TheStar Warsfranchise has played host to several memorable games throughout the past few decades, many of which serve different niches. Titles likeKnights of the Old Republicand the recentJedi: Fallen Orderboth fill fans’ cravings for a Jedi role-playing experience, whileSquadronsaims to simulate the series' intense space dogfights. Meanwhile, theBattlefrontseries has always been more focused on the “war” part of theStar Warsname. At the time, these titles were the closest one could get to actually playing out film-accurate firefights, and that’s one reason why 2005’sStar Wars Battlefront 2is fondly remembered as a high point inStar Warsgames.
The originalStar WarsBattlefront 2is now 16 years old, and has since seen worthy follow-ups in EA’s reboot of the series. However, that’s not to say the title doesn’t deserve attention nowadays — Disney certainly didn’t think so when it helped restoreBattlefront 2’smultiplayer servers. While some aspects of the game are undoubtedly antiquated, this vintage Star Wars title still has some unique qualities that certainly make it a game worth revisiting in 2021.
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Battlefront 2’s Campaign
The omission of a campaign was a big deal in EA’s 2015 reboot ofBattlefront, in large part due to how fondlyBattlefront 2’scampaign was remembered. BeforeThe Clone WarsandThe Bad Batchpopularized stories about the clones themselves,Battlefront 2featured a narrative centered around the clone army’s 501st legion. An unnamed clone veteran recounts his experiences fighting for both the Republic and Empire, and his account of events casts the clone soldiers in a different light compared to their personality-filled, fan-favorite counterparts seen in modernStar Warsmedia.
InBattlefront 2’scampaign, the clones are cold, heartless, and unwaveringly loyal to their cause, but it wasn’t always that way. The unnamed clone narrator’s first recollection of his time in active combat expresses fear and uncertainty about his situation, which are certainly justifiable feelings given his inexperience with war.
“My first day as a member of the 501st… it was hot, it was sandy, chaotic. Nothing at all like the simulations on Kamino. Of course that’s pretty much the way it was for all of us, wasn’t it? All that breeding, all those years of training… doesn’t really prepare you for all the screaming or the blood, does it? Frankly, I’m still amazed we ever made it through the first hour, never mind the first day.”
But as the events of the story unfold, the soldier becomes more and more comfortable in combat. Unfortunately, that comfort is accompanied by detachment and desensitization. This is demonstrated best when the story catches up toOrder 66— the purge of the Jedi. The narrator’s words prior to assaulting his former allies are particularly haunting.
“What I remember about the rise of the Empire is… is how quiet it was. During the waning hours of the Clone Wars, the 501st Legion was discreetly transferred back to Coruscant. It was a silent trip. We all knew what was about to happen, what we were about to do. Did we have any doubts? Any private, traitorous thoughts? Perhaps, but no one said a word. Not on the flight to Coruscant, not when Order 66 came down, and not when we marched into the Jedi Temple. Not a word.”
From this point forward, the soldier expresses a callous demeanor towards his unit’s murderous and oppressive actions, regarding them as means to an end; he celebrates the apparent crushing defeat of the Rebels during the Battle of Hoth, believing order has been restored to the galaxy. WhileThe Clone Warssought to humanize the clones, theoriginalBattlefront 2uses them as a cautionary tale to warn of the dangers of unwavering loyalty — a mindset capable of twisting one’s worldview in such a way that one cannot recognize the notion that they or their allies might be doing harm. It’s a truly haunting, heartbreaking, and compelling tale.
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Galactic Conquest in Battlefront 2
Among theBattlefrontseries’most prominent features is Galactic Conquest, which, funnily enough, is missing from either of EA’s entries. It’s effectively a turn-based strategy game where the objective is to take over the galaxy. Of course, it’s not entirely turn-based; who controls planets is determined by ground battles and space warfare.
Galactic Conquest is debatably the defining feature of the earlyBattlefrontgames, and the way in which its conflicts are strung together allows players to craft their own narratives about how any one of the four factions (Republic, CIS, Empire, Rebels) conquered the galaxy. It’s essentially the video game equivalent of using one’sStar Warstoysto imagine epic battle scenes that may or may not be accurate to the films, but are still a blast, nevertheless.
The Limitless Potential of Battlefront 2’s Mods
Obviously, this benefit of playingBattlefront 2nowadays is most applicable to the PC version. Fortunately, unlike thenewBattlefront 2,the original game isn’t a graphical powerhouse; it can run fairly well on lower-end PCs, meaning that more people than ever can enter the wonderful world ofBattlefront 2mods.
While EA’sBattlefront 2is in no short supply of mods, the modding scene is nowhere near advanced as the 2005 title. TheBattlefrontcommunity has taken it upon itself to add new characters and maps from multiple eras ofStar Wars, including elements fromThe Clone Warsor expanded universe properties likeRepublic Commando.
If one is looking for an entirely new experience, there’s a host of impressive total conversion mods to check out.Star Wars Battlefront 3 Legacyis one such in-development mod that seeks to use recovered assets from the cancelledBattlefront 3to effectively patch together an unofficial version of the unreleased title.
Other notable mods includeBattlefront: Halation,which turns the game into aBattlefront-styleHalogame, andMass Effect: Unification, which does virtually the same thing but for theMass Effectseries. If one is yearning for a new content update after EA’sBattlefront 2had its final one last year, then it might be worthwhile to take a quick gander at the original game’s massive ModDB and NexusMods pages.
Given the impendingend of EA’sStar Warsgame exclusivity deal with Disney, it remains to be seen if anotherBattlefrontgame will hit store shelves anytime soon. In the meantime, fans ought to check out one of the titles that laid the groundwork for the modernBattlefrontgames. Even after 16 years,Battlefront 2is just as good as it was at launch; maybe even better thanks to the consistent fan support it receives.
Pandemic’sStar Wars Battlefront 2is out now for PC, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, and playable via backwards compatibility on Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
