My first opportunity to see the game was last April at Star Wars Celebrations III; I must say I was impressed, the game looked amazing at that time and much more polished then I was expecting. However, there was nothing really that stood out as diffrent from the original. Over the next few months I had the opportunity to see the game several more times, until in November when amid much fanfare the game was released simultaneously with Episode III. I eagerly picked the game up that night and all I can say is, "Wow!" This game is all that I hoped for and more.

BF2 has some great new features that were missing in the original. First and foremost is a single player game that is worth playing. The story revolves around the 501st Legion and their role in the "Rise of the Empire". The story of the legion is the story of Star Wars, starting in the closing days of the Republic. The game truly doesn't begin the Legion marched into the Jedi Temple behind Lord Vader truly marking the end of the Old Republic and the Rise of the Empire.

The game features many familiar locations from the Star Wars universe: from the planet spanning city of Coruscant with its halls of power to the lonely swamp planet of Dagobah where Yoda ended his days. For fans of this fantasy universe it's a thrill to see and explore the halls of the Tantive 4 or even the dreaded temples of Exar Kun on Yavin 4. My personal favorite map was the Death Star. It was very detailed - including the trash compacter on the detention level (which you have to blast open just like in Episode 4) - and the conference room where the Grand Moff Tarkin conducted the business of running the battle station. It's a pretty remarkable experience.

If this was all there was to the single player game I would be happy, but Pandemic didn't stop there. They added another feature to space combat and it's here that the game truly shines combining the classic shooter with a space based flight simulator. A really new and enjoyable feature was added and not only does the player get to visit some of the coolest spots, but they get to fly some of the most vaunted and memorable ships in science fiction. There are several missions that use this feature; they all contain a variety of elements from destroying an enemy capital ship to my favorite, landing on and stealing General Grievous's Ship (though they call it the CIS Strike Bomber). Some players may not care for this addition to the game but Pandemic thought ahead, acknowledging this is not to everyone's taste, and added an option to skip these battles.

The final feature added to the game that I'll cover is the ability to play the game as one of the main characters, taking to battle as Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and even Jedi Master Yoda. This was another feature that many players wanted, the ability to take to the field as one of the powerful masters of their trade and it is truly enjoyable. This could have been over-powered but once again Pandemic showed forethought and added a feature that controls how long a player can control a Hero/Nemesis through the use of the lightsaber, where the character's health is will slowly count down. The player can only increase this bar by killing the enemy. On some levels this means that you can play as a Hero for quite some time and only a short time on others, but it also means that only rarely will these characters make a difference in a game - and that is how it should be.

Now let's be honest. What really made the first game fun is still there in this game and that's the multiplayer feature. If all that had been done was improve the single player game this would still be a great game. Pandemic went further, and also improved the multiplayer with additional players in every battle (now up to 32 on Xbox and 64 on PC), new modes and finally New Downloadable Expansions available though X-box Live!

The multiplayer for Battlefront II has several types of modes from classics like Capture the Flag and Conquest; to new additions such as Hunt - a timed game where the goal is to kill as many of the local critters as you can during a time period, and Assault where the Heroes are pitted against the Villains in the ultimate duel. While the multiplayer doesn't offer anything dramatically new over the previous offering, it's still a solid experience, with hours of enjoyable content. The only limit that can be frustrating is that player hosted servers are limited to a maximum of four players, while not a huge loss this can be frustrating when trying to get a game going amongst a large group of friends.

I have to admit that Battlefront 2, while have a lot of new features hasn't changed that much from the original game. The original was a winning formula and, let's be honest, there's not a huge reason to make any major changes to a wining formula so long as it keeps winning. That said, many of the levels will feel familiar to players of the previous game. Even the new maps have the same feel as the older maps and while this isn't all bad I think I'd hoped for some new innovative maps that would blow my socks off, but perhaps this was too much to hope for. On the other hand the ability to play a game in space adds a whole new element to multiplayer. Now I can not only fight on the ground but test my piloting skills against those of my friends in dogfights, bombing runs and even ship assaults. There is something satisfying about landing on a friend's ship and stealing a fighter right out from under their nose!

Taken as a whole, Battlefront 2 is a credit to the Star Wars franchise of games. While it does nothing groundbreaking when compared to its predecessor it's still an extremely enjoyable game the maps are fun and fast-paced. With the addition of an excellent single-player based campaign this game was for me one of the best games of 2005 and is a must for any fan of Star Wars or Shooters.