| Star Wars: Battlefront review |
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Large-scale warfare has been around for as long as small-scale warfare - the carnage, bedlam, and bloody pointlessness of human sacrifice that can never really be understood except by those who have the grim privilege of taking part. Usually a result of a breakdown in communication between two people, diplomacy evidently can't be the solution. Star Wars, as the name suggests, isn't really about sitting around a large table, talking through the issues in a calm, thoughtful manner - well, at least it didn't used to be.
Anyhow, Star Wars Battlefront takes the rich heritage from the film franchise and lets the player partake in murderous rampages throughout the worlds shown on the big screen, utilising a game model that might be familiar to those who have played such titles as Team Fortress, Unreal Tournament and Battlefield 1942, to name a few. Conceptually it is straightforward: get more than one faction/team to wipe out the other, whilst taking strategic points within the game map, commonly called "Capture and Hold".
There are two critical design objectives that have to be adhered to to make a team-based, capture-and-hold game worth playing; the balance of the characters from each faction, and the tactical nuances of the level design. Battlefront has quite a few differing factions to deal with: there are the Droid armies from Episodes 1 and 2, the Clone Army of Episode 2, and the Stormtroopers and Rebels of the classic trilogy; intermingled with those are a few extra faces that might be familiar.
The factions contain four units that have different roles, usually a generic cannon-fodder guy, big guy who can't run but who can blow a mountain off the planet, wimpy knee-knocking guy who can shoot a flea off a cat's back from outer space and "it's going to be alright, Jack, I'm sure they can sew legs back on" medic. Not all these units were specifically depicted in the films so the gaps have been filled in with some classes from the "Expanded Universe", i.e. the comics, books, and lunchboxes that are not considered Star Wars lore. The Rebels are the weakest faction, with no real standout unit, and with the stormtroopers always having that “bad boy” appeal, running around in brown camo can't compete with the white imperialistic superiority. The prequel factions appear to have more diverse units, the Droids have a real creative flair in their faction, the “Droidekas” (the wheel transformer) are particularly potent, but as with all Star Wars design, a fatal flaw that can be boldly exploited.
Each map is plucked from a Star Wars era, and has a selection of factions that can "work" on that map. The quality of the maps, i.e. the design and placement of doorways, health points, respawn locations etc fluctuates quite wildly in quality. Ranging from the open fields of Naboo as seen in Episode 1, the Geonosis red desert world of Episode 2, the icy landscape of Empire Strikes Back and the wooded madness of Endor from Return of the Jedi. Some maps really do articulate the epic struggles - some simply do not. Geonosis is a particularly good example of a well-conceived map, with its open plains and intermitant cover, but then maybe it feels right because we've actually seen it onscreen?
Default settings make the activity of destroying the enemy a touch tepid, with auto aim turned off the technique of dispatching foe is certainly more rewarding. Using the 3rd-person perspective, the battle, with whooshing laser beams and exploding infantry, adds to a very frenetic and initially awesome experience, rolling over the brow of a hill to be greeted by a barrage of laser fire really picks up the mood. However, in the single-player campaigns, where the films' battles are recycled chronologically, it becomes obvious that the rest of the faction are mindless buffoons with the martial aptitude of Sunday-afternoon paintballers. Orders can be given to the hapless AI running past; hold, follow, disband and move out, without these commands the AI tends to head directly to the most covienient enemy spawn point, and then pile up half way in globs of carnage. Commanding a gaggle of comrades isn't much more than dragging a few moving shields along, since their can do attitude and grace under fire must've been forgotten since boot camp.
The online experience is equally as hit-and-hope: finding a decent server is, as ever, potentially arduous; once a game is found the maximum number of human players can range between 4 and 24, with any spare spaces being filled by the unadventurous AI. With the noticeable cut in framerate, compared to the offline game, "online" becomes somewhat of a damp squib. What also depreciates the L!ve component is the lack of team-building spirit, designed it would seem entirely to suit the ten-minute bash rather than the 3-month Clan Super League, the game doesn't easily allow viewing of the two sides before selecting a faction, and once in a server, the ability to change side appears impossible. So with all that AI running around and the reduced graphical quality, the single-player game seems all the more enticing.
Functionally the game engine works quite efficiently, the ability to leg it to a ship, fly about a bit, crash into a tree, it's all there. With the amazingly rich heritage that Star Wars has, it's confusing that the music isn't used quite as effectively as it should. Without the context-sensitive moments of the cinematic Star Wars the impact is lost, replenishing health to the dramatic rumblings of the Imperial Death March doesn't really do it and sometimes the music just disappears.
Turn up, get a weapon, run around in an outfit, maybe hook up with some familiar faces, let rip, then go home: although paintball doesn't quite have the tanks or flying apparatus that are available in Battlefront, it's good fun in short doses, and perfectly straightforward - just pray that there isn't a fat guy on the same team. |
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System: Microsoft Xbox
Genre: Action
Developer: Pandemic
Publisher: Lucas Arts / Activision
Players: 1-24
Version: European
Writer: Robert J. White
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Pros:
- Absorbing warfare
- Tight controls
- Star Wars licence
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Cons:
- Reduced online framerate
- Dubious singleplayer
- Variable presentation
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