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Star Wars: Battlefront II
Developer(s)	Pandemic Studios
Publisher(s)	LucasArts
Engine	Zero
Released	NA November 1, 2005 PAL October 31, 2005
Genre	Action, Shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Ratings	ESRB: Teen (T) PEGI:12+ CERO:12 BBFC:PG OFLC:M
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, Windows
System requirements	Windows 2000/XP, 1.4 GHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, 64 MB video card with vertex shader and pixel shader compatibility, DirectX 9.0c or higher, 4.3 GB minimum hard disk space
Input methods	Keyboard and mouse (Windows) DualShock 2 (PlayStation 2) Xbox controller (Xbox)

Star Wars: Battlefront II (abbreviated SWBF2) is a first/third-person shooter video game developed by Pandemic Studios, and published by LucasArts. The game is the sequel to the successful Star Wars: Battlefront and features new vehicles, characters, game mechanics, maps, and missions. The game was released in PAL regions on October 31 2005 on the PC, Xbox, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 2 platforms, and in North America on November 1, of the same year.

Unlike its predecessor, Battlefront II features a more narrative-based campaign, retelling portions of the Star Wars storyline from the point of view of a veteran Imperial Stormtrooper, reminiscing about his tour of duty in service of both the Old Republic and as part of the Galactic Empire. Upon release, the PC and console versions of the game received mostly positive reviews; Computer and Video Games stated the game was "everything a sequel should be. And then some",^[1] although IGN felt that the title didn't go far enough in rectifying the issues of its predecessor.^[2] The PSP version was less highly regarded.^[3]

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Campaign 2 Synopsis 2.1 Setting 2.2 Plot 3 Reception 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Battlefront II's gameplay is fundamentally similar to its predecessor's, albeit with the addition of new game mechanics, units, and vehicles. The general objective in most missions is to deplete the number of enemies to zero, called 'Conquest'. Killing an enemy unit subtracts from that faction's reinforcements, and likewise the death of the players or allies results in a similar decrease. Besides simply killing enemies, players fight for control of 'Command posts', at which units respawn after death and players can swap out their character classes.^[4] Most command posts can be 'captured', by killing all enemies nearby and standing by the command post for a set amount of time. Controlling a majority of the command posts scattered on a map results in the faster depletion of the enemy's forces, and allows the player to respawn in more locations.^[4] If all command posts are captured, the losing team has only a small amount of time to recapture one before the game ends in their defeat, regardless of the amount of reinforcements they have.^[5] In other game modes such as CTF or Assault, command posts cannot change ownership.^[4] In addition to this land-based mode of combat, Battlefront II adds several space maps, where players must gain a certain threshold of points to win.

Players have the ability to choose between several classes throughout the game. There are two time frames from which to choose from; the "Galactic Civil War" of the original Star Wars trilogy, or the Clone Wars of the prequel trilogy. Each timeframe features two opposing factions; in the Galactic Civil War the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire vie for control, while the Clone Wars features the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) and the Old Republic. While some of the character classes are similar to classes of the other factions, each faction has two unique classes, which are unlocked gradually.^[6] Battlefront II also features special heroes, which are found sporadically throughout the game. The hero each faction can receive is entirely dependent on the map.^[7] Heroes have a fixed amount of health which depleted over time, but can be regained by killing enemy troops. Besides being far tougher than normal units, these heroes also have special abilities, such as Force powers.^[8]

Multiplayer in Battlefront II offers significantly more game modes and improvements over the original game. Besides the 'Conquest' gametype, there are several other modes, not all of which can be played on every map. Battlefront II also offers gametypes such as Capture the Flag and "Galactic Conquest". In this game, players move their fleets across the entire Star Wars galaxy, defeating their foes on land or in space battles. Winning a battle gains the victor credits, which can be used to buy bonuses or construct new fleets. Also there is another mode called hero assault. Heroes and Villains fight it out trying to earn a set amount of points. This mode features all of the heroes in the game in one place, allowing a new level of gameplay. The game supports 24, 32, or 64 players on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC platforms, respectively.^[9]

Whereas Star Wars: Battlefront's campaign featured missions spanning both the prequels and original trilogy, with the player assuming control of all four factions, Battlefront II contains only one campaign, called "Rise of the Empire", which is found only on the console and PC versions of the game.^[10] This set of missions is presented as the narration of a veteran Imperial stormtrooper of the legendary 501st Legion, known as "Vader's Fist", beginning with an attack on the planet Mygeeto during the Clone Wars and ending with the assault on Hoth as depicted in Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back.^[11]

Main article: Star Wars galaxy

Like most other Star Wars games, Battlefront II takes place on many of the worlds featured in the film trilogies. In addition to visiting locations such as Endor, Hoth, and Kashykk, which were seen in Star Wars: Battlefront, the second installment features new areas such as the Death Star, and Tantive IV. In addition, the game also travels to locations seen in the last film in the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith, such as Mustafar.

