Star Wars: Battlefront

Star Wars: Battlefront is a first-person shooter/third-person shooter (interchangeable) video game based around battles featured in the Star Wars movies. It was developed by Pandemic Studios and Lucas Arts, and released on September 21, 2004 for Xbox, PlayStation 2, and PC, the same day as the release of the Star Wars Trilogy DVD set. You can either play Battlefront online with up to 16 players, or offline with up to 2 players.

The game features four main factions from both the Prequel and the Classic trilogies. They are: the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems (Separatists) of the prequel era, and the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire of the classic trilogy. However, factions can only play their historical adversary; there can't be any Rebel vs. Separatist fights, for example. Within each unit, five different classes of characters become available. Four of the classes are fairly similar for each faction: a basic infantry soldier (a Super Battle Droid for the Separatists), a soldier with a rocket launcher, a pilot, and a sniper. The fifth class is different for each faction. The Imperials have the Dark Trooper, with a jetpack which enables short but high jumps. The Republic has Jet trooper, with a jetpack, which enables long but low jumps, and an EMP launcher. The Separatists have the Droideka, which is very powerful and fast, but can't use vehicles. The Rebels have the Wookiee smuggler, with extra health, time-bombs, a bowcaster, and a grenade launcher.

Jedi heros are featured in the game: the Rebel Alliance gets Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader wields his lightsaber for the Empire, Mace Windu fights along with the Republic, and Count Dooku is with the Separatists. Jedi characters appear but are not playable; they may only be your allies in battle, under certain circumstances.

There are also non-playable characters (NPCs): Tusken Raiders roam the Dune Sea of Tatooine, Jawas patrol the streets of Mos Eisley, Ewoks inhabit the jungle of the forest moon of Endor, Gungans battle on the Naboo Plain, and Wookiees fight for the freedom of their homeland on Kashyyyk.

There is a playable demo on the Star Wars Trilogy bonus DVD. If someone puts it into an Xbox, they can play the Battle of Endor mission.

Playable Vehicles and Ships
(There are no B-Wings, but A-Wings will be included in Star Wars Battlefront 2)
 * AT-STs
 * AT-ATs
 * X-Wings
 * Y-Wings
 * Speeder bikes
 * Rebel Snowspeeders
 * Republic Gunships
 * AT-TEs
 * Droid Gunships
 * Vulture Droid Starfighters
 * Jedi Starfighters
 * Geonosian Starfighters
 * TIE Fighters
 * TIE Bombers
 * Imperial Combat Speeders
 * Naboo Combat Speeders
 * Desert Air Skiffs
 * Rebel Combat Speeders
 * Separatist Hailfire Droids
 * Kaadus
 * Separatist "Homing Spider-Walkers"
 * Trade Federation Tanks
 * STAPs
 * Tauntauns

In addition to the above, various blaster turrets and emplaced guns are available on various maps. These vehicles have many capabilities from the movies - a Republic Gunship can carry up to hold six people, and Rebel Snowspeeders are able to launch a tow cable out of the rear of the vehicle to trip up AT-ATs.

Planets

 * Bespin
 * Forest moon of Endor
 * Geonosis
 * Hoth
 * Kashyyyk
 * Naboo
 * Rhen Var
 * Tatooine
 * Yavin 4

Sequels
A new sequel, Star Wars Battlefront 2 will be releasing early November, 2005 on the PS2, Xbox, PSP, and PC platforms.