OUR RATING: 7.6 VERY GOOD About our ratings

TANGIBLES: Gameplay: 7 Visuals: 6 Audio: 9 Value: 8 Quality: 8

Why you should buy it: Not Available Why you should rent it: Not Available

UNIQUE RATING: 7.6 SUGGESTION: N/A

The PSP is fast becoming known for its high amount of watered down console ports, and Star Wars Battlefront 2 does little to break away from the norm. Nonetheless, it provides enough fun to keep up with the higher tier of PSP games. While it is nothing special, Battlefront 2 does a great job of replicating the console experience in portable form. It’s a shame that a few technical problems end up bringing the game down a bit.

The story of Battlefront 2 spans the entire Star Wars saga, from the clone wars to the galactic civil war. All of the big name characters make their appearances as hero characters, from Darth Maul to Darth Vader, from Obi-Wan Kenobi to Chewbacca, even the great Yoda is playable. Most of the time however, you will be playing as a nameless soldier, fearlessly risking your neck only to eventually be killed in a blazing rain of laser fire or a stray hand grenade.

Death is practically inevitable in Battlefront 2; this is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the realm of realism, as you truly feel like a gear in the grand machine, but a curse in the realm of gameplay, as when you die, it is typically by a cheap shot, or something easily preventable. Most of the time, you will die seconds before capturing an enemy control point, or just before finishing off an enemy you’ve been wearing down for half the match. Apparently, this shoddy balance was supposed to make up for the incredibly lame enemy and ally AI. Nobody, whether they’re your friend or foe, has any intelligence whatsoever. Strategy is almost meaningless in Battlefront 2. This is a real shame because a game like this has proven to be incredible when tactical gameplay is introduced. The Battlefield series has proven this fact.

Snipers and heavy weapon soldiers, among other playable classes, are all but useless--you will likely play as one of two classes: the standard soldier, or a hero character. While the different classes do have their certain advantages over others, they never really come in handy. The sniper class is particularly useless due to the god-awful control scheme. Seeing as how the PSP lacks a second analog nub, control is awkward. The default control scheme maps movement to the analog nub and targeting to the face buttons. There are other set ups, but each of them has a weakness. One might seem perfect at first, but you’ll soon find that it leaves a particular ability very hard to get to. Whether it is throwing a grenade, jumping, or looking around, each control scheme changes something for the better but leaves something else in unreachable territory.

While the control scheme suffers due to the Playstation Portable’s technical limitations, the game is also brought down by the lack of any real campaign mode. Instead of a historical campaign as was in the console version of Battlefront 2, the PSP version only supplies the Galactic Conquest Mode, Instant Action, and the PSP exclusive Challenge Mode. Challenge mode is a very brief set of three different scenarios, each with about three or four independent missions based on a particular objective. One scenario has you playing as a rogue assassin, killing key characters on a map littered with other enemies. Another has you in the role of a rebel scout searching for spare parts and other objects. The last mode places you in the suit of an Empire soldier, tasked with killing a set amount of enemies belonging to a certain species. Wookies, Gungans, Jawas, and even Ewoks are all targets in these missions. Galactic Conquest Mode is just like the console version--you pick a time frame and scenario and fight an opposing army for control of the galaxy. These missions lead you into space and ground combat. Instant action is nothing more than a single player free-for-all. Pick a game mode (CTF, Deathmatch, Conquest, etc.) and simulate a multiplayer game with bots instead of people.

Speaking of multiplayer, Battlefront 2 doesn’t offer any online mode, the feature that practically made the console versions what they are. Instead, this PSP port offers AD-HOC multiplayer, which is basically local wireless gameplay.

Visually, Battlefront 2 is a mixed bag. The textures and environments are muddy and uninspired, and in the larger maps such as Hoth, the draw distance is horrible. Character models and particle effects are great, but they don’t blend well with the other less than desirable graphical disappointments. Also, the framerate can dip down to unbearable levels at times, but the majority of the game moves along smoothly.

Something that all Star Wars games are known for is their incredible movie-inspired music. Every major tune from the film series is packed into this game, as are the classic Star Wars sound effects. Lasers have never sounded so authentic. The sound of space ships rips through your speakers, and lightsabers hum menacingly.

If you are looking for a great portable Star Wars experience that blends console gameplay with portable style and flare, and you can bare with some technical setbacks, you are in for a real treat with Star Wars Battlefront 2. It definitely ranks among the better PSP games of the year, and will surely keep you entertained for quite some time if you’re a true Star Wars fan.