Star Wars: Battlefront II

What’s the Story?

In STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT II story mode, players become storm troopers in the 501st division, an elite group of soldiers eventually known as Vader's Fist, fighting through many major battles of the Star Wars films. Players defend positions, capture bases from the opposition, and carry objects from one base to another. In Galaxy Conquest mode, players control a fleet of Empire or Rebel troops as they fight for control of planets in a star system. Capturing planets and creating more units adds an element of strategy missing from the heavy firefights of the story mode.

Is It Any Good?

The game is pretty much gore-free, even though most of the action involves killing people and blowing stuff up. There is violence aplenty and destruction is delivered in many forms (lasers, grenades, bullets, rockets, tanks, etc.), but there is no blood.

The game really seems designed for online multiplayer: Battlefront II supports 24-player matches on the PlayStation 2, 32-player matches on Xbox, and up to 64 on a computer. The multiplayer action is heavy on team-based modes in which one side must overrun the territory controlled by another, but the game also has the old standbys like capture-the-flag and deathmatch. Ultimately, there isn't much story here, and while the controls are relatively simple, so is the action. There's a lot more button-mashing than careful, controlled fighting and maneuvering, and fighting grows repetitive.