the way for Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker to release the Chancellor, while the Jedi received most of the credit for the successful rescue mission. On Felucia, the 501st assists a stranded AT-TE, and eventually destroys CIS defence turrets in the area. Afterwards on the planet Kashyyyk, the clones engage a huge CIS fleet in space, and later defends a vital Wookiee base from a numerically superior enemy army. But with the support from Wookiees and Jedi Master Yoda, the invasion is repelled. In the final mission for the Old Republic, the clones strike a CIS stronghold on the planet Utapau, killing separatist leader General Grievous with the help of Obi-Wan.

Immediately after the victory on Utapau, Palpatine orders the execution of Order 66, and the 501st participate in the destruction of the Jedi Order on Coruscant, and massacre the remaining Jedi knights guarding their temple with the help of a new Sith Lord, Darth Vader. With the newly established Empire in power, the 501st becomes known as "Vader's Fist", Darth Vader's personal army. Under their new leader the 501st executes missions that strengthens the Empire's power, first, forcing a regime change on Naboo by assassinating the Queen and surviving Jedi knights seeking protection. Shortly after, the 501st are called to destroy a droid manufacturing facility on Mustafar that was reactivated by a Geonosian called Gizor Delso providing the player with the chance to pit the empire against the droids. Next, the 501st is ordered to destroy the cloning facility on Kamino, the very planet where the Old Republic's army was created (birthplace for all clones)providing the player the chance to pit the empire against the old republic. The 501st battles an altered clone army, but ultimately overcomes the enemy with the help of a bounty hunter named Boba Fett, who knows the workings of the facility.

With the Galactic Empire firmly established in the ashes of the Old Republic, the 501st soon grows bored of the endless tedium, drills and inspection associated with maintaining the empire. Finally, much to the 501st relief, a prison break was initiated on the Death Star, with crucial plans being stolen by the rebels. Now set with the mission to recover the stolen plans, the Legion searches a rebel base on Polis Massa, with the plans still no where to be found. Eventually, the searching leads to the boarding of the Tantive IV. Despite capturing the Rebel sympathizer Princess Leia, the plans are still transmitted, and the Death Star is destroyed with many 501st soldiers still stationed inside. The few surviving members of the Legion attack a rebel base on Yavin IV, taking revenge for their fallen brothers.

In the final mission of the entire campaign, the 501st is pressed into crushing the fledgling Rebel Alliance. The clones trounce the rebels and captures Echo Base, leading to the victory at Hoth. The clone narrator proudly proclaims the Rebellion finished, though the game follows the plot of Episode V, with the Millennium Falcon and Luke Skywalker escaping.

Gameplay

Battlefront II includes ship-to-ship space battles.

Battlefront II's gameplay is fundamentally similar to its predecessor's, albeit with the addition of new game mechanics, units, and vehicles. The general objective in most missions is to deplete the number of enemies to zero. Killing an enemy unit subtracts from that faction's reinforcements, and likewise the death of the players or allies results in a similar decrease. Besides simply killing enemies, players fight for control of 'Command posts', where units respawn after death, which allows players to change character classes.^[1] Most command posts can be 'captured', by killing all enemies nearby and standing by the command post for a set amount of time. Controlling a majority of the command posts scattered on a map results in the faster depletion of the enemy's forces, and allows the player to respawn in more locations.^[1] If all command posts are captured, the losing team has only twenty seconds to recapture one before the game ends in their defeat, regardless of the amount of reinforcements they have. There are two eras from which to choose; Galactic Civil War, or Clone Wars. Each era features two opposing factions; in the Galactic Civil War the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire vie for control, while the Clone Wars features the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) and the Galactic Republic. While most character classes are similar to classes of the other factions, each faction has two unique classes, which are unlocked gradually.^[2]

Classes

Players have the ability to choose between exactly six classes throughout the game. Four class types common to all factions are Regular Infantry, "Heavy Troopers", Snipers, and Engineers. All have different specialties as well as certain weaknesses. In addition to the four standard classes, each faction has two special classes. The Confederacy of Independent Systems has the IG-100 Magnaguard and the Droideka for their special classes, the Rebels have a Wookiee Warrior and a Bothan spy, the Old Republic has a Clone Commander and a Jet Trooper, and the Empire has a Dark Trooper and an Imperial Officer.

