Battlefront II manages to capitalize on the license extremely well, making for a fantastic action experience.
The main single-player mode is "Rise of the Empire", a unique perspective on the events that begin in Attack of the Clones with the formation of the Republic's Clone Army and concludes with the Empire's rout at the Rebel base on Hoth (because there has to be a Hoth level). In this mode, players take on the role of a Clone Trooper in the 501st Division, an elite unit that handles the most important missions of the Republic, and, later, the Empire. As luck would have it, the 501st was involved in a vast majority of the trilogy's large battles, and along the way, players will receive a rather interesting look at the point of view a clone soldier has, from being part of an Elite unit spreading justice to crushing the rebel alliance within an inch of its collective life at the remote Echo Base. It's a surprisingly meaty mode, and although the objectives are very simple and none too varied, each level's interesting design and varied enemy types keep the game engaging. This mode also lets players use appropriate heroes at certain junctions, from Kid-Adi Mundi early on to Lord Vader himself at the end, chasing the Rebels through the tunnels of their icy base.
There is also a "Galactic Conquest" mode, whereby the player picks from one of the four available factions, starting with only the most basic of troops, and attempts to occupy planets, gaining money for victories, more so for planets than in space battles, and even more so for the "home planet" of the opposing faction. The money is used for specific bonuses that can be applied in battle and the ability to use other units in battle as well, so there isa bit of strategy over how players spend their money; is it better to bring in Marines so the player can take on enemy star cruisers, or should they purchase heavy weapons units to ensure that opposing vehicles are not too powerful? This mode is where most of the replay comes from when playing alone, as players can control any faction with its own set of playable planets (though some do exist in all conflicts).
While the aforementioned four factions are available, they're really just paired off. The Rebellion fights off the Empire and the Empire tries to crush the Rebellion, the Republic tries to halt the Confederation's secession, and the Confederation tries to wrest control of the galaxy away from the corrupt Republic. The Empire can't fight the CIS, and the Rebels can't fight the Clones, or any mix/match in between. Still, as each faction has its own unique vehicles, starships, and special units, it feels like a healthy variety is present.
In Galactic Conquest, players are trying to hold control points, much like in Battlefield, an obvious inspiration for Battlefront, slowing the loss of troops. Capturing all available control points or wiping out all enemy troops (aided by control point captures) seals victory. Multiple player classes include snipers, engineers, grunts, heavy weapons troops, and the special units unique to each faction. The Droid army representing the CIS has Droidekas, for example, and Rebels have sneaky Bothan Spies. Each faction also has its own Hero units, which range from popular Force-users like Darth Maul and Luke Skywalker to special characters that don't have the Force on their side, like Jango Fett and Han Solo. They make for powerful allies during battle, though the Jedi and Sith are understandably more fun to play as.
Space battles make their debut in Battlefront II as well, and although they don't feel as complete as the ground missions, they break up the run'n'gun action of the planetside sorties well. Players can choose between bombing craft, fighter/attacker hybrids, pure fighter ships, and small assault carriers (like the gunships from Attack of the Clones or Tydirium-class ships as seen in the original trilogy) and take the fight to the enemy's small frigates and command carriers as well. What opens up this mode from consisting solely of bombing runs is that players can land inside the command carriers, sabotaging them from the inside, even creating spawn points in enemy hangars. This mode relies not around controlling certain command points, however, instead gaining points for your faction by causing destruction, by either taking out opponents (for small bonuses to your team's point total) or their vehicles, namely the huge base ships, which have several outer points that can be destroyed (such as the engines), and several inside as well.
Throughout these modes, players achieve certain goals (and gain appropriate rewards) based on character class and overall involvement in the battles. For example, killing twelve soldiers with an assault rifle gives players an Award Rifle that fires in powerful, short bursts, and achieving a given amount of points through acquisition of control points and enemy kills heightens player's energy regeneration (for running and jumping) or their offensive firepower. As the player accrues more and more awards, these effects become easier to acquire, and eventually become permanent, making their avatar a supersoldier by the time they've logged a few rounds in the game's different modes.
Battlefront II has a very strong multiplayer component as well, allowing players to go head-to-head or cooperatively tackle both main modes on the same system. These modes are fun for a player gaming by themselves, but with a friend they take on a whole new level of cooperation, since the computer AI is perfunctory at best and a bit on the brick side of intelligence at worst.Teaming up with a friend, or taking them on, actually adds some more of the tactical element the game is lacking when only one person is playing.
The online multiplayer, sadly, isn't quite as good. Players have to tweak the settings to allow friends in, inviting players is a hassle, there's no lobby by which the creator of the match can set up the next level, and it's just difficult to use. Instead of emulating games that understood what was necessary for online play, like Halo 2, it instead feels like a copy of Unreal Championship's setup back when XBL launched in 2002, except somehow les intuitive. It unfortunately hampers the game, and had it not been handled so poorly, Battlefront II could have become a truly first-class online shooter, instead of just a very good one offline with some issues over the internet.
Graphically, Battlefront II is solid all-around, displaying a crisp 480p resolution, accurate character models, and levels ripped straight from the films. There's nothing overwhelmingly spectacular about it, but it gets the job done, and the framerate is generally very steady.
The sound is truly excellent, but this is the norm for most games in the Star Wars oeuvre, since it takes John Williams' superb score, the trademark sounds of the Star Wars universe, and it's own unique flavor of radio chatter and the like, throws it all together, and sounds very much like the movies. Temura Morrison makes a return as the voice of the narrator for the Rise of the Empire Mode, and his work is, like his other efforts for Star Wars games, quite solid. The only flaw with the sound is that it wasn't mixed entirely well; some sound effects are too loud, and since all effects are linked, turning down a particularly bothersome sound (like the "War Hero" effect) turns down all effects, including blasters and troops. Other than this glitch it's superb, but without it, the sound would've been a perfect aid to the game.
There's an awful lot to control in Battlefront II, from jumping to rolling, strafing to ducking, sniping to "hacking" vehicles, but Battlefront II handles it all easily. Fully customizable controls make it even easier, and it si thanks to the flexibility of controls and available options that Battlefront II plays so smoothly. It may take a new player a few minutes to get a handle on all of the control nuances, but the basics are easy and smartly placed, and the player has all of the options they would need when controlling their character.
Since its release, Battlefront II has also seen a content update that adds a Sith, a Jedi, and four new levels, but they have not been integrated into the core modes, which is a bit disappointing. The new characters can't be used in either mode, and the new arenas are playable only as standalone maps, which aren't very fun solo and have limited playability offline as well, meaning players interested will have to brave the online snarl of an interface to enjoy the content to its fullest extent.
The mix of on-foot, vehicular, and starship action held within Battlefront II isn't as varied as it seems, but it sure is lots of fun. Letting players act out their own Star Wars scenes as anything from lowly Snowtroopers to Luke Skywalker himself is a blast to experience, and anyone looking for some straightforward shooting action shouldn't be disappointed by Battlefront II, even if it does bear more than a passing similarity to the game that came before it.
There are also small, nagging issues that plague the game throughout, such as the minor sound issues, lack of integration of downloadable content, and the poor online interface, but the core gameplay is so fun and replayable that these issues, which might severely bring down a lesser game, only prove to be minor blemishes on an otherwise excellent experience. Battlefront II may not have the most polish, and it might not take gamers online to battles far, far away as it should have, but it's fast, it's fun, and it employs the license extremely well.