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A solid entry in the Battlefront library

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 32 / 38
Date: October 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (2007.)

INTRODUCTION:
The world of Star Wars games has always been a hit and miss one. For every masterpiece of a game like Rogue Leader, there's a piece of junk like Masters of Teras Kasi to bring the series' reputation back down a notch. One of the major advances in the Star Wars gaming world was the Battlefront series, giving players an opportunity to take control of a foot soldier and fight the fights any way they wanted to, with one of numerous classes. The second installment added in new advances such as space battles and hero combat. However, the PSP port was flawed and scaled down in many ways. Now, a new installment in the series has been released, exclusively on PSP. Is this a good move for Star Wars games, or a tragic misstep?

OVERVIEW:
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron was released in October of 2007, for PSP only. The game features several single player and multiplayer options and modes, including instant action, conquest, campaign as well as ad-hoc and infrastructure battles for multiple gamers.

REVIEW:
After playing the rather half-assed port of Battlefront II on the PSP, not to mention the fact that my overall experience with the system as a whole has been negative, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Renegade Squadron. I must say, though, a lot of the kinks have been worked out. There are still issues, but this is far superior to the Battlefront II port.

-THE GOOD:
-A CONTROL SCHEME CUSTOM MADE FOR THE PSP. The PSP version of Battlefront II was basically a scaled down version of the one on consoles, and this had huge drawbacks since the PSP doesn't have as many buttons as most consular controllers. But this time around Lucas Arts has done a good job. Flying a starship, controlling your character, aiming, and driving vehicles are done a lot better this time around.
-SEVERAL MODES OF PLAY. Most of the modes you've grown to love on home console Battlefront games can be found here. There's your typical, straight-to-the-point Instant Action mode that lets you jump right in, as well as Galactic Conquest and a new Story Mode campaign.
-MULTIPLAYER OPTIONS. These are the big draw of this game, just like any other version of Battlefront. You can do a local, Ad-Hoc game, or you can take the experience online! It's about time Lucas Arts gave us easy-to-do online multiplayer in the Battlefront universe that doesn't involve playing on a PC. Online play is the best thing this game has going for it.
-CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS. Rather than choosing from a bunch of soldier classes like in older games, this time around you can customize your soldier. Choose a body/head type, and weapon types, and other stats, and you're good to go! Want a Rodian on the side of the Rebel Alliance with a chaingun and grenades? No problem!
-NEW HERO CHARACTERS. Amongst them are characters like Asajj Ventress, Admiral Ackbar, and Kit Fisto.
-NEW BATTLEFIELDS. You can battle in plenty of new locales not seen in a Battlefront game before, including Saluecami, Ord Mantell, and Boz Pity. Plenty of old favorites return as well.

-THE BAD:
-CHANGING STATS/EQUIPMENT MID BATTLE SLOWS DOWN THE FLOW OF THE GAME. While I'm glad for the customization options, I wish they at least would have INCLUDED the option of choosing presets.
-NOT ENOUGH HERO CHARACTERS, AND THE FEW HERE TEND TO PLAY ALIKE. The number of hero characters has downward spiraled sharply since the days of Battlefront II. And the few that you can play as all tend to have similar abilities.
-CHARACTER INVENTORIES ARE REDUCED FROM BATTLEFRONT II. In Battlefront II, most characters had two primary weapons and two secondaries. This game scales down the inventories. Now each character, on average, only gets a single primary weapon and a single secondary one.
-STILL NO AERIAL VEHICLES IN THE TERRESTRIAL MISSIONS! Sadly, this game continues the negative trend and once again fails to include them. There are snowspeeders in Hoth, but that's it for flying machines in a terrestrial setting.
-NO MAPS FROM BATTLEFRONT I. Why didn't Lucas Arts bring back the Tatooine and Bespin maps from the first game, with the air vehicles? Sadly, Kashyyyk is represented here in a map based on the crappy Battlefront II one, not one of the excellently-done Battlefront I ones.
-TOUGH TO AIM AND HIT TARGETS UNLESS YOU USE LOCK-ON OR FIRST-PERSON AIMING. By default your character automatically aims slightly ABOVE their field of view, and this makes targeting too difficult.
-NO ASSAULT MODE!? This is one of my major complaints. Assault Mode, featured in Battlefront II, let players pit all the heroes and villains against one another in a deathmatch. It was a great feature that should have reappeared.
-STORY MODE IS THE SAME OBJECTIVE-BASED KIND THAT WAS FEATURED IN BATTLEFRONT II. This story mode was weak in Battlefront II because it was too linear, with often extremely difficult objectives - and failing an objective meant restarting the entire mission. It's no different here.

