Hobbit
Senior Member
Got this game the same day as Episode III, and it's SWEET, much better than the original. For those who haven't played the original, the two Battlefront games are similar to Battlefield 1942. Each level is a battle from the Star Wars universe and you play as a soldier. You may spawn as any of a number of character classes, each of which is differently armed, and you fight across the battlefield, capturing command posts (spawn points) and respawning (changing class if you want) when you die until one side runs out of reinforcements or captures and holds all command posts for 20 seconds. In addition to the infantry battles, there are also many vehicles from Star Wars, from the lowly speeder bike to the towering AT-AT, that can be boarded and controlled. You can even hack into an enemy vehicle and take it over if you want, although this is hard.
For those of you who played the original, here's the new stuff.
Space Battles - The pilot class has been moved to space battles only (same armament and abilities) along with the better armed marine. In a space battle, both teams spawn in a hangar, where they can snag fighters, bombers, or transports to fly. From there, you can take on one of three roles. You can take out enemy craft, bomb enemy capital ships to take out specific system, or even board the enemy ship with a squad of troops to attmept to disable the systems from the inside. The battle is not based on reinforcements. Destroying ships and systems grants your team points. First to 180 wins.
Heroes - Whenever certain conditions are met (upgrade purchase in Galactic Conquest, objectives met in campaign, or a timer or hero points in skirmish and multiplayer), you may play as a hero from the movies. The heroes range from Jedi (Mace Windu, Yoda, Obi-Wan (prequal), Ki Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, Dooku, Palpatine, Darth Maul, Luke Skywalker), to exceptional soldiers (General Greivous, Jango and Boba Fett) to simply awesome people (Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia). All heroes have special abilites and powerful weapons that allow them to far exceed the abilities of normal players. However, there are a few restrictions. Heroes have a time limit represented by a lightsaber. When it runs out, the hero goes bye-bye (but can later be used again if the conditions are met again). The meter has time knocked off for all damage the hero takes and has more added for every enemy the hero kills. The hero cannot heal any other way and also can only get more ammunition (if they use any) from ammo packs left by dead soldiers. A good player can keep a hero alive for several minutes, almost single-handedly winning a battle.
Commander units - These are limited number units each side has that can grant benefits to nearby troops. Like other high-end troops, they are not generally available at the beginning of the battle.
There's also a significant difference in the campaign. The only campaign follows the battle of a single clone infantry unit, the 501st legion, from their deplyment at Geonosis to their finest hour at the Battle of Hoth (after the regime change, they become stormtroopers). In each mission, the standard objectives of capturing the command posts are gone. Instead, mission specific objectives are presented, such as capturing a specific point, killing a specific person, or protecting a key building or whatnot. Each objective completed adds to your reinforcements. The enemey never runs out. Such historic battles include the Battle of Utapau and the Battle of Kashyyk from Episode III and even the battle on the Tantive IV from the opening of "A New Hope."
All in all, I'd say Battlefront II offers quite a bit to all Star Wars fans and is a great game. If you're not a Star Wars fan, though, you may want to try it out first, as it's nothing that hasn't already been done on the PC with the Battlefield games.
For those of you who played the original, here's the new stuff.
Space Battles - The pilot class has been moved to space battles only (same armament and abilities) along with the better armed marine. In a space battle, both teams spawn in a hangar, where they can snag fighters, bombers, or transports to fly. From there, you can take on one of three roles. You can take out enemy craft, bomb enemy capital ships to take out specific system, or even board the enemy ship with a squad of troops to attmept to disable the systems from the inside. The battle is not based on reinforcements. Destroying ships and systems grants your team points. First to 180 wins.
Heroes - Whenever certain conditions are met (upgrade purchase in Galactic Conquest, objectives met in campaign, or a timer or hero points in skirmish and multiplayer), you may play as a hero from the movies. The heroes range from Jedi (Mace Windu, Yoda, Obi-Wan (prequal), Ki Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, Dooku, Palpatine, Darth Maul, Luke Skywalker), to exceptional soldiers (General Greivous, Jango and Boba Fett) to simply awesome people (Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia). All heroes have special abilites and powerful weapons that allow them to far exceed the abilities of normal players. However, there are a few restrictions. Heroes have a time limit represented by a lightsaber. When it runs out, the hero goes bye-bye (but can later be used again if the conditions are met again). The meter has time knocked off for all damage the hero takes and has more added for every enemy the hero kills. The hero cannot heal any other way and also can only get more ammunition (if they use any) from ammo packs left by dead soldiers. A good player can keep a hero alive for several minutes, almost single-handedly winning a battle.
Commander units - These are limited number units each side has that can grant benefits to nearby troops. Like other high-end troops, they are not generally available at the beginning of the battle.
There's also a significant difference in the campaign. The only campaign follows the battle of a single clone infantry unit, the 501st legion, from their deplyment at Geonosis to their finest hour at the Battle of Hoth (after the regime change, they become stormtroopers). In each mission, the standard objectives of capturing the command posts are gone. Instead, mission specific objectives are presented, such as capturing a specific point, killing a specific person, or protecting a key building or whatnot. Each objective completed adds to your reinforcements. The enemey never runs out. Such historic battles include the Battle of Utapau and the Battle of Kashyyk from Episode III and even the battle on the Tantive IV from the opening of "A New Hope."
All in all, I'd say Battlefront II offers quite a bit to all Star Wars fans and is a great game. If you're not a Star Wars fan, though, you may want to try it out first, as it's nothing that hasn't already been done on the PC with the Battlefield games.
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