Star Wars: Battlefront II is a 2005 first and third-person shooter video game based on the Star Wars film franchise. Developed by Pandemic Studios and published by LucasArts, it is a sequel to 2004's Star Wars: Battlefront and the second installment in the Star Wars: Battlefront series. The game was released in PAL regions on October 28, 2005, on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable (PSP), Microsoft Windows, and Xbox platforms, and in North America on November 1 of the same year. It was released on the PlayStation Store on October 20, 2009, for download on the PSP. The PSP version was developed by Savage Entertainment. A remastered compilation featuring both the game and its predecessor with additional content, titled Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, was released on March 14, 2024.

The game features new vehicles, characters, game mechanics, maps, and missions compared to the original Battlefront. Unlike its predecessor, Battlefront II features a more narrative-based campaign, retelling portions of the Star Wars story from the point of view of a veteran clone Imperial Stormtrooper, reminiscing about his tour of duty in service of both the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire. Gameplay additions over Battlefront include the use of Jedi and Sith, additional game modes such as hero assault, and objective-based space battles.

Battlefront II was well received, with reviewers praising the story. Like the original game, it was a commercial success, selling 6 million copies by 2007. GameSpy Technology scheduled a shut-down across all titles using the service for May 31, 2014, which included Star Wars: Battlefront II for PC, PS2, and Xbox. Electronic Arts (EA) announced it would extend support for Battlefront II until June 30, 2014. The extended support ended on July 25, 2014, taking all GameSpy online video games across all platforms offline. The Windows version was added to a list of supported games on GameRanger on May 31, 2014, which allows for continued online play, and on October 2, 2017, multiplayer was again enabled, allowing for Steam and GOG cross-play. The Xbox version is now playable online via Insignia, and is backwards compatible on Xbox 360, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Gameplay

Battlefront II is fundamentally similar to its predecessor, albeit with the addition of new gameplay mechanics, such as the ability to sprint and roll forward. The general objective in most missions is to eliminate the enemy faction, although there are game modes with a different objective, such as a capture the flag mode. Like its predecessor Star Wars Battlefront, the game is split into two eras: the Clone Wars, with battles taking place between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and the Galactic Civil War, where battles between the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire take place. Players have the ability to choose between six classes during gameplay. Four class types are common to all factions: Infantry, Heavy, Sniper and Engineer. In addition to the four standard classes, every faction has two special classes, which are exclusive to each faction and are unlocked by scoring a predetermined number of points; there is a limited number of special classes that can be on the battlefield at the same time. The special classes are the Commander and the Jet Trooper for the Republic; the MagnaGuard and the Droideka for the Confederacy of Independent Systems; the Bothan Spy and the Wookiee for the Rebels; and the Officer and the Dark Trooper for the Empire.

Battlefront II introduces a new special class—Heroes—that allows players to control iconic characters from the Star Wars universe; heroes were featured in the original Battlefront, but only as NPCs that spawned randomly during battles. Heroes are also unlocked by scoring a predetermined number of points, and are unique for every faction. Heroes serve as the most powerful class in the game and, as such, there can be a maximum of one hero for each faction on the battlefield at the same time. Each hero is available only on certain maps, although there is a team deathmatch mode, exclusive to the Mos Eisley map, that allows all heroes from all factions to compete against each other to earn points by performing kills.

Campaign

thumb|left|In Battlefront II players can battle in space and engage in ship-to-ship combat. Players sabotage enemy capital ships externally by firing at vital systems, or on foot by landing in the enemy hangar.

Whereas the original Battlefronts campaign featured missions dependent on the chosen faction, Battlefront II contains only one campaign, called Rise of the Empire, which is found in every version of the game except the PlayStation Portable (PSP). This set of missions is presented as the narration from a veteran of the 501st Legion, starting with the Battle of Geonosis at the beginning of the Clone Wars (as depicted in Attack of the Clones) and ending with the Battle of Hoth (as depicted in The Empire Strikes Back). There are a total of 18 missions, four of which are optional space missions.