OVERALL:
Overall I feel this is a good game that is superior to the PSP port of Battlefront II by far. The customization options are nice, but I wish they'd fixed more of the flaws of Battlefront II and given us a more consistent package. Still, it's a good game, and if nothing else, it will make a fine weekend rental.

Marginal thumbs up.

EDITION NOTES:
It's a brand new game. You're not going to have to look too hard to find it.

Battlefront 2.5, now with more Han Solo

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 20 / 23
Date: October 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As this game's lengthy title suggests, Renegade Squadron is just the latest in a long-running line of Battlefront games, which in turn owe a lot to the Battlefield WWII games. It's all about running around a virtual battlefield with different soldiers and their vehicles -- and is about as close to playing with Star Wars toys as you'll get in a video game, even more so than the Lego games. Claims that this is exclusive to the PSP are technically true, but remember that the same kind of game is available elsewhere on the PS2, XBOX, Windows, and Macintosh, in arguably better form (Star Wars Battlefront II).

The PSP already has a similar game to this, in the form of Star Wars Battlefront II (2005). That well-intentioned port pushed the PSP farther than it could go, with clunky controls, slow framerates, and local-only multiplayer, which was the kiss of death for a game primarily designed for online play. It still sold well and can be found cheaply, but Renegade renders it irrelevant. In single-player mode, Renegade Squadron is one of the first game to use the full 333 MHz of the PSP's clockspeed. In multiplayer mode, it drops to the usual 222 MHz to conserve power, but because of a few smart design choices, raw power isn't absolutely needed for a great experience.

What's new here? The biggest change is in the controls, which are greatly improved over the PSP version of Star Wars Battlefront II. When you're on the ground, you can holding down the R button to lock your sights on an enemy, letting you circle around him without losing your aim. While you're flying around in space (in X-Wing and TIE Fighters, as well as the Millenium Falcon), you can autoselect a target with one button, and pressing another will enable an autopilot to point you in the right direction. Since the autopilot follows lines of sight only, you'll still need to use your brain to maneuver the 3D objects in the space scenes. These changes are well-suited to the handheld, and while they make things easier, the tactical challenges are still present. I'd rather fight against my onscreen enemies than the controls of a game!

The other main difference between Renegade Squadron and the previous iteration on PSP is the inclusion of Infrastructure multiplayer. In other words, you can play on the internet with strangers, using a Gamespy-powered server explorer, much like the console and computer versions of the game. I didn't notice any significant lag when playing online, and there were plenty of opponents.

Other nice touches: the short (took me about 3 hours) campaign story is typical Star Wars, interwoven with events and characters from the films. You rescue Ackbar, you fake out the Emperor, and there's a lot of Han Solo fan service such as "Greedo shot first" in-jokes. Like most SW stories, it doesn't take many risks, except for the scene where you infiltrate the Emperor's home and smash up his holy relics, Taliban style. It's told with beautifully painted panels, which are partially animated (more than a pop-up book, less than a cartoon). Voiceovers and sound effects are of typically high LucasArts quality. Character customization is simple yet richly integrated into gameplay, forcing you to to choose the balance of health, firepower, speed, and other attributes based upon the needs of each mission.