The game is told as a frame story, with an Imperial stormtrooper recounting the adventures of his unit, the 501st Legion. Originally, the unit was part of the Old Republic, and fights against the Separatists from Felucia to Kashyyyk. After Emperor Palpatine commands that Order 66 be carried out, the 501st leads a massacre of the Jedi at their temple on Coruscant, coming under the direct supervision of Darth Vader. Feared throughout the galaxy, the 501st becomes known as "Vader's Fist". Under their new leader the 501st executes missions such as a forced regime change on Naboo, the destruction of a new droid army on Mustafar and an attempted clone rebellion on Kamino.

With the Galactic Empire firmly established in the ashes of the Old Republic, the 501st soon grows bored of the endless tedium, drills and inspection associated with maintaining the empire. When the Death Star's schematics are stolen, Vader leads the Legion across the galaxy in search of the plans, eventually leading to the boarding of the Tantive IV. Despite capturing the Rebel sympathizer Princess Leia, the plans are still transmitted, and the Death Star is destroyed. The 501st is then pressed into crushing the fledgling Rebel Alliance, leading to the victory at Hoth, where the narrator proudly proclaims the Rebellion finished.

Reviews
Publication	Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly	81.7/100
Game Informer	85/100
GameSpot	8.1/10 (console) 6.8 (PSP)
GameSpy	90/100
IGN	70 (XB), 78 (PSP)
Compilations of multiple reviews
Compiler	Score
Metacritic	83 (XB); 84 (PS2); 69 (PSP)
Game Rankings	83.7 (XB); 84.5 (PS2)[12]

The different versions of Star Wars: Battlefront II garnered different reviews on each platform, with the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions rating higher than the PC or PSP versions; on Metacritic, the PS2 version rated an 84/100,^[13] the Xbox version an 83,^[14] the PC version a 78,^[15] and the PSP title only a 69%.^[16]

Battlefront II was lauded for not only have a much more engaging single-player storyline,^[2] but also fixing some, if not all, of the issues that plagued the original, for example improving the intelligence of the bots, or adding more varied objectives for victory.^[2] Computer and Video Games argued that the strengthened single-player aspect was "unrelenting" and always a good challenge.^[1] Publications found the inclusion of space battles a welcome addition, however Gamespot argued that the addition of Jedi, though looking "good on paper", didn't end up "feeling as epic" as expected.^[9] Game Revolution argued that if the multiplayer was taken away, even the new campaign was not enough to make Battlefront II worth the buy.^[7]

The PlayStation Portable version of Battlefront II met with the harshest criticism. Most reviewers noted that the paltry four-person limitation on multiplayer via WiFi sucked some of the fun out of the game, and the framerate occasionally lagged badly.^[17] In addition, some publications such as Gamespy found the controls, using only one analog stick, to be cumbersome.^[18] On the positive side, GameZone noted that the handheld version succeeded in translating much of the console version into such a small package.^[19]

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• List of video games by LucasArts

• The Star Wars: Battlefront Wiki
• An In Depth Guide to Heroes and Villains
• LucasArts Main Site
• LucasArts Discussion Boards

v • d • e Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Main media	Attack of the Clones | Revenge of the Sith | Clone Wars (animated series) | The Clone Wars (animated series) | Republic comic series
Books	Attack of the Clones | Republic Commando: Hard Contact | Boba Fett: The Fight to Survive | Boba Fett: Crossfire | Boba Fett: Maze Of Deception | Boba Fett: Hunted | Shatterpoint | The Cestus Deception | The Hive | Republic Commando: Triple Zero | MedStar I: Battle Surgeons | MedStar II: Jedi Healer | Jedi Trial | Yoda: Dark Rendezvous | Boba Fett: A New Threat | Boba Fett: Pursuit | Labyrinth of Evil |
Video games	The Clone Wars | Jedi Starfighter | Battlefront series | Battlefront | Battlefront II | Renegade Squadron | Lego Star Wars | Lego Star Wars II | Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga | Republic Commando | The New Droid Army | Galactic Battlegrounds | Attack of the Clones | Revenge of the Sith
Major battles	Battle of Geonosis | Battle of Coruscant | Battle of Utapau | Battle of Felucia | Battle of Kashyyyk | Battle of Cato Neimoidia | Battle of Mygeeto | Siege of Saleucami