There's a reason why games like Star Wars: Battlefront work so well on the PC and I can tell you with just one number: 100. What's that you ask? Am I talking about processor speeds, graphic card numbers or sound card specs? Actually, none of the above - 100 is the average number of keys on a keyboard. This is the number of slots that you can add a move or action to, beyond using a mouse, and this means that if you want a button for firing you've got one. If you want one purely for jumping, you've got it. Maps, diagnostics, specific weapons - check, check and check. In fact some games come with their own keyboard cover so that you know exactly which key does what. No scrolling through various weapons with one button, no holding one button and pressing another so that they do something different. No! You want to jump? Go ahead! You want to fire your jetpack? Fire away! With only 12 buttons how can the PSP (or any handheld or console for that matter) compete with that kind of freedom? Simple. It can't! And because of this, Star Wars: Battlefront - Renegade Squadron was already dead before it started.

The game is split into three sections - Instant Action, Campaign and Galactic Conquest. Campaign, the main game, follows Col Serra in his attempts to construct a Rebel faction known as Renegade Squadron. This is highlighted with opening stories revealing the plot of the game with simple but effective animation, allowing the voiceover and story to do all the hard work. As a linear story it works well, though I do wish that I had some control over what was happening throughout the game. Campaign is a mixture of on-foot levels and space battles that cover planets and sectors familiar to fans of both Star Wars trilogies. It would've been nice to have more information about the planet (even just its connection to the Star Wars universe for the geek in me) but thankfully the Naboo level doesn't see you having to rescue Jar Jar, as mesa wooda hated that!

I'll start with the on-foot levels as this is where you'll be spending most the game. Taking your personalised character (don't get too excited though - all you can do is equip the weaponry and a few other arbitrary pieces of costume, so this isn't an in-depth Create a Character section that might have appeared in other games) from either side you must work as a 'team' to defend or attack an area. I highlighted 'team' because unlike other shooters where the actual movement of each team member is important and you have some control over it, in this you don't. Essentially you play the role of John Rambo who might have allies to help, but they're not really that important and you can just consider them as humanoid shields or extra firepower. The downside to this is that the computer's AI can be a little one sided and you will almost certainly spend a great portion of your time shooting or being shot at by your fellow teammates, who just won't get out of the way. This isn't an ideal way to win a war, but will probably be described as 'Friendly Fire' by Admiral Ackbar in the debriefing.

These on-foot levels have their ups and downs. The mixture of tasks and shooting gives the game a classic FPS feel that stops it becoming just a mindless blast 'em up, but these tasks are so simple (destroy a specific target, open a door, repair or splice into a piece of equipment to use it) that instead of bolstering the action with intelligent objectives simply serve as distractions from the blasting - and even that isn't as fun as it should be. Movement and targeting are controlled with the analogue stick, making the game very difficult to get to grips with, and even though the right shoulder button aids your aim, it's not very helpful when any sudden movement can switch your sights to a less important target. The rest of the controls are fairly complicated, with the use of holding down a button while pressing another to get them to work, meaning that you may spend ten minutes figuring out why your jetpack won't work and then realise it's because you are pressing the wrong combination of buttons.

One of the more interesting concepts of the game is the use of heroes that become available in certain levels (though how you achieve this is never properly explained and it appears to be just a random occurrence). This allows you to take control of some of the most famous characters from the Star Wars universe, from Boba Fett to Han Solo. Now, I'll ask this very obvious question: playing as Luke or Vader or Han should be fun, right? In fact it should be a no-brainer that stops me in my tracks and awards the game 10/10 without thinking - right? Wrong! You have only a limited time to play as the hero character and the control of a lightsaber is so atrocious that you'll be lucky to get a few hits in before you are gunned down, thus making playing as Darth Vader no fun whatsoever. I can't believe I just wrote that! For those excited by the idea of using vehicles, don't get your hopes up because they make the game even worse. The AT-ATs move at a staggeringly slow pace, while the AT-STs seem to get stuck on any surface that's not flat ground (no wonder the Ewoks won!) and although the variety of battletanks is slightly more entertaining, they are also hampered by horrible controls that are about as elegant as the Hulk's version of Swan Lake. Once again, an easy positive becomes a negative that made me hate Renegade Squadron even more.