The PSP version of Battlefront II replaces the Rise of the Empire campaign with three single-player Challenge modes: Imperial Enforcer, Rogue Assassin, and Rebel Raider. In the former, the player is sent to eliminate indigenous species on several given planets, such as Gungans on Naboo and Ewoks on Endor. When two opposing forces reach the same planet, the game switches to the traditional perspective, and the player must eliminate the enemy faction to gain control of that planet. Players gain credits for performing well which can be used to buy new character classes, a new fleet, or bonuses that provide additional support when attacking or defending a planet. Players capture command posts by standing near one until its holograph transitions to blue, indicating it is held by their forces. Following this, the 501st return to Coruscant, which has been attacked by Separatist forces commanded by General Grievous. The clones are ordered to clear the path for Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to board Grievous' flagship and rescue a captured Palpatine. Next, the 501st are assigned to serve under General Aayla Secura on Felucia, where they defend a damaged AT-TE from several Acklays and Separatist forces in the area. Afterward, the 501st travel to Kashyyyk to clear a path through the Separatist blockade and defend a key Wookiee village.

Shortly after their victory on Kashyyyk, part of the 501st are sent to Utapau to assist the 212th Attack Battalion with the capture of a major Separatist stronghold. Upon their return to Coruscant, Palpatine issues Order 66, which brands all Jedi as traitors to the Republic and orders their summary executions. Under the command of the newly christened Sith Lord Darth Vader, the 501st storm the Jedi Temple to kill all its occupants, while the remaining Jedi who are spread across the galaxy are swiftly murdered by their clone troopers, effectively wiping out the Jedi Order. Meanwhile, Palpatine declares the end of the Clone Wars and the Republic's reorganization into the Galactic Empire.

Now part of the Imperial Army as Darth Vader's personal legion, the 501st are assigned various missions to solidify the Empire's rule. These include forcing a regime change on Naboo by assassinating the Queen, destroying a reactivated droid factory on Mustafar, and eliminating the Kaminoans' new batch of rogue clones. Following the Kamino incident, the Empire halts clone production, and clone troopers are slowly replaced by stormtroopers. The 501st remains one of the few Imperial legions to consist mostly of former clone troopers.

Roughly nineteen years after the end of the Clone Wars, the Empire has been firmly established in the ashes of the Republic. With the galaxy seemingly at peace, the 501st are stationed on the Death Star, but during watch, a prison break is initiated and a group of Rebel prisoners manage to escape with the battle station's schematics. Tasked with recovering them, the 501st attack a Rebel outpost on Polis Massa, and eventually track them down to the Rebel Blockade Runner Tantive IV. Although the 501st manage to kill or capture everyone aboard, including Rebel leader Princess Leia Organa, whom they deliver to Vader, they fail to retrieve the stolen schematics, which are eventually delivered to the Rebel Alliance. Using the schematics to find a weakness in the Death Star, the Alliance leads a successful assault to destroy it. The Empire retaliates by attacking the Alliance's base on Yavin IV, which the 501st captures, avenging their brothers who died in the Death Star's destruction.

Three years later, the Empire locates another Rebel base on Hoth. Tasked with wiping out the weakened Rebel Alliance, the 501st capture the base and destroy most of the evacuating transports. This crushing defeat marks what appears to be the end of the Alliance. The narrator ends the story by stating that the Death Star was eventually rebuilt and the Empire's grip on the galaxy became stronger than ever, all thanks to the efforts of the 501st Legion.

Development

Star Wars: Battlefront II was announced on April 21, 2005, during Star Wars Celebration III held in Indianapolis, Indiana. Developer Pandemic Studios used their in-house engine, known as Zero to develop Battlefront II. The engine was used in Pandemic's other two Star Wars titles, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the game's predecessor, Star Wars: Battlefront. As with Battlefront, Lua was utilized as the game's scripting language. Battlefront IIs release date would be set to coincide with the DVD release of Revenge of the Sith, similar to how Battlefront coincided with the release of the original trilogy on DVD. An Xbox demo of Battlefront II was also included on the Revenge of the Sith extras DVD to further promote the game. Josh Resnick, founder of Pandemic Studios noted that it was difficult to get assets from Revenge of the Sith in order to build the related in-game assets. Peter Hirschmann, vice president of product development at LucasArts, detailed the immense efforts required to get the game to a playable state on the PlayStation Portable. "It was a huge 'pop the champagne' day if you got back one whole frame a second," he stated. LucasArts Engineers working on Indiana Jones and Star Wars development teams were brought in to help optimize game code.

