Star Wars: Battlefront
Aspyr Media
Price: $49.99
Pros: Great selection of vehicles and weapons from the movie, addictive gameplay.
Cons: Little plot that requires knowledge of the films, single player seems like training for online games, limited cross-platform support.
by Gerrit Dalman
Hoth. Naboo. Geonosis. If you recognize those names, you're familiar with some of the biggest Star Wars battles. With Aspyr's release of Star Wars: Battlefront you can now join in these and other epic campaigns spanning five of the six Star Wars films.
Battlefront let's you play on either side of all the major land battle in Lucas' famous movies as well as a few extra battles that fill in the gaps. It's upcoming sequel, which may or may not come to the Mac, will include content from the final film. This game does the best job yet of tying the whole series together which is nice since the DVD set containing all three movies won't be out for a while.
Unfortunately it spans the story with no real narration. Despite mood-setting clips from the movies and mission briefs in the voices of film characters, there is no real plot explanation as you play. So unless you're a Star Wars fan the game plays as a bunch of loosely related skirmishes with no real continuity.
If you are a fan though, the sound effects, units, and settings straight from the films will make every battle an exciting exploration of the saga's most memorable elements. The game has a grand scope, but it trades that content for less satisfying gameplay than some other Star Wars games.
In addition to lacking a rich plot, which is a hallmark of Star Wars, there is no character development. Each battle is isolated and is a simple game of territories where you must help your side gain and maintain control of several landmarks while fending off the enemy. Hold those key points long enough, while inflicting more damage on your foes than they do on you, and you will win.
While this is a thoroughly enjoyable multiplayer game model, it doesn't work well as a single player game. The "galactic conquest" mode compensates a little by adding a strategic element to the selection of your battles, but the game still plays like an online game against bots all the time.
So you would think the online play was better. Generally that is true. The opponents are more challenging and everything else plays exactly the same. Unfortunately, while Mac-to-Mac online play is supported via GameRanger, PC/Mac play is only available in direct IP or local LAN games. This severely limits the potential of this network-centric game.
Ultimately Battlefront could be an addictive online game, but the Mac-only online play cripples that potential and leaves the game with little replay value. Still, it's really fun to explore the universe, weapons, and vehicles of Star Wars.
If you're a Star Wars fan who has been waiting for a new Mac release, go get this one right away. If you're just looking for a fun game to invest in, keep shopping.
System Requirements:
* Mac OS X 10.3.6 or later
* 1GHz G4 or better
* 256MB RAM
* 2.7GB of disk space
* 64MB or better video card
* DVD drive