When it came to the space levels, I found that the main problem was almost mirrored by the problems that I had with GUN Showdown. The on-foot levels are tricky, but ultimately mastered with a few attempts. However, as with the horse riding levels in GUN, once you set foot in a ship of any kind then you might as well just switch your PSP off there and then. When you consider that X-Wing is often considered to be one of the greatest games ever, you would believe that over ten years later developers would still be able to at least maintain the excitement of piloting one. However, the controls are once again all over the place; you find yourself trying to target an enemy craft only to move completely out of the way and then see it fly clean overhead while you smash straight into an Imperial Battlecruiser, respawning again a few seconds later. Each time a space level appeared I cringed at the thought of replaying it until I got lucky - and that's really the only way to get through these levels. The only bonus is that crafts such as Bob Fett's Slave One and Solo's Millennium Falcon are available to use, but that's a bit like saying you can have a piece of chocolate… only it has a tuna fish centre. As with the heroes, this is once again an open goal missed by miles.

The Instant Action mode is essentially just fancy talk for Quick Play and has the same options as two player, allowing you to select any mission or world and set up the limits or objectives, whether it be a Conquest (destroy all the enemy troops), Flag (a capture the flag variant) or Hero Flag (CTF with hero characters) for example. Then you can choose the number of troops and time limit and dive straight in. This section is good for glory, extending the longevity of the game with a few friends or simply for practice - and trust me, you'll need a lot of that with this game.

Despite missing the mark in the previous two sections, it is within the third part of the game that things finally get a bit better. Galactic Conquest is a turn-based game where you play as either the Rebels or the Empire, trying to conquer the galaxy and capture the randomly selected head planet of your opponent. The sixteen planets are connected, but only planets directly linked can interact with each other; for example, you can send troops on Hoth to conquer Endor, but not Ord Mantell, then once Endor has been captured you can send troops from Endor to attack Ord Mantell and so on. Because of these restrictions you might find yourself looking at this mode like a game of chess, trying to think two or three moves ahead and anticipating what your opponent will do then adjusting your strategy accordingly. After each attack you have the opportunity to buy and send reinforcements to the conquered planet, or risk it once again being captured by a neighbouring enemy planet. Like the main game, the battles are either on-foot or in space, but the option that makes my heart sing is Auto-Resolve, which allows you to simply send over superior forces that will win you the battle without having to endure the gameplay. It should be noted that as all on-foot levels are simply about annihilating the opposition force the gameplay is a little better and you can sometimes enjoy the challenge of trying to see off eighty enemy troops with only a dozen on your side. The phrase "Tonight we dine in hell!" springs to mind. This section almost saves Renegade Squadron and I spent more time mastering my tactics here than anywhere else.

Graphically there has been very little improvement over the last game, although each part of the game has still been wonderfully created. The amount of characters included is impressive and the environments feel authentic. Those sticklers for detail who have analysed every element of the six films (Guilty!) will be amazed at just how much this looks like the film, particularly Tatooine with Luke's burnt out landspeeder in the background and the Cantina. Main menus are littered with the beautiful artwork that features within the main mode and I was very impressed by this - if this game isn't made into a Star Wars book or graphic novel of some kind then I will be quite surprised. And as this is a Star Wars game, you know that the sound is going to be perfect, thanks to the use of John Williams' original score throughout - every time I get to hear The Imperial March it just sends shivers down my spine. The use of voiceovers and sound effects throughout also reinforces the authentic Star Wars feel, which isn't surprising when you consider they had the main man Ben Burtt helping out with the sound.

Star Wars: Battlefront Renegade Squadron is one third an excellent game, one third a terrible game and one third a passable game… shaky and not stirring! What the game does well (Galactic Conquest, the general on-foot blasting) it does very well, but when the game falls down it just can't get up, with unplayable space levels and a repetitive and simply boring story mode. At times I really enjoyed it, but then later I would be pulling my hair out with a frustrated rage at the uncooperative controls and terrible game construction. If you can adjust to the controls then the Star Wars universe is lovingly recreated and here to be a part of - but if not, you're left with a horribly frustrating gameplay experience that will leave you feeling like Anakin after Obi-Wan lopped off all his limbs and set him on fire. The best advice I can offer is that if you have any choice at all, pick the PC or console versions over this half-broken PSP effort.

Reviewed by David Simpson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).