EA and Pandemic have paired up again to bring a much loved film to your Xbox. Star Wars battlefront was a much loved and highly talked about game that had plenty of users online for a long time.

Being a keen Lord of The Rings fan had this game high on my wish list and i had saved one of my precious GAD claims for this title, eager to play it after my love for the Demo.

Basically this game puts you right in the action of all the big battles that Peter Jackson brought to life in his adaptation of the Books. Using clips from these films to tell the story we all know and love, you are either a Mage, a Warrior, a Scout or an Archer. Doing your part to help Frodo destroy the one Ring. The story mode has about 9 levels in the "good" campaign where you will be defeating certain enemies, capturing control points of killing a set number of orcs. Battling through all the best locations in the films, be it Mias Tirith or Helms Deep. As you use your chosen class to complete the required tasks you will be given the bonus of playing as the heroes from the films, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf etc. These players being a bit stronger and having more life adds a nice twist to the gameplay.

A welcome twist to the traditional campaign mode was the "rise of Sauron" mode, which sees you being a member of the Orc army and trying to defeat the Fellowship of the Ring and the armies of men and elves. Using clips from the films to tell the other side of the story and a feature i really enjoyed just for fun as you see a what could of happened scenario.

So the concept is nothing new and something we have all seen before, but it is played out well and despite the levels being similar in content, they remain enjoyable and exciting to complete.

The graphics are one of the let downs in the game, while the background and areas are lovely and resemble all the great locations, the characters do look a bit more of  a Playstation 2 quality than a new Xbox 360 title. This will bother some players more than others but it was not enough to put me off completing the game. The actual character movements / animations work well and normally flow well as combos are being performed. Which is something you do not always find in games.

Not being the hardest of games to complete i found i had managed to get both campaigns finished in just over a week, once complete a harder difficulty is unlocked but i think only hardcore fans would see themselves go through it more than once. Which leads to another problem i found, the lifespan of the game is not what i expected.

The Online mode does aid this let own by keeping the game going, but was not enough to keep me hooked for very long. The games can become tedious and I often found them to be a bit slow. I know some people really enjoy the online mode and i did as well but i felt playing online a few times was enough, the games were always the same in content and while challenging if playing against good players, it still lacked a ranking system or the ability to unlock things. This for me was one of the biggest let downs, i would have stayed playing the game if you were to gain XP and levels, like so may of the great Online games have taken on board and made use of.

While there sound like plenty of let downs in this game i have to stress that the gameplay is fun and addictive, with enough to see you through. It is very easy to just pick up and play which is a nice feature and one reason i stuck with it until the end. For achievement hunters like me you will also be able to pick up a large number of them with great ease.
The Online mode is more of the same and enjoyable for a while, but will keep some players hooked longer than others.

I have no regrets in buying this game and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the films / books, i never played Star Wars so i am unable to make a fair comparison of the two games. I would consider a rent before a buy just to test the water and because plenty of gamers would get their fill from a weekend of play.

A solid game, with some strong aspects, but too many let downs. Not EA's greatest game but a very enjoyable experience and a game i am glad i picked up.

7.5/10