Get ready for a pretty big update!
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Battlefront:
My brother Willy got Battlefront for his birthday! I've been playing it a TON. It's especially fun to go lumbering around Hoth in an AT-AT, utterly destroying everything in your sight -- every Rebel troop, turret, and vehicle can be destroyed by just one shot from your super-powerful lasers. Only the shield generator requires a bit more pounding. Of course, it's pretty hard to hit the fast-moving snowspeeders, and they can (of course) trip you with their tow cables if you give them the chance. I find it's nice to always travel with another AT-AT, so that if