When Darth Vader uttered those immortal words to Luke Skywalker, regarding their true relationship, the audience was shocked. We simply didn't see it coming. But here's something that you might have seen coming: if Star Wars: Battlefront II was a Star Wars character, it would take the form of the Empire's scariest villain, stroll up to the rest of the pile and announce, "All other Star Wars games… I am your daddy!"

Yes indeed, Star Wars: Battlefront II is something of a dream come true for Star Wars fans everywhere. The amount of locations, characters, weapons and powers packed into this massive game is truly astonishing, and the scope for recreating pretty much any of your favourite Star Wars scenes (except for Jar-Jar Binks getting his tongue caught in an engine, and then getting sucked in and ripped to pieces), is here. It's also taken a leap forward since the original Battlefront, in that the wars have truly reached the stars, now allowing you to take part in epic space battles, as well as those on the ground.

Starting off with the single player mode, which is huge, you have several options. A quick training mission that takes place at the start of the Clone Wars wouldn't go amiss, to get you familiarised with the controls and different classes of troops at your disposal. Or you can dive straight into the action with Galactic Conquest, where you can play from the perspective of four different sides, looking to establish rule of the galaxy. There is also an added story mode, Rise of the Empire, that sees you taking control of the 501st elite unit of clone troopers, as you play through a number of the key locations from Episode III. Oh, where to begin!

Graphically, Battlefront II is highly detailed and wonderfully authentic, taking key locations from all six of the Star Wars films. You can fight in the city of Naboo, or visit the stormy seas of Kamino, where the clone army was created. Or how about the rocky canyons of Utapau, battling within the base where General Grievous made his last stand, and where Obi-Wan went riding around on that ill-fated giant lizard. You can defend the beaches of the Wookie home world, Kashyyyk, raid the frozen world of Mygeeto, or explore amongst the gigantic plant life of Felucia, three planets that got very little screen time in Episode III, but are here in all their splendour nevertheless. You can raid the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, or fight in the factory on the fiery lava planet of Mustafar, where the first infamous showdown between Anakin and Obi-Wan takes place (they both look a lot different for the second!)

Moving onto the original trilogy, and all the key locations are here too - the snowy plains of Hoth, the murky Dagobah swamps, the forests of Endor, Mos Eisley spaceport on Tatooine (complete with the quirky cantina music), you can even play levels set inside the Death Star and on board Leia's ship, to recreate that very first scene from Star Wars. Jabba's Palace is available too, amongst others. It's fair to say that the range covered is nothing short of spectacular - eighteen varied and well-designed maps in total, with another six space battles set at different points throughout the series. And each of them looks lovely, reproducing the look and the feel of the films perfectly, down to the smallest detail; every building looks just right, all the technology within each world is authentic and the more organic planets feature lush vegetation and bags of detail wherever you look - it really is a feast for the eyes.

As with any Star Wars game, there's a range of distinctive sounds too, such as the rapid fire of a blaster and the swoosh and crackle of a light-sabre - which is a sound that means death if you're not playing as a Hero character, and one that, the more you play, the more you listen our for with great trepidation. In space, every fighter, of which there is a big range to choose from, looks and sounds equally wonderful - the first time you hop into an Empire Tie Fighter and hear it scream out of the airlock, you really to grin - evilly! Time to shoot down some rebel scum… Music is taken directly from the films and John Williams' awesome soundtrack is woven beautifully into the gameplay, completing the atmosphere and enhancing the experience no end.

But what of the gameplay? Well, it's very much a Battlefield-style game, in the sense of the game modes on offer, the mixture of troop classes and vehicles, the complete freedom to play whatever role you wish to and the accumulation of various medals and accolades for skilful play. And it plays very well.

The main mode of the game is Conquest, where you and the enemy start off with an equal number of bases and reinforcements, the aim being to capture all of the bases. As there are normally six per match, this can be a real challenge. Just as you think you're making headway and a couple of the enemy's bases are taken, another one comes into jeopardy and falls to your foes. Once you fall behind, it's harder to catch up too, as your reinforcement count drops faster each time you lose a base. Still, the way the gameplay has been designed does allow for impressive comebacks, either working together as a team online, or saving the day in single player by zipping around like crazy and nicking back those bases while the enemy is concentrating their forces on capturing the last one or two that are left.

