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News from the Battlefront
Product: Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
Company: LucasArts
Date: 06/11/2009
Avaliable On:

LucasArts showed off its latest Star Wars Battlefront game, not only on the PSP (where it has been seen many times), but Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron was also running on the Nintendo DS.

Battlefront: Elite Squadron takes everything that made the previous games solid titles and adds more flexibility to what the player can do. For instance, you could already fight on the ground, hop in an X-Wing, do some dog fighting and land on a ship and continue the fight on foot. But now, the developers have added weapons that bridge the gap between planet-side fighting and space-fighting.

This is done with weapons like the ion cannons on Hoth. Hopping in the turret lets you shoot at star destroyers to hinder their progress. Ships in space can also attack the ground. It was unclear if a star destroyer could perform a full turbolaser bombardment on the planet surface, and being able to do so would feel a bit like cheating, but if that's possible, it would be pretty cool.

The storyline spans the movies from Episode II to after VI as you follow a clone trooper watching the galaxy change around you and you will take part in all of the major battles that happen in between.

Battlefront: Elite Squadron will also sport several multiplayer modes like Capture the Flag, Heroes and Villains and a strategy game called Galactic Conquest for up to 16 players online. Heroes and Villains will let you play as classic characters like Luke, Obi-Wan, Darth Maul and Asajj Ventress, plus new characters from Battlefront Renegade Squadron and The Force Unleashed.

While the DS version isn't as robust as its PSP sibling, it does follow the same story. One major difference is that it doesn't support transitioning between the different fighting modes. Instead, levels have you exclusively fighting on the ground, or in a ship or using turrets. While this might seem like a fault, given the system's limitations, it is a lot to offer and if nothing else, it should allow non-experienced Elite Squadron players a chance to get their teeth wet before attempting to handle the more complex and bigger versions out there.

Both the PSP and DS versions of Battlefront: Elite Squadron will be released this Fall.

J.R. Nip aka Chris Meyer

GameVortex PSIllustrated