Star Wars Battlefront week: Colin's impressions

by Colin Torretta { Oct 2nd 2007 at 11:00AM }

All this week, the writers of PS Fanboy will share their impressions of Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron. Make sure you come back every day, as we'll be giving away five limited edition Darth Vader PSP-2000 systems.

Like Andrew, when I first heard that the next Star Wars Battlefront title would be an exclusive PSP title, I was pretty surprised. While the PSP is a great system, the smaller userbase and the pure scope of Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron made focusing 100% on a handheld version a controversial decision. It seemed like an odd gamble for such a successful franchise, but at the time was considered a nice win for the PSP which had (and has) been lacking in solid original content -- especially from third parties. Fortunately, it looks like developers at Rebellion have come through in most regards, as our hands-on with the review code has proven (largely) positive.

At first blush, Renegade Squadron can be a daunting experience to jump into. There's a variety of different game modes, the customization options are vast and not really explained, and the gameplay itself has so many facets that it was almost overwhelming at first. Luckily there are training videos, as Andrew mentioned, and I'd strongly recommend checking them out -- especially if you didn't play the first Battlefront on the PSP.

When you first get into the game, the controls are a little obtuse. Eventually, I got used to them but I definitely had to run through a couple battles before I felt comfortable. It's not a horrible learning curve, but compared to Warhawk, getting used to the controls was a bit of a chore at first. Once I got a grasp of the different commands I felt a lot more comfortable and was able to run around blasting stormtroopers and flying around with a jetpack with no problems. Unfortunately, ground vehicles such as the tank suffer from pretty bad control and in cramped areas can frequently cause the death of you. As such, I tended to avoid driving the land based vehicles.

In fact, the one spot where there really weren't any control issues were when you were in space battles. While I was initially skeptical, flying around Star Destroyers and taking down waves of TIE-Fighters turned out to be one of the most fun and intuitive aspects of the game. Fast paced and refreshingly different, the space battles were the one part of the game that really made me feel like I was playing a Star Wars title. Additionally, fighting amongst the stars helped hide some of the graphical problems that Andrew pointed out -- there is no fogging in space and the ships themselves were satisfyingly detailed.

The real scene stealer in Renegade Squadron though, is the unbelievably vast customization system that builds the core of the title's gameplay. Supposedly sporting over one million different combination possibilities, you are given 100 credits to spend on different weapons, grenades, support abilities and special powers. If you like playing a tank, you can increase your health and grab a bunch of heavy weapons for defending a base -- or you can boost your speed massively and use melee weapons to come in close. It's a refreshing innovation on the standard class-based gameplay that is so common in these kinds of games. Now you aren't limited to what the developers thought a class should be -- you can make your own!

Though there are definitely some issues with Renegade Squadron (namely overly complex controls and some graphical nitpicking), the most recent iteration of the Battlefront series still manages to impress with its deep gameplay and expansive multiplayer options. Just the customization system alone warrants a serious look a the game and it will it will be interesting to see what powerful and innovative combos the gaming masses will come up with once they get their hands-on the game this month. While I wish the graphics and controls were a bit more polished, in the end Renegade Squadron is a title any die-hard Star Wars or Battlefront fan will want to check out.

Stay tuned for impressions of the game from the other PS Fanboy writers.

Tags: Renegade-Squadron, star-wars

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

joeftl @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:11AM

I cannot wait to play online and see how the multiplayer is.

flargan @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:23AM

Same here. I'm really jonesing for a good online hand held game.

gumby @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:34AM

Sweet, this game sounds awesome. I guess I'll have to get it in addition to syphon filter.

Alexander @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:41AM

Sounds good. Hopefully the controls won't be a serious issue for me.

Ruze @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:47AM

So psyched for this game, BF2 was a bit of a letdown, hopefully they fixed those problems.

Victor Franco @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:50AM

me likey

dennis @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:56AM

i like how differnt ppl do it everyday so that we get different perspectives. And im really considering getting. Granted i get the slim white psp!!!!C'mon u know u should hand it over to me. Who else is more deserving?

biffpow @ Oct 2nd 2007 11:59AM

The space scenes looked best in the screenshots, so it's great to hear that they play as good as they look.

farfisa @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:05PM

Are there control scheme options? For Battlefront II, I preferred the retro control scheme over the default.

Alien @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:10PM

Only die-hard fans ... thats not encouraging ... I will buy it , but I was expecting a bit more positive impressions :?

jonas @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:12PM

i think the space levels outshine the other levels in terms of graphics as well and the customization could sell the game alone. the only other games you can customize one of the coolest franchises in the world are kotor 1 and 2 and the online star wars games. if you think about it, this game has the ptential to be a smaller version of kotor and that is a massive feat

farfisa @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:14PM

Ah, just read Andrew's review re: the alternate controls. Glad to hear they didn't eliminate this from the game... I mean, I'm buying it anyway, so it's not a deal breaker--unless, of course, I win one here ;) (says the Canadian, hopeful he won't be left out of this giveaway like so many others...)

anakin @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:17PM

Looks nice!

