Lucas Arts: Star Wars: Battlefront II

by Lucas Arts

We haven’t played Battlefront II (official site) as much as I thought we would this weekend, so we haven’t completed a Galactic Conquest. However, we’re almost done playing a historical campaign, which in this version covers the battles in Episode III. The last one takes place in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and that’s where we are now. In the historical campaign, you’re part of the 501st Legion. Temuera Morrison narrates it as a former trooper looking back on those battles. The man has a supercool voice and accent to go along with it, but it isn’t quite the same as in Republic Commando (”get yourself some bacta, soldier”). So unlike in Battlefront where sometimes you’re the CIS and sometimes you’re the Republic, you’re always a clone trooper. Anyway, here are the main differences between I and II that I’ve been able to determine so far:

You begin with only the Clone Trooper class, and must purchase/recruit the other soldier classes as you go, with credits earned through gameplay. Also, there are a couple of new soldier classes. This applies only to Galactic Conquest.
The purchase of bonuses, such as the ability to carry extra rounds of ammo, armor, etc., again, this is only in Galactic Conquest.
In Rise of the Empire, which is the historical campaign, you have mission objectives.
You can now switch soldier classes without having to respawn. Go to your own command post, press Y, and choose.
Earn enough hero points (not sure how this works) and you can play as a Jedi. Unfortunately, the Jedi are too weak and die easily, even Yoda and Anakin.
Earn special weapons depending on how well you do on the battlefield. I think this is tied in with your promotions. Not sure how that works, either, but I started out as a private and I’m now a sergeant.
I was really looking forward to the space battles. Thankfully, these are optional. Total, total bummer. Control over your craft isn’t as precise as it could be, like in Jedi Starfighter. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised because the game developer is Pandemic, who also developed Clone Wars. What was the thing I hated most about that game? Control over the spacecraft.

Battlefront II isn’t a vast improvement over Battlefront, which I loved. Then again, after playing three or four Galactic Conquests, it got kind of boring. So if you didn’t like the first one, you definitely shouldn’t get the second one. But if you liked the first one, I recommend the second one, if only to experience the difference in gameplay and new planets they’ve added.