Bob Bergen voices Luke Skywalker, having voice doubled for Mark Hamill in previous Star Wars games such as the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series. Voice actor Corey Burton recorded lines for Count Dooku, a role he has played in other Star Wars games as well as the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. Other veteran Star Wars voice actors such as Tom Kane, Steve Blum and T.C. Carson also provide voice overs. Temuera Morrison portrays his signature roles Boba Fett, Jango Fett and the game's clone trooper narrator, but does not provide the in-game clone chatter as he did in Battlefront. Mod tools for the Windows version of the game were subsequently released on February 21, 2006. Included in the download were many of the game's assets, several tutorials, and the tools required to make content for the PC version of the game. A plugin for Softimage XSI included in the mod tools allows users to create new 3D models and animations for the game. The Battlefront II mod tools provide a wider range of capabilities to the end user than the original Battlefront, allowing a user to create anything from user interface changes, to additional gameplay levels, to large-scale modifications. The original assets used to build the retail version of the game were shipped with the mod tool package that was released and allowed users to either modify an existing level or create an entirely new map from scratch. Subsequently, modifications have been created which expand the game further into the 'Star Wars expanded universe, adding additional locales, characters, Star Wars eras, and fan-created stories.

On December 19, 2005, LucasArts released the first of two downloadable packages for the Xbox version of Battlefront II. The free content added the Hero Assault mode to Kashyyyk. Another Xbox Live download was made available on January 31, 2006, which added two new hero characters, Kit Fisto and Asajj Ventress, as well as four maps from the original Star Wars: Battlefront; Yavin 4: Arena, Bespin: Cloud City, Rhen Var Harbor and Rhen Var Citadel. In addition, Hero Assault modes were also added to Coruscant, Mygeeto, and Naboo. It sold for USD $4.99. The downloadable content is no longer available as the original Xbox Live servers were shut down on April 15, 2010. Star Wars: Battlefront II is playable online on the original Xbox with Insignia, the replacement Xbox Live servers. In late March 2006, the game was added to the Backwards Compatibility List for the Xbox 360, and is now playable on both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360.

On May 4, 2014, it was announced that the Star Wars: Battlefront II Online servers hosted by GameSpy were closing down on May 31, 2014. The Windows version was added to a list of supported games on GameRanger on May 31, 2014, which allows for continued online play. On October 2, 2017, a patch for the Windows version of the game re-enabled multiplayer and added Steam and GOG cross-platform play; a second patch on January 3, 2018, had minor bug fixes and performance optimizations. A Disney spokesperson told Polygon that GOG was "handling the back end for the game's online play, including the development of patches". The Xbox version was made backwards compatible on Xbox One and Xbox series X/S.

Reception and sales

Battlefront II was well received overall. The highest aggregate scored was for the PlayStation 2, which holds an 84% at GameRankings and an 84/100 at Metacritic. The PlayStation Portable version sold over 500,000 copies. and placed third in 2008. In 2009 Star Wars: Battlefront II reclaimed second place once more. The PlayStation 2 version received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom. The game's sales totaled 6 million copies by 2007.

Battlefront II was praised not only for having a much more engaging single-player storyline, but also for fixing many of the issues that plagued the original. Reviewers noted a slight improvement in the intelligence of AI units and praised new varied objectives to obtain victory. Publications found the inclusion of space battles a welcome addition; however, GameSpot argued the addition of Jedi, though looking "good on paper", did not end up "feeling as epic" as expected.

Game Revolution argued if the multiplayer was taken away, even the new campaign was not enough to make Battlefront II worth the buy.

Non-video game publications praised the quality of the game. CiN Weekly gave it a score of 92 out of 100 and stated "The improved single-player games are worthwhile enough on their own, but if you can find well connected online matches, multiplayer games will keep you addicted for months." Detroit Free Press gave the Xbox version a score of three stars out of four and said "The graphics are pretty, the score divine, the story-driven single-player game is actually cinematic and engaging and the lag, while annoying at times online, has been greatly reduced from the original."