The digital delights of Sony’s scrumptious PlayStation Network service know no bounds. Aside from letting punters compete in online gaming, stream films, browse the Internet and more, its premier attraction rests in the copious supply of downloadable games ripe for the picking. From PSN exclusives to PSOne Classics, minis and plain old add-on content, Sony’s online space is chock full of goodies battling it out for your hard-earned digital dollars.
Welcome back to another installment of Inside PlayStation Network, where every Monday – Friday we’ll pluck a PSN release—be it new or old—and put it in the spotlight for a thorough dissection. Fancy getting a new PSN game but don’t know what one to plump for? Perhaps this feature will help. Didn’t realize that a game was available in your region until now? We’ve got you covered. Or, perhaps you were musing over what those lucky Japanese folk were tucking into over in the Land of the Rising Sun? You can be sure our coverage will extend to those rare regional exclusives as much as those firmly embedded on the public consciousness.
For our latest entry, we strap on our spacesuits and embark on a sci-fi space odyssey in Star Wars: Battlefront II.
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Developer: Savage Entertainment
Region(s) available: North America, Europe
Players: 1-4
Star Wars: Battlefront II’s release on PSP back in 2005 signalled the series’ debut on a handheld platform, with the galactic sci-fi blaster having previously graced home consoles and PC. While unceremoniously ditching online play, this pint-sized iteration of the Star Wars shooter also reshuffles the control scheme to accommodate the PSP’s lack of a second analogue stick. The meat and potatoes of the action however, remains virtually unmolested in comparison to its console counterpart.
Battlefront II plonks players in the boots of a bog-standard infantry man, spawning in one of a dozen battle zones alongside a group of AI buddies. Here, your principle goal is to nab numerous capture points that are dotted throughout the map, each one of which serves as a spawn node for you and your squaddies. Concurrently, this also serves to reduce your opponent’s ticket number, which is your long term objective. As you’d expect, you’ll also have to battle against an abundance of enemy grunts, which also reduces the enemy ticket tally, so expect to get into plenty of scraps.
You won’t have to spend all your time on foot, though. There’s a heap of vehicles up for grabs for you to hop into, including hovertanks, AT-STs and speederbikes. Meanwhile, you can also have your pick of a number of infantry classes, from rocket launcher-wielding heavy troopers to sneaky snipers, as well as engineers and more. All of this forms the basis of the game’s Conquest Mode, though you can also indulge in a few more game types including your bog-standard capture the flag, hunt and assault.
New to the PSP iteration however, is the inclusion of two exclusive features in shape of the playable hero character and space battles. Hero characters are unlocked by bagging a specific number of points during a match; once you’re brown bread, you are given the opportunity to respawn as one of these special combatants, which include the likes of Yoda and Darth Vader. However, players are limited to one hero per side during each match. Heroes pack more punch than standard grunts, such as the Jedi who wield the iconic light sabre and can utilize force powers.
As for space battles, these segments let you hop into the cockpit of starfighters and mix it up with the likes of star destroyers, frigates and their accompanying fighter escort. The ultimate prize here is to topple the mammoth capital ships, though you won’t be able to penetrate the inside of the vessels on foot. There’s also a challenge mode up for grabs too, which tasks you with eliminating a set amount of foes or obtaining a required number of widgets within a certain time limit. Multiplayer, meanwhile, comes in the form of four-player ad-hoc – as mentioned, the console/PC online mode isn’t available in the PSP version.
Tune in again same time tomorrow as we once again take another leisurely stroll Inside PlayStation Network.