This is the one that console Star Wars fans have been waiting for: a game that puts the player right in the middle of the greatest battles of the Star Wars universe. And it lets them play either side in a multiplayer environment. While the game is not perfect, it excels at what it sets out to give the player – the ultimate Star Wars multiplayer experience. Oh yeah, you also get to kill some Ewoks and Gungans.

Battlefront’s scenarios cover both the Clone Wars of episodes 1 through 3 and the Galactic Civil War of episodes 4 through 6. Battles take place in all the major locals: Naboo, Tatooine, Hoth, Endore and more. The personnel, weapons and vehicles of the four main factions engaged in the fighting – Empire, Rebel, Republic and Separatists – are accurately depicted with appropriate visuals and sound effects. In addition to the warring factions, the native peoples of the planet, such as the Gungans on Naboo and the Ewoks on Endore, will also get drawn into the fight during certain battles.

All modes of Battlefront play in a similar fashion. Every battle map has several command posts and each side is given a set number of reinforcement points for the battle. The player may spawn at his choice of the command posts that his side controls. Each time he spawns he is given a new opportunity to select the type of unit he would like to play as. Factions have five types of personnel that range from standard grunts to rocket-launching tank busters. The player wins by reducing his foe’s reinforcement points to zero or by capturing all his opponent’s command posts so there is no place for enemy troops to spawn. Most battles devolve into a series of engagements as teams go for the opponent’s command posts. When two sides commit to taking the same route to the opposing side’s command posts and then just keep sending forces into the sausage grinder, the combat can get really intense and reinforcements can get chewed up in a hurry.

Without a doubt the weakest part of the game is the single-player mode. In this mode the player may choose to either play Historical Campaign, Galactic Conquest or Instant Action. The Historical Campaign is a chronological fight through the Clone War era or the Galactic Civil War period. By winning battles in this mode, the player will unlock extras like concept art and production stills from the movies. Galactic Conquest lets the player choose a planet to conquer and faction to play as. Winning a battle lets the player choose his next planetary target; loosing a battle shifts the initiative to the opposing A.I. until a battle is won and the initiative shifts back to the player. Instant Action allows the player engage in a quick battle where he chooses planet and side and then just goes at it. Pick Endore and play as the Empire for some Ewok sniping fun.

The reason the single-player mode is the weakest is because the A.I. is not the most challenging in the galaxy. In addition, if there are vehicles to be had, your A.I. teammates know right where they are and tend to grab them before the human player has a chance to get his bearings and make for one. That leaves the player hoofing it to the fight. Of course an awful lot of the vehicles with any real firepower are also almost painfully slow. A player becomes a high-priority target when he is in one. This makes heavy vehicles less than the omnipotent battlefield terrors you would expect them to be, but quite formidable for some poor grunt who might as well be chucking ping pong balls as shooting an AT-AT with a blaster rifle. The swift vehicles, like speeder bikes, are a particular blast to play with -- as are flying vehicles like the snow speeder and X-wing fighter. But even a Hoth tauntaun or Gungan kaadu make for some fairly swift transportation compared to leg speed.

Multiplayer is the heart and shining soul of the game, and Lucas Arts gave us a full house of options. On a single Xbox, two gamers may play in split-screen mode either competitively or cooperatively. Using System Link, up to 10 may play at once. On Xbox Live the number jumps to 16. It really is a lot of fun to play in the Star Wars universe with a bunch of smart, improvisational, fallible humans. I have noticed some rather severe lag while playing online during peak times, but I highly suspect that the servers may be being overwhelmed with the shear number of people wanting to play.

Graphically the game is beautiful, with good character animation and fully-realized locations from the movies. The audio is outstanding and fighting is accompanied by the soaring John Williams score. Control is tight, responsive and intuitive, though I missed any kind of melee attack.

As a developer, Pandemic has had a hell of a year. First the outstanding and unique Full Spectrum Warrior and now the ultimate Star Wars combat game, Battlefront. Looking back to their earlier Star Wars: The Clone Wars and comparing it to what they’ve done recently, you can see they have been building toward the great developer they have become. I expect these folks to just get better and better.

So, should you buy Star Wars Battlefront? If you are any kind of fan of Star Wars...HELL, YEAH! If you aren't a fan and just want a fun, multiplayer, action shooter set in a sci-fi world – still Hell, yeah. Just not as strong. I just wish there were a melee attack so I could finally bludgeon an Ewok to death with the butt of my blaster. Don’t deny you want to do the same thing! We both know you do. © 2004 GameShark.com