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Nintendo: DS Previews

Professor Layton And Pandora's Box ^{DS, DSI}

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Preview

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron

Format: Nintendo DS

Developer: LucasArts

Publisher: LucasArts

Genre: Action

15-Sep-2009 Not to be confused with Rogue Squadron

12 Comments

Star Wars tie-ins have copped a lot of flak over the years for being rushed, or bland, or broken, or yada, yada. We won't bore you with all that. The Battlefront offshoot is one series that has sidestepped all the general mud-slinging however, thanks to its pared down gameplay - involving getting loads of players together on Star Wars maps and letting them go at each other - which let the characters, equipment and worlds breathe.

Rather than being a port of another console's game, Elite Squadron has instead been created especially for the DS. The first Battlefront game to make it to Nintendo's handheld, the single player (Elite Squadron Campaign) follows the fortunes of an elite clone trooper, X2, spawned from the DNA of a Jedi master. After the events of Episode III, where the clone troopers are tasked with wiping out the Jedi, X2 decides he's had enough of evil blood-letting and defects to the Rebellion. His fellow clone, X1, is having none of that namby-pamby stuff and is staying true to the Dark Side. Hence the stage is set for a rather tasty set-to at the game's climax.

Top-Down Knees Up
It all takes place as a top-down shooter featuring sprawling arenas in which you blast away at enemies. The standard issue blaster has unlimited ammo while the shotgun is much more finite. Characters in multiplayer games are broken down into classes specialising in particular weapon types (heavy guns, ranged and melee, say) and weapon sets can be customised before battles. Gameplay is mixed up by having prescribed sections - some in the air, some in space and some on the ground - kick in in single-player, or selected prior to multiplayer. It's a shame there's not a more organic system here that lets you chop and change as you go, hopping into an AT-ST and then into a Snow Speeder, but what we do have is variety.

As you'd hope there are plenty of classic backdrops to visit, spanning the entire saga. This is a relief as at first it seemed as though there'd be a heavy prequel bias, given the presence of the clones. But no, we've got the icy wastes of Hoth to tear around and the greenery of Endor to name just two. And big names add some authenticity to proceedings too: Vader, Skywalker, Fett and so on, although there's no sign of Solo just yet. Maybe he'll do a New Hope and appear triumphantly at the death.

Tom East