It’s been ages since Lucasarts has managed to impress me -or anyone else- with their games. Or with their humour. Not only have they dumped adventures and all but forgotten anything related to Monkey Island, you see, they also seem to have rejected any kind of creativity and/or originality by producing a torrent of mediocre and/or lackluster Star Wars action and(/or) strategy games. The original Star Wars Battlefront was a prime example of this trend. It was nothing more than a desperate clone of Battlefield 1942 with Star Wars models and textures tacked on, that also managed to impressively screw up quite a few gameplay bits.

Enter Star Wars Battlefront II, a shockingly fun game released a couple of years ago, that now comes with a very modest price tag and is an addictive offering I still occasionally dip into.

Now, truth be said, SWBFII is not an original concept either. It still is a Lucasarts product. And a Star Wars game. And quite obviously not an adventure, but more of a first person shooter with a strong multiplayer aspect. Yet, I honestly enjoyed playing through the thing and quite frankly still do. I don’t even mind the rather depopulated servers either.

SWBFII is such an improvement over its predecessor it totally surprised me and reminded me how fond of Star Wars games (TIE Fighter is what I am actually referring to) I once used to be. There are lots of excellent maps, vastly improved game mechanics, four different factions, many weapons and classes to choose from, playable characters (Darth Vader and co.) that can be used in multiplayer battles, a decent single player campaign, driveable vehicles and even a small but interesting strategic mode called Galactic Conquest (unfortunately only for the single player mode). By far though, the most interesting new feature is the inclusion of space battles. X-Wings, B-Wings, Y-Wings, TIE Fighters and the rest are all there in a highly enjoyable space flight sim in the style of X-Wing versus TIE Fighter. You can even land inside enemy motherships and fight for tyranny or freedom on foot. You can even play capture the flag in space! Joy. Lots and lots of hours of joy actually, since this is a game that really has dozens of hours worth of gameplay to offer.

Obviously and unfortunately all is not perfect though. The 3d engine seems a bit dated, a lack of overall polish is at points evident, minor bot A.I. problems do exist, in-mission save points in the campaign don’t and you get to play as Princess Leia. Oh, and it definitely isn’t the most original or artistic game I have ever seen… Still, Star Wars: Battlefront II should probably keep Star Wars fans off the streets till the release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.