For a long time have we watched Star Wars, never our minds on where we were or what we were doing. Although wars not make one great, I've always wanted to take part in some of the biggest battles in galactic history but never could - until now! Although a Jedi craves not adventure or excitement, you'd be hard pressed not to experience these emotions when you play this game, even if you're not really a fan of our force-fuelled friends. Star Wars: Battlefront takes you to the frontline of Tatooine, Hoth and even Endor, where a rampage through snowy wastes in a metal camel or singeing some serious Ewok fur is the order of the day.

At its heart, Battlefront is a third person shooter based entirely as if you're a member of the army of either the Rebels or Imperials, or CIS or the Republic for the new films. The armies of each side can be anything from eight to thirty in size at any one time and boast a variety of different personnel. Before you wade into a battle you have to choose carefully what kind of support you want to provide, be it a plain infantryman such as a Stormtrooper, or heavy artillery like the Rebel rocket carrier. Also, you could be a medic and repair specialist like the Rebel pilot, or a builder and mounted gun specialist like the Imperial who carries a fusion cutter.

Either way, you're given plenty of opportunity to find a class you prefer and you do get the option to spawn back in as a different class if you think it may help. This is particularly handy, as the battlefield you play over is vast and allows for a variety of different situations in any one game. If you're trapped in some caves or tunnels you may need to spawn back in as an infantryman or sniper. If you're outside being attacked by enemies in heavily armoured vehicles then perhaps you'd better spawn back in with a rocket launcher. If your teammates are all on their last legs, then spawn back in as a rebel pilot and heal them.

It could also be useful if you spawn in where vehicles are likely to be hanging around. These vary from speeder bikes, Trade Union tanks, Tie Fighters, X-Wings and even the fabled AT-ATs. Each have their ups and downs, as you soon discover. Speeder bikes are great to hop on and whizz around with but you're likely to crash them and they're not very resilient. Tie Fighters and X-Wings are fine, if tricky to manoeuvre, but not great if you just want to get from A to B quickly, as they draw a lot of fire from the computer controlled characters. AT-ATs are very powerful and almost indestructible but they are incredibly slow. They can be taken out by snowspeeders, although you have to have two in the cockpit at the same time - one to fly and the other to aim the harpoon. In fact, many of the vehicles rely on two-player co-operation and there's even an option to transport several troops around a map. As the terrain and vehicles differ widely from scenario to scenario, it'll take you a while to get used to them.

However, it's not all just about running and gunning. If you have a fusion-cutter you can run around building gun emplacements, which is dead handy for protecting spawn points. These are tactical areas you need to control during a game and often decide who wins or loses. If the enemy overruns one of these areas, it will change to their colour on the little map in the bottom left of your screen and the enemy will start spawning in there. It can be an arduous task getting them back, so it's good to watch over them. If all your bases or areas are captured you've got 20 seconds to capture one back, or the battle is lost. Of course, this applies to the enemy also. The only other way to win is to complete an objective such as blowing up certain craft, or wiping out the opposition. When each team starts with about 150 reinforcements (although only a maximum of about 30 are onscreen at any one time) some battles can be ones of attrition rather than base-capturing tactics. Either way, you're going to have great fun.

There are two slight problems with the game though - it's got a single player option but it's designed primarily as an online game, but neither is top-notch. The single player is great for a while, doing a historical campaign or a galactic domination mode, but neither is that hard and this only represents about 10 to 15 hours of gameplay. Also the missions are fairly limited, being a lot of running, shooting and capturing of bases. The online multiplayer mode is a lot better, as running around shooting and blowing things up is amazing fun with your mates, if you can get them to join you and if your server speed is up to it. The game promises a maximum of 16 people, 8 per team, but rarely delivers that. Also, the voice is a little choppy, cutting in and out, as is the gameplay itself due to quite a bit of lag. One can hope some patches will be available for these niggles soon, as they mar some terrific fun blasting your mates from the bridge of an AT-AT or sniping troops from the top of a tree on Endor.

