Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (Classic, 2005) Reviews

Top 5 games of all time for me. It's a little bare bones, but that makes it perfect for casual fun with friends. I always pick it up every couple of years to have a fun evening with my friends :)

buggy last time i played it, kept getting a black screen

I love and have a lot of good memories of Battefront 2 Classic but this game is moldy garbage on modern computers. Not because of performance issues: no, the framerate and stability are great from my experience. It's because everything else is crap that requires trouble shooting. 2 separate computers over the years and this game is a chore to play properly and it will probably always be this way and probably get worse as time passes. Whether it's setting run parameters so the screen resolution isn't f*cked, disabling unrelated app functionality so the game doesn't produce a pictureless black screen, or certain controls such as launching and exiting a ship causing me to get stuck and have to close the game, this game requires hurdle after hurdle for me to play. And I have cleared said hurdles in the past and it's great, but it's such a pain. The part that pisses me off the most is that the remaster, as far as I know, is garbage. I hate to leave this game a negative review, but I can't in good conscious recommend a game that I always find a chore to get working properly a thumbs up.

With the server fixes, Steam's continuing support, and the mod community combined, OG Battlefront 2 is still very much alive. This old classic still plays great and, with a few mods, it adapts well to modern systems. The only downside of these original Battlefront PC releases is the lack of true controller support. There is no proper interface, no proper aim assist. The stuff that made Battlefront feel so good on a controller isn't there. So you will not have a good time trying to play with a controller in this release. Thankfully the PC controls are very serviceable and decently experienced M+KB players will adapt pretty quickly. I have enjoyed this series on both Xbox and PC for two decades and both versions control fine. Before anything else I recommend the Battlefront 2 Shader Patch by PrismaticFlower on GitHub to fix a bunch of longstanding visual bugs with the game. There have been various hit or miss fixes over the years but this finally corrects it once and for all. Particularly a water rendering glitch when running resolutions over 1080p. Next I recommend the latest version (Jan 2025) of HarrisonFog's "Battlefront 2 Remaster Project" on NexusMods. It gives the game a very nice multiplayer compatible visual and audio overhaul. It also includes the Unofficial 1.3 patch and a few other fixes. Alongside that I recommend the latest version (Feb 22, 2024) of the "Xbox DLC for PC" mod uploaded by iamastupid on ModDB. This adds back a bunch of content and features that for years were only in the DLC for the original Xbox. It includes 100% official conversions of several original Battlefront 1 maps as well as new heroes and new game modes. I also downloaded the handful of remaining maps that aren't in the DLC mod from Battlefront 1 individually: Bespin Platforms Geonosis Spire Kashyyyk Docks Kashyyyk Islands Kamino Tipoca City Naboo Plains Tatooine Dune Sea The converted Battlefront 1 maps made by Marvel4, now uploaded on ModDB, are very faithful classic mods that have been around forever and help fill in the gaps. Marvel4 also made a full pack but it adds a bunch of nonsense into the game and has questionable compatibility. Downloading the individual maps is less problematic and it only takes a few minutes to google "Battlefront 2 'MapName' Marvel4". I can't vouch for other uploads of these maps but Marvel4's conversions are as faithful to the originals as it gets. This setup allows you to have access to every single official map, with full singleplayer bot support, with full multiplayer support, with Battlefront 2's engine and features, with major visual updates. As well lots of the Remaster Project content overlaps onto the Xbox DLC and converted Battlefront 1 maps. This makes OG Battlefront 2 2005 absolutely superior in every way to the recently released "Battlefront Classic Collection". It works better with less bugs, has more content, has a smaller data footprint, and looks vastly superior. Classic Collection simply can't even compare.

A timeless masterpiece with the best modding community of all time 10/10

Simple, yet holds up all these years later. Star Wars Battlefront II is a perfect game. After being absent from the first game, SWBF2 has a really great campaign. The levels are just the multiplayer maps and the objectives aren't super inventive, but the story is absolutely amazing. It is narrated by a Clone Trooper of the 501st as he gives a sort of diary entry/testimonial description of the transition of the Republic to the Empire from the perspective of the soldier. Even though it's not considered canon, it serves as a great companion piece to the Revenge of the Sith film that released the same year. Multiplayer in this game is an absolute treat, offline or online. The maps are all very fun and the different class types can make for drastically different ways of approaching each game. At this point, the servers are pretty close to being dead, but the offline play will be just as fun. The AI for the NPCs is also hilariously bad sometimes. The coolest part of this game comes in the form of Galactic Conquest, and it's a shame it's never been replicated like this in future games. Galactic Conquest is essentially a real-time strategy game between the player and a CPU or other player. Each side controls a faction with the goal of controlling every planet in the game. When you fight for each planet, you actually fight the battel and can earn points to upgrade your forces. It can make for a very competitive campaign and absolutely needs to be seen in newer games.

Do I even need to say anything for this one? Like, seriously. It's a classic, it still holds up in quite a few ways, its rather moddable, and is still a good way to spend a couple of hours every now and then.

This is a game that I've been playing for decades, it's the nostalgia as well as the "remastered" graphics compared to what I played back when I was a kid.

Peak nostalgic gameplay. The AI of a 20 year old game is still more fun to shoot at than bots in fortnight. "like shootin womp rats eh kid?" (^-^)

One of the best classic games on steam, pretty old game and part of my childhood, but you'll still have fun playing for the first time