Great game for on the go fun.

CcoconutBoy @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:19PM

@farfisa - you can find a description/video of the different control schemes here: http://blogs.ign.com/RenegadeSquadron/2007/08/09/

I've been following the blog for the past few months... since the Vader PSP was announced, I'm excited to be getting my PSP next week, along with the game....

derektgreen @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:31PM

I want that free psp!

MDJ @ Oct 2nd 2007 12:51PM

I'm sooo glad you were impressed by the space battles--I used to absolutely love X-Wing and TIE Fighter on the PC back in the day, and the thought of having similar gameplay on the PSP makes me giddy.

Mark @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:01PM

The game looks pretty good, i might have to pick it up

Tom @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:05PM

Customizing sounds like fun.

Darkhelmutis @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:28PM

I liked SWBF2. The whole scope of various ways to defeat your enemey i.e. with troops, vehicles, being able to land in a star destroyer, etc. was amazing. Make it portable and "potentially" good and it might just be something interesting.

Hmmm...now how do I win a free Darth Vader PSP??? Use the force?

farfisa @ Oct 2nd 2007 1:32PM

Thanks CcoconutBoy--good info!

Jonah @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:03PM

Looks marvellous, can't wait to play this one.

*Runs to grab SWBF2 UMD*

Darayz @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:11PM

Looks good. I just hope the game will run nicely on my old PSP.

glasseye @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:21PM

Space combat ala xwing is so fun... I want to check this game out for that alone.

Assuming I get a PSP soon. :D

glasseye @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:25PM

Another good review.

So about that vader edition psp giveaway... ;D

raindogtoo23 @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:27PM

How do you get the free psp?

NeoRaiden @ Oct 2nd 2007 2:43PM

I'm a little worried. Battlefront 2's campaign sucked. This one better be better.

wheatshelf @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:04PM

good thinking guys! this little give-away is boosting the interaction on the posts. hopefully, people will get more involved in the other posts as well!

as for the battlefront, any word on the story line? or does it skip around the whole starwars time line?

FletchMan @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:05PM

Sounds sweeeeet, I can't wait for it to come out. Although playing it on a Darth Vader edition PSP would make it even sweeter :)

DEVILDOG @ Oct 3rd 2007 11:22AM

Finally, a Star Wars game I can sink my PSP into and not get bored 10 minutes later. Can't wait for this release. These daily reviews and constant PSP information updates are perfect. I've found my new PSP home page in PSP Fanboy.

flatrabbit @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:50PM

yeah I'm really looking forward to trying this out.

Bryan @ Oct 2nd 2007 7:59PM

customization is awesome, this game is gonna be sweet. Does the Vader edition psp double as a light saber?

Mooks21 @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:52PM

I am a huge Star Wars and Battlefront dude. This is going to make my day. Happy 30th Star Wars!!!

dapurplebyrd @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:48PM

andrew please can i have the new psp i really need it

Joel @ Oct 2nd 2007 5:52PM

This game looks totally sweet. I'm all about online games on hand helds (read: Mario Kart DS).

Joel. @ Oct 2nd 2007 5:45PM

Good, but I'd like to know wether it's infrastructure, or ad-hoc. Af it is infrastructure, is there any lag present?

kevolution @ Oct 2nd 2007 7:20PM

I want the darth vader psp psplease!

lokster @ Oct 2nd 2007 9:03PM

space levels are classic and im looking forward to the improvements from battlefront 2. i think renegade squadron improves on that

BlindElf @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:07PM

The visuals on this one look more and more enticing to me...maybe I'll get my hands on it this year somehow...

glasseye @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:22PM

Earlier battlefront games bounced around in the star wars timeline (the first game had stuff on naboo (SW1) and endor (SW6)) I'm guessing that's true for this one too.

slydude @ Oct 2nd 2007 10:57PM

cool i want that free psp slim 2000 reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllly bad

katers @ Oct 3rd 2007 6:22AM

I gotta get this, Logan's shadow and GOW.

robharvil @ Oct 3rd 2007 6:31AM

Must...play...this...game!!!

LonePossum @ Oct 3rd 2007 4:41PM

This game sounds better every time there is a new review. (BTW how far does the free starwars psp 2000 go out in the world?? hmm or have just not read something yet -_-)

BigFonnny @ Oct 3rd 2007 4:57PM

multiplayer is gonna be crazy

pixelator @ Oct 3rd 2007 6:48PM

"I was pretty surprised. While the PSP is a great system, the smaller userbase and the pure scope of Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron made focusing 100% on a handheld version a controversial decision"

Let it never be said that PSP Fanboy contributors are... PSP Fanboys.

The smaller userbase? Than what? The DS? The PS2? Because the PSP userbase isn't exactly tiny when you figure there's fewer XBOX, XBOX 360 and Gamecube systems out there... Or that PSP yearly worldwide sales have trumped GBA sales since 2005.