Another problem with the online aspect of the game is that it launches you into a new game very quickly - it's absolutely relentless! As soon as you get to the end of match lobby you've got to talk really quickly, as you're thrust into another match almost straight away. You've hardly got time to taunt the defeated CIS team, or bemoan the fact that the Empire stormed Hoth yet again, before you're plunged into another round of AT-TEs and thermal detonators. Strangely though, for all these niggles and moans I did go back for more and still am going back for more. The lack of scoreboards and other options don't stop the actual core of the game being incredibly satisfying and a whole lot of fun.

This is definitely helped along by the stylish delivery of the graphics. Some of the landscapes are absolutely breathtaking; the models of the figures are well drawn and animated and the vehicles look great, even those not out of any film. I found the streets of Naboo particularly appealing, looking like a cross between Venice and Rome, with a definite Southern European flavour to the lighting. It was replete with fantastic civic buildings that all looked hundreds of years old, with well-placed, sun-dappling trees and some rather nice herbaceous borders. Even the constant heat from the lasers and explosions of the concussion grenades didn't seem to mar their beauty. Bespin was another I found very appealing, being lit by the gorgeous red of the sun through the giant gas clouds. Also, it had some hidden rooms, such as the carbon freezing area best known for its role in The Empire Strikes Back. However, there's nothing romantic about the action happening in there this time, as it's a death trap for those hoping to defend it. Besides these, there are old favourites like the icy Hoth and forest of Endor, planets from the latest releases such as Geonisis and even a couple of planets purported to be from the final film of the saga.

The character designs and ship models really do capture the action and sci-fi settings of the films, whether you're playing Rebel or Empire, CIS or Republic. I personally prefer the gleaming white carapace of the stormtrooper or snow trooper, very well animated as they run to their doom. As with stormtroopers, I'm an incredibly bad shot too. Anyway, the body mechanics on all, while not the best, are certainly remarkable considering how many can be onscreen at any one time. Also there are some quite amusing ragdoll physics in play, so when a grenade goes off nearby it's not unusual to see figures flying through the air like acrobats, landing like puppets whose strings have been cut. Quite often blasts like these will have come from the awesome vehicles, most likely the incredibly powerful ones like that AT-ATs. On Hoth when I stopped underneath and looked up at one my jaw dropped; it is as close as you're going to get to the 'real' thing and it's quite awe-inspiring. It's no wonder the sight of one of these armoured behemoths strikes fear into the hearts of the enemy.

To make the Star Wars experience complete the game is absolutely jam-packed with great sound effects, which are not only extremely familiar to fans but provide an excellent introduction for newcomers to the audio treats of LucasArts and LucasFilm. The creak and thud of the armoured legs of the AT-AT, the whoosh and hum of the speeder bikes racing through Endor, the crackling and blasting sounds of a myriad different types of laser - it's all there. There are even loads of voiceovers to announce base captures, mission objectives or imminent defeat and they're done in the style of the side you're fighting for. Of course, no Star Wars game would be complete without the John Williams score and this time it hasn't been modified in the slightest. Previous outings, such as the Rogue Squadron titles, saw fit to fiddle with the music, even coming up with a new score altogether. This time that has not been done but draws the tunes from all five films, fitting them in perfectly with the action.

If you're not a fan of Star Wars games, Battlefront may yet convert you. Although there is not much substance to the single player game, it's fun for a while and hearkens back to the days when games didn't have to be too clever or in-depth. It's the online aspect that most people are going to be drawn to, which is immensely satisfying, even with the lag and communicator issues. The lack of clan matches may put off fans of games like Rainbow Six but no-one will deny they're having fun shooting an Ewok in the face or demolishing the Rebel scum. There's even an option for split-screen multiplayer action too, so get a chum round, get the beers in, take opposing sides and let slip the AT-ATs of war!

Reviewed by Dave Wynn for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).