09-30-2004, 07:23 PM
I'd like to add a little, as that was the PC version that D-Dave was reviewing.
I own the Xbox version, and it's quite good. The A.I. for the bots is awful, just awful, but other than that, it's a fantastic online multiplayer experience.
You need DSL/Cable for any FPS online, since they're twitchy and require reflexes and quick reaction time. Any lag causes death... So, considering that Xbox Live is a service that only allows Broadbanders, this shouldn't be a problem, should it? Thankfully, what I've played so far, lag has not been a problem, and games have been extremely fun when played with well coordinated players.
Voice chat helps team coordination, but eventually, you get this little high-voice kid sqeaking and squalking away on the mic... Damn, I just loathe those buggers. But I digress...
The meat of the game is excellent; you experience the major battles as a soldier of your choosing. In the Xbox version, you can play up to 12 on 12, with bots for each side. The bots are dumb, and often times ruin your vehicles (like, they'll jump on a speeder and crash it not five feet in front of him), but it still is cool commanding a few of them and leading them into battle. On the Xbox, you can switch between first and third person views, which is helpful in some situations, but most times, I just stay in 3rd person.
There's a couple of balance issues with the game that probably won't be addressed, such as the sniper being a bit weak, and the pilots(Engineer class) being over powered (some pilot classes can shoot immediate-exploding grenades, and then refill their own health and ammo! Not fair!). These are minor issues over all, though.
Vehicles are super fun. There's nothing like flying a snow-speeder around the legs of an AT-AT, tying it up and subsequently dropping it to the ground. I'm also a fan of the Endor speeder; the blurring effect when you hit high speeds is really quite well done, and gives a great sense of speed. AT-STs and the like are also a blast to ride around in. Did I mention Taun-tauns? :)
The computer controlled heroes are a bit of a let down, since they're just as dumb as the rest of the A.I., but it's nonetheless cool to see Luke Skywalker in his flight-suit on Hoth tearing through some Snow Troopers.
All in all, they did a great job with Battlefront. This is the only game of it's kind on the Xbox. To be sure, this is a mutliplayer game, despite it's tacked-on single player campaign. If you liked Battlefield 1942, or you like large-scale FPS battles, and you like Star Wars, you can't go wrong with this game. That is, if your broadband is relatively good, and you have Xbox Live (or system link -- I had a few good games on my home LAN).
I own the Xbox version, and it's quite good. The A.I. for the bots is awful, just awful, but other than that, it's a fantastic online multiplayer experience.
You need DSL/Cable for any FPS online, since they're twitchy and require reflexes and quick reaction time. Any lag causes death... So, considering that Xbox Live is a service that only allows Broadbanders, this shouldn't be a problem, should it? Thankfully, what I've played so far, lag has not been a problem, and games have been extremely fun when played with well coordinated players.
Voice chat helps team coordination, but eventually, you get this little high-voice kid sqeaking and squalking away on the mic... Damn, I just loathe those buggers. But I digress...
The meat of the game is excellent; you experience the major battles as a soldier of your choosing. In the Xbox version, you can play up to 12 on 12, with bots for each side. The bots are dumb, and often times ruin your vehicles (like, they'll jump on a speeder and crash it not five feet in front of him), but it still is cool commanding a few of them and leading them into battle. On the Xbox, you can switch between first and third person views, which is helpful in some situations, but most times, I just stay in 3rd person.
There's a couple of balance issues with the game that probably won't be addressed, such as the sniper being a bit weak, and the pilots(Engineer class) being over powered (some pilot classes can shoot immediate-exploding grenades, and then refill their own health and ammo! Not fair!). These are minor issues over all, though.
Vehicles are super fun. There's nothing like flying a snow-speeder around the legs of an AT-AT, tying it up and subsequently dropping it to the ground. I'm also a fan of the Endor speeder; the blurring effect when you hit high speeds is really quite well done, and gives a great sense of speed. AT-STs and the like are also a blast to ride around in. Did I mention Taun-tauns? :)
The computer controlled heroes are a bit of a let down, since they're just as dumb as the rest of the A.I., but it's nonetheless cool to see Luke Skywalker in his flight-suit on Hoth tearing through some Snow Troopers.
All in all, they did a great job with Battlefront. This is the only game of it's kind on the Xbox. To be sure, this is a mutliplayer game, despite it's tacked-on single player campaign. If you liked Battlefield 1942, or you like large-scale FPS battles, and you like Star Wars, you can't go wrong with this game. That is, if your broadband is relatively good, and you have Xbox Live (or system link -- I had a few good games on my home LAN).
"Yay! We did it!"
"Who are you?"
"Um, uh... just ... a guy." *flee*
"Who are you?"
"Um, uh... just ... a guy." *flee*