On the battlefield, regardless of which side you're playing for, there are a number of classes to choose from. You've got your basic trooper, armed with grenades, a pistol and a blaster rifle, which is a powerful, rapid-fire weapon that can kill very efficiently. Then there's the heavy weapons troop, who has the advantage of a rocket launcher, thermal detonators and mines, but the slow reloading and limited ammo leaves you very vulnerable, as your back-up pistol is pretty pitiful when compared to most other weapons. You'd better aim that first rocket well if you want to stay alive for long! The sharpshooter of the team has a powerful sniper rifle that can take enemies out with a single headshot, and a very handy auto turret, that you can leave nearby to provide cover fire against any approaching enemies. There are jet troopers that have powerful EMP launchers (particularly lethal against anything mechanical) and can fly for limited periods, which is great for reaching a base speedily or getting out of a tricky situation in a hurry. The engineer has a shotgun and det packs, plus a cutter for repairing health and ammo replenishment stations, health and ammo packs that can be thrown down at will and used by yourself or your team mates, and the cutter can also slice into occupied vehicles and allow you to take control.

As well as all the above, there are special characters for each side, such as the Clone Commander, who has a lethal chaingun, a recon droid that you can send out remotely to spy and attack, and he can raise the defence rating of anyone nearby too. Then there's the Bothan spy, who has a stealth mode for sneaking into bases and timebombs for blowing up key systems. Sabotage has rarely been this satisfying!

However, the real jewel in the crown here is the inclusion of the Hero characters, allowing you to play as all your favourite characters from the movie. Feeling a bit evil? Then take control of Darth Vader and force choke your enemies before finishing them off with your lightsaber. Or use the Emperor to float around and fry people to death with your electric shock attack. All of the many Jedi on offer are a very powerful force on the battlefield and if you know what you're doing, you can wipe out half the opposition very quickly - the combination of force powers, deadly lightsaber (which can block both blaster fire and physical attacks until your stamina bar runs out), a very high force double jump and super speed (again limited by stamina) makes these characters truly formidable. Yoda and Darth Maul are two of the fastest, whipping around and slicing all over the place to the point that it's almost hard to keep track of where they are. Other Jedi include Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker (after he's turned, but before he's maimed), Mace Windu and Count Dooku, plus lesser-known characters Aayla Secura (the blue skinned female with the floppy long ear things) and Ki-Adi-Mundi (the one with quite a tall head). General Grievous is playable too, with no less than four lightsabers to hand!

Not all the hero characters are Jedi though - you can play as Chewbacca with a lethal bowcaster, or Han Solo with his blaster. Princess Leia is a force to be reckoned with too, as is Boba Fett with his jet pack and flamethrower. The whole cast of Star Wars is here at your disposal - but because they're so powerful, their time on the battlefield is limited and you have to do well with the regular troops before you earn the right to use them. The system governing this is really well thought out and unless you're in a Heroes game (where there are Jedi zipping around all over the place!) there will only be one per side at any given time, meaning that if you and some other troops group together, you can actually despatch them quite effectively.

Once out onto the battlefield, there's such a range of options available that it's almost overwhelming. You can take control of land or air-based vehicles and fire upon manned gun turrets, attack enemy vehicles or lay waste to individual troops. You can get a heavy trooper and put those rockets to use taking out vehicles and turrets, or clearing an area for your allies to conquer a base. You could grab a sharpshooter, find yourself a great vantage point and snipe some troops. You could become a spy and sneak into enemy territory, to blow up a key installation in the missions that require this. You can be a plain old trooper and group together with other allies to mount an offensive on a base or enemy stronghold. Or you can take control of a hero and launch into battle, wielding your lightsaber and force powers to deadly effect. The choice really is yours, and such open-ended gameplay is very refreshing.