Battlefront II also features a special class referred to as "heroes", which are found sporadically throughout the game. The hero each faction receives is entirely dependent on the map. In addition to having un-lockable heroes on the normal Conquest maps, there is an additional Game Mode on Mos Eisley called "Assault." Much like Space Assault, each team is given a number of points to reach before the other team, but all of the Unit Classes are now the heroes. Some examples of heroes include Boba Fett, Mace Windu, Luke Skywalker and Yoda.^[3]

Campaign

Whereas Star Wars: Battlefront's campaign featured missions spanning both the prequel and original trilogy, with the player assuming control of all four factions, Battlefront II contains only one campaign, called "Rise of the Empire", which is found in every version of the game except the PSP version.^[4] This set of missions is presented as the narration of a veteran of the 501st Legion, known as "Vader's Fist", beginning with an attack on the planet Mygeeto during the Clone Wars and ending with the assault on Hoth as depicted in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.^[5] This Campaign includes battles on the surface of Geonosis (as a tutorial) , surface of Mygeeto, space of Coruscant, surface of Felucia, space and surface of Kashyyyk, surface of Utapau, surface of Coruscant, surface of Naboo, space and surface of Mustafar, surface of Kamino, the interior of the Tantive IV, the interior of the Death Star, surface of Polis Massa, space and surface of Yavin 4, and surface of Hoth.

Galactic Conquest

Like its predecessor, "Battlefront II" includes Galactic Conquest. In this mode, players have the ability to play as the Empire, Republic, CIS, and the Rebellion. The player commands a fleet and goes throughout the galaxy conquering and protecting planets. Battles take place in space and on land.

Instant Action

Instant Action contains all levels and characters, and any level can be played instantly. It includes Hunt mode, Capture the Flag, Conquest Mode, and Space Assault. In Hunt mode players take on the role of the indigenous species of the place in which the battle is fought and are tasked with attacking the enemy. Sides have 1 or 2 flags. In 1 flag mode both teams run to the middle of the battlefield and try to return the flag to a set destination. 2-flag mode tasks the opposing sides with entering the enemy's base, taking their flag and return it to their own flags. First to capture the specified number of flags is the winner. In Conquest mode, whichever side can capture all predefined command points on the battlefield, or wipe out all the enemy reinforcements wins. Space Assault allows players to control a starfighter of their choice in order to destroy critical systems on the enemy's capital ship or destroy other enemy starfighters.

Development

This section requires expansion.

On February 15, 2006, a patch was released for the PC version, which included support for additional maps.^[6] The modding tools were subsequently released on February 21.^[7]

Reception

Battlefront II was praised not only for having a much more engaging single-player storyline,^[9] but also for fixing many of the issues that plagued the original. For example improving the intelligence of AI units, or adding more varied objectives for victory.^[9] Computer and Video Games argued that the strengthened single-player aspect was "unrelenting" and always a good challenge.^[10] Publications found the inclusion of space battles a welcome addition, however Gamespot argued that the addition of Jedi, though looking "good on paper", didn't end up "feeling as epic" as expected.^[11] Game Revolution argued that if the multiplayer was taken away, even the new campaign was not enough to make Battlefront II worth the buy.^[3] IGN claimed that the game suffers from problems remaining from the original Battlefront, such as a lack of challenging AI characters in single player mode. Computer-controlled opponents and allies tend to run headlong into gunfire, wander off ledges, and walk into walls. IGN felt that this, along with redundant use of planets featured in previous Star Wars settings, were problems carried over from the original.^[12] A related criticism from Electronic Gaming Monthly is the longer load time needed between boards, which is also caused by more detailed graphics and larger maps than the original Battlefront.^[13]

References

External links

• Official Site
• Star Wars: Battlefront II at MobyGames