After approximately 10 hours of XBOX Live game play with Battlefront, I've come to at least an initial conclusion that this game is incredibly fun, and quite possibly severely addicting. Not being an avid online multiplayer gamer, I had very few pre-conceived notions about what this game would provide (aside from the technical details that have been written about in previews of the game), and whether this ultimately effects my judgment is up for speculation. Onto the gist of what Battlefront has to offer.

Graphics
For first person/3rd person shooters, this is usually fairly important to me, as the level of graphical detail goes a long way in suspending my sense of disbelief. That being said, I was immediately taken by how great the graphics looked. Character models appear to be appropriately detailed as do the vehicles in both appearance and scale. I also noticed smaller details like swaying grass, realistic water, raindrops splashing as they landed, starships casting realistic shadows as they flew over mesas, ect. The landscapes on each map also appeared to present a realistic representation of their movie counterpart. Mos Eisley on Tatooine has sprawling city streets replete with cantina, Hoth has snow trenches with operational turrets and destroyable shield generators, and Bespin's Cloud City has a maze of hallways complete with carbon freezing chamber from The Empire Strikes Back. Details such as this transport you directly into the game, creating the sense that you are actually fighting in one of the movie's epic battles.

Sound
I know I’m not getting the full effect of what the sound in this game has to offer (I only have a stereo setup coming out of my HDTV’s speakers), but even in simple stereo, the sound produced is awesome. There are sounds that are so unique to the Star Wars universe, people can identify them immediately; the roar of a TIE Fighter careening across the sky, the “snap-hiss” of a lightsaber activating, the distinctive sound a Stormtrooper blaster makes, all are present in Battlefront. In addition, John Williams’s equally famous Star Wars themes are played throughout the battles. Anyone who has seen a Star Wars film will instantly recognize musical pieces like the opening fan fare, the Imperial March (i.e. Darth Vader’s theme), ect., as they are played throughout the course of the game (if none of these items sound familiar to you, immediately stop reading this review, and proceed with all due haste to your local video rental establishment, and rent each movie).

Game Play
Battlefront employs a class based system, meaning each playable character is specialized in a particular weapon/action. The Soldier class, for example, has a standard blaster rifle type of weapon, while a Pilot class can repair vehicles, distribute ammo packs, and heal other players. There is also a Special class which will have a unique ability/and or weapon. The Republic Jet Trooper has a jet pack (a la Jango/Boba Fett) which allows him to move quickly across and above the battlefield. The droid army has the Droideka, which can transform into a ball to move quickly across territory, and has a re-chargeable energy shield. Each time your character dies, you have the option to re-spawn in a specified location, and as one of the 5 classes for your faction. This allows for a certain amount of strategy to be utilized when spawning; should I come back as a Heavy Weapon’s class to help take out that AT-AT, or should I return as a Sniper to take out multiple enemies from a distance? Depending on the state of the game you’re playing, the class you spawn as could make a huge difference in the game’s eventual outcome.

Vehicles
It seems that the big thing with these types of multiplayer games is the implementation of usable vehicles. I’ve played UT2K4, Battlefield Vietnam, Halo, ect., and while each of these games have unique vehicles specific to the genre in which they exist, they all have a “sameness” to them in my opinion. Battlefront is the first time I’ve been in control of a 20 meter tall walking tank (AT-AT) that lumbers across the map destroying installations, vehicles, and soldiers in torrents of destructive blaster fire (seeing an enemy soldier fly 30 feet through the air in multiple somersaults as a result of a well placed cannon blast is a site to behold). A vehicle like the Republic Gunship, while more conventional, implements some of the best aspects of vehicular multi-user functionality. You can have one person flying the craft while 3 additional players man the ship’s guns, which are directional and provide a continuous sustained beam for strafing enemy infantry (side guns). Even bots can man the guns to provide at least the rudimentary “shoot any enemy that comes into range” fire support. Vehicles working in tandem can be absolutely devastating (e.g. an AT-AT supported by ground tanks providing flanking cover fire). The controls can be a bit tricky at first, but once mastered, they work quite well.

Controls
Battlefront provides a myriad of controller customization options. Every game I’ve played prior on the XBOX has provided 3 or 4 controller profiles and a small number of additional options (e.g. invert Y axis, configure for “south paws”, etc.), Battlefront on the other hand provides an almost PC/Keyboard level of remapping customization. You can, for example, change the left thumb stick to control the direction of a vehicle, or have it control the vehicle’s throttle, or any of 4 or 5 additional options. You can also map a button to provide a quick switch between 1st person and 3rd person view points (kind of bothers me that this wasn’t a stock implementation, but at least you have the option to re-map at will). This level of augmentation is really the first time I’ve seen the line blurred between PC control layout customizations and console interface customizations.

XBOX Live
XBOX Live implementation is a mixed bag of good and bad in Battlefront. You have most of the standard XBOX Live features you would expect (Friends List, Create Match, Optimatch, etc.), however a couple items are conspicuously missing. There doesn’t appear to be any option for Downloaded content for starters. This is a big deal to me as I feel an XBOX Live game really lives or dies by its ability to receive new content. While Battlefront does provide a rather large amount of content (8 planets with 2 large maps on each planet for 2 time eras and 4 factions, plus the Galactic Conflict mode of game play), it is inevitable that this content will become old. New planets/maps, weapons, vehicles, playable classes, campaign modes, etc. would extend the life of this game much as it has for seminal XBOX Live games like Mech Assault. Another missing feature, which many people really seem to enjoy, is a leader board where you can compare your Battlefront standings to other XBOX Live players. This is not a feature that really concerns me, but I know there are many who utilize this feature in other XBOX Live games.

Additional Network Issues
Online matches are rather difficult to join at times. Information is slow to refresh on the server list, and many times a game will show there are available slots, but when you attempt to join the game, you are given a “Server Full” message. There are frustrating moments where attempting to join a game results in a wait screen, that after 60 seconds simply kicks you back to the server list. The Ping indicator is also difficult to decipher as it is displayed as a color bar instead of a numeric indicator. Unless you see several bars of varying ping rates (e.g. half green, full red, etc.), there is little to ascertain what the displayed value actually represents. There is also currently a great deal of lag on the network for Battlefront. One moment you’re staring at a battle droid running towards you, the next he has warped behind you (this can be really bad in the middle of a fire fight). The larger the number of players on a map, the more your XBOX will take a FPS hit. These problems aside, once you find a stable hosted game, you can get in some very enjoyable game play. Hopefully a patch can be implemented that will stabilize the network issues that seems to be plaguing most people currently online playing Battlefront.

Bottom Line
With the above frustrations aside, the bottom line is this: Battlefront is a great game that I’ve been having a blast playing. Battlefront is really the only game of its type currently available for the XBOX (large-scale class based multiplayer game), and this fact gives it an additional plus in my mind. The ability to re-create and participate in the massive battles from the Star Wars movies should appeal to any Star Wars fan. People who have yet to be fully indoctrinated into the world of online multiplayer games like Unreal Tournament and the Battlefield series on the PC would also most likely truly enjoy the experience provided in Battlefront.

Recommended:
Yes