In space battles the options are slightly less opne, but just as much fun! If you're in the mood for some dogfighting then you can take one of the weaker but more manoeuvrable ships out to shoot down the enemy fighters, or you could take a bomber out and make bombing runs across the huge enemy starships. Taking a landing craft into an enemy docking bay means that your team can now spawn on the enemy ship, overwhelm the forces within and begin to take out key installations with timebombs. Or you can focus your attention on key systems on the outside of ships. What's really good fun is to land in the enemy's ship and steal one of their own fighters to use against them - very satisfying! But whether on land or in space, the scale of the battles is immense, and it really does feel like you're in the middle of an all out war, as everywhere you look, laser blasts are firing, things are exploding and bodies are flying. If you don't keep your wits about you, you'll be dead before you can say Beechiwawa!

Galactic Conquest gives you the task of gradually taking over (or liberating) the whole galaxy, starting with only a handful of worlds under your control, which will need defending when the enemy attacks. You take it in turns to move your fleets around and you use the credits you earn from victories to purchase more troop types for battle (only the default trooper is available at first), build new fleets to attack and defend your territories, and buy bonuses that can be selected at the beginning of a battle, like auto turrets to defend your bases, increased power to blaster weapons or unlocking a hero character. These campaigns take a while to win too - hours will pass by as you gradually take over the galaxy. To add to the variety you can do this from one of four perspectives - the Rebel Alliance, the droid-based Confederation, the Clone Troopers or the Stormtroopers from the reign of the Empire, each with their own set of troop types to unlock and unleash.

Then there's the Campaign mode, where you fight through a series of land-based battles (with a couple of optional space battles) that charts the taking of key planets from the Separatist threat, right through to the elimination of the Jedi in their temple on Coruscant. The drawback of this mode is that you have to take care of key objectives, and if you don't get on with it, your reinforcements will be depleted and you'll lose the mission. This means that your freedom in this mode is very limited compared to the rest of the game, but it's enjoyable enough to fight through the campaign and you get a different hero to take control of near the end of each mission, such as Yoda on Kashyyyk, Obi-Wan on Upatau and Anakin in the Jedi Temple. You probably won't spend as much time here as in the rest of the game, though.

While single player is enjoyable and entertaining enough, Battlefront II really comes into its own online, with a staggering 24-player maximum. These battles are huge and while the AI of both allies and enemies is very convincing in single player, it's simply no substitute for the skill and deviousness of real people! Teamwork comes into play very strongly once there are human players involved on both sides, and generally speaking the team that works together most effectively will come out on top. Everything from the single player is available online - all twenty-four levels, all the classes and heroes, plus a range of modes. As well as Conquest, there is 1- or 2-flag Capture The Flag, Hunt, which is a race to hunt the most indigenous life forms, and Assault, where you're taking out key systems in space or having a Heroes-only free-for-all. It's safe to say that whatever you're in the mood for, as long as the players are available you're in for a real treat.

There are a couple of niggles - loading times are frequent and intrusive, plus the save system is particularly annoying, as you have to manually save your campaign and profile at the end of each game, confirming the name and then confirming the fact that you want to overwrite, making for a laborious process. Also it's not instantly accessible, particularly online, as it takes a while to get used to aiming accurately - it's hard to describe, but the look sensitivity feels a bit unnatural at first and you'll often be overshooting your target one way or the other, until you get the hang of it. Finally, although it is great fun, this is basically Star Wars does Battlefield and I think that those who aren't fans of the films will probably get more kicks with the down to earth setting of Modern Combat. Still, none of this adds up to anything significant, neither does it really detract from what is a truly enjoyable and entertaining game, for anyone who's into war games, regardless of the themed setting.

Star Wars: Battlefront II is without doubt one of the best releases of the year for those with the capability to take it online. Authentic and graphically lovely reproductions of every significant character and location from all six films, complete with a range of troop classes to choose from, all with their own weapon sets, a host of vehicles to use, spectacular space battles and fully playable Hero characters, not to mention the various awards you can earn for certain achievements during the game, and the massively detailed stat breakdown at the end of each match, both of which I, um, didn't have time to mention! Until we hit the next generation and the graphics can step up a notch, it simply isn't going to get any better than this. While the appeal of the single player mode will perhaps be limited for the more dedicated Star Wars fans, if you have a network adapter and enjoy online gaming then it really doesn't get much better than this. I'll leave you with what I think Yoda would say in summary, if he'd been sat on my sofa reviewing this game… "A blast you will have, buy this you should!"

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).