If you've enjoyed other versions of Star Wars Battlefront, is this worth getting? In my opinion, the fixed controls and fully developed multiplayer makes this the best portable version of this kind of game yet. It can't compete with PC and console versions (with higher resolutions, better controls, and more robust online play with voice and keyboard support), but it's easily the best Star Wars game to come along since SWBF2. It's a great little game and if you're a Star Wars fan with a PSP, you should have it already. If you don't yet have a PSP, there's a white, slim PSP with a Darth Vader silkscreen packed in with this game, too!

Just plain Bad

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 12
Date: October 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I can't figure out why anyone would like this game. I bought the game to entertain me on a long flight and I was extremely disappointed.

First of all, the campagin mode is extremely short. I basically finished it in less than 2 hours. Once you have completed the campaign mode you have seen almost everything in the game. If you have done 1 ground combat and 1 space combat you have seen almost all the equipment in the game. There is nothing that is revealed later or that you can unlock with the exception of 1 new tie fighter.

In the ground battles, the movement is extremely klunky. If want to turn around it can be difficult and if you are sprinting forget about it. The weapons that are used in the game are either tedious to use or they are incredibly wimpy. It takes 5-10 shots from some of them to bring down even the weakest of enemies. Oh, and speaking of enemies, I hope you enjoy shooting the same 3 guys over and over again because there ain't a lot of difference here. In the "Galactic Conquest" mode you'll get to see a whole lot of the same maps so enjoy that.

In the space battles, there are basically 4 vehicles for each side and they have almost identical handling and weapons load outs. There is no difference between the Imperial Tie Bomber and the Rebel Y wing bomber. Truth be told all of the vehicles in the space mode seemed to be almost the same except for the difference of being able to fire 2 or 6 missles.

The "Galactic Conquest" game mode is not bad but it is extremely short, like the Campaign mode, and it doesn't have a whole lot of replay value.

The one thing I can't figure out is why they included both Clone Wars and Empire characters and then didn't include the Clone Wars stuff in either the campaign mode or in the Galactic Conquest mode. I would have really enjoyed playing clone wars battles in either mode.

I know that this game is made to appeal to Star Wars fans and I suspect that these are the only people that will like the heroes in the game. From my perspective I thought they were not much different than playing the standard troopers and I eventually stopped using them at all. Once you get over the appeal of starting at Luke Skywalkers back he is fairly useless.

If you are a huge Star Wars fan then you will probably enjoy this game. If you are anyone else this game is too short, too small and too boring. Pass this one up and find another Star Wars game.

Han Solo says: "Here's where the fun begins."

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 11
Date: October 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As far as PSP games go, Renegade Squadron is one of the best. If you're a fan of Star Wars, it'll make it all the better. The games quite lengthy. The single player campain is pretty long, and has a great story. The multiplayer is also very addictive if you have friends to play with.

The controls have been redone since the last PSP Battlefront. I'll give a quick rundown: Joystick is for moving the character foward, backwards, left, and right. Hold down the right shaulder button to lock onto a target (It also allows you to strafe) Hold down the left shaulder button to run. Tap the left shaulder button to jump. X is fire, square throws a grenade, Y is zoom, and O is roll. There really simple and easy to use. The real treat are the flying missions. They control very smoothly, and are real joy to play.

The single player story is quite good. You play as a hired mercenary who's working for a special group known as "The Renegade Squadron", which is led by Han Solo. You're essentialy playing through the original trilogy performing different secret mission. You'll run into characters like Vader, Boba Fett, and many other well known characters from the Star Wars universe. You can even play as some of them if you're lucky.

The multiplayer can be a lot of fun. There's online play, but I sadly haven't been able to try it yet. But I do have two friends who also picked up the game. So we easily connected via WiFi and played with, or against eachother. You can make whatever type of gameplay you want. And play on which ever side you feel like. There's a lot of options and should easily please fans of mutiplayer.

