Galactic Conquest is the decidedly most complex single-player mode. Resembling a large board game, players' Imperial ships traverse galaxies to conquer different worlds. Based on the quality of a level completion, players are rewarded with bonus goodies. It's the closest that PSP gamers will get to deep gameplay. Instant Action is…guess. The single-player is a lot of fun, and will keep players entertained for a while…If they can get past some of its issues.

The first noticeable problem with the game, however, seems to fall in the realm of control mapping. Depending on the style you choose, the game can be either bearable or hair-pulling. Mercifully, the controls seem fairly gentle on the thumbs as long as players aren't going for a Battlefront marathon, and with multiple style of control schemes, there should be something for everyone. For those who can actually tolerate FPS controls on PSP (or any handheld -all five of you out there-), there are plenty of settings to choose from. Basic controls, which are geared more toward third-person action/shooting will likely be up more players' collective alleys.



I had some initial trouble with strafing and targeting, although depending on the type of soldier chosen, a weapon with a nice blast radius should sort everything out. The bonus characters seem to balance things as well; Boba Fett is wonderful as cleaning out extermination levels in a last-minute pinch. Some of the mission demands can get hair-pullingly tough. Nothing scream frustration more than having the requirements of a level rise while the time limit dwindles. It happens from time to time. It doesn't talk away from the fun, but don't be surprised to see "DEFEAT" pop up in red on the screen more than once.

Multiplayer is where things go awry. When testing out the capabilities over PSP's Ad Hoc (no Infrastructure support, another hit), we experienced few problems in regard to ping or loading a game. There are plenty of multiplayer modes to choose from, including Conquest, Capture the Flag, Hunt (you're on a time limit to commit genocide on a planet), and Co-op or Competitive Imperial Enforcer. There are also several maps to choose from, including Hoth, Endor, Dagobah, and Kashyyk. All of this is good and wonderful, until you actually start playing it. The real kicker is that these problems come in the midst of heated and intense firefights. When there's too much action onscreen, the framerate completely goes to hell, and there's a visual mess filled with the sounds of blasters and rifles. It's rather hideous, and really hurts the multiplayer game experience.

That sage street poet Kanye West recently posed a rhetorical question: "Why is it that everything that's bad for me makes me feel so good?" That's how I felt after putting in a few hours as a worker bee for Lord Vader. Should I be disturbed that I'm carrying out the intergalactic equivalent of ethnic cleansing? Probably. Sure, there's the fun of playing as the Rebels or as a defender of the Republic, but there's something about being the bad guy in the intergalactic trenches that really makes Star Wars Battlefront II so much fun…in single-player mode. Multiplayer has its attributes, but stumbles hard when it comes to framerate and resembles a Monet painting at some points. Overall, I'd recommend it for single-player, but for Wi-Fi, well, I've offered my caveat emptors. Choose wisely.