Let me end it with this: Playing as Boba Fett, jet packing wherever I wanted to, and shooting flames out of my left arm all at the same time, has never put a bigger smile on my face. Easily one of the best Star Wars games to date. Thats no easy task.

Fun Game, Great Graphics, Over Too Soon

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

"Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron" is nothing short of a great PSP game. The graphics, music, and game play are all way above average for games on portable systems. The missions are fun and the new customizing options give the player a lot of flexibility when developing their characters.

My only compliant is that the game was fairly short and can be completed in one session. The game can be replayed and supports multi-player modes, so it only loses one star on my rating for this.

Highly recommended!

Better Than Battlefront 2

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: October 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm not saying I'm an expert on Battlefront 2, but this game just feels right when compared to its predecessor. The graphics look a little better. Movement is smooth and fluid. Flying missions are a lot of fun. Voice acting is pretty good. The cut scenes aren't anything to write home about as they are merely photos set to music and dialogue. However, you do get to customize your character. You can also earn credits to purchase lots of different weapons. I haven't tried the multiplayer yet. I think if you are a Star Wars fan you probably can't go wrong with purchasing this game.

Great Game, but some faults

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've had this game for 5 days now. I agree with the other users in saying that the Campaign mode is extremely short. I finished it max 3 hours. But, for the PSP it is a great game, a good amount of levels, and the customization feature is awesome. The major fault, however, I have is the auto-lock when firing. This makes the game extremely easy on normal. Even on elite mode you mow down 8-10 enemies before dying. It kind of takes the fun out of it because I don't think I've lost a single battle yet, which is annoying because that's what makes games challenging, close hard fought battles. But I guess you can't fault the game entirely for that because of the limited buttons on the PSP itself. Maybe on the next PSP they will have 2 analog sticks, which will allow for much better 1st person shooting games. Also, I have not tried the online multiplayer, but when I do get wireless I'm sure it will be awesome.

Bring More To The Battlefront

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: October 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

A Long time a go there was a game for PSP called Star Wars Battlefront II a fun game but lacked in various ways, the levels were no different from the play station 2 version but cut down, meaning some parts of some levels were gone or altered which did not help the experience on the PSP.
Then Renegade Squadron came, more levels, deeper levels, an actual campaign story, ONLINE multiplayer, the controls have changed the new controls allows you to move your character with the analog stick. However the controls from last time are back with minor tweaks, good or back, overall with a positive gaming experience. When it asks you to play as a hero it won't take you out of the game, you'll take the role of that hero right then and there.
The fact that you can choose what your guy looks like, class, species, color of clothings and what he brings to attack, choose your primary weapon, secondary, grenades, and much more.
A Great improvement for Star Wars Battlefront, another great game for the PSP.

Best One Yet

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: October 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game soon after playing it as a rental - I really enjoyed it. You can customize your player with colors, bodies, and heads. You can also choose your own weapons and other gadgets. I enjoyed playing the infastructure mode; I am surprised it was not included in the second Battlefront game. I was surprised at how many worlds there were to play in - far more than Battlefront 2. When playing Instant Action, you can now play Hero Capture the flag. The controls took some getting used to, but now that I have them down I like them more than the originals.

Lucasarts should use their time for BFIII for 360, not waste it on this ****

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 9
Date: December 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a pure waste of money. The fact that the analog stick is on the same side as the d-pad is dooming for the psp. Lock-on replacing looking up down left and right is stupid. Yes, the customization is cool, but I was expecting an at least DECENT game. Lucasarts, Battlefronts 1 & 2 are amazing. This, however, is a sham. SHAME ON YOU LUCASARTS, USE YOUR TIME FOR BATTLEFRONT 3 OR FORCE UNLEASHED FOR XBOX 360 RATHER THAN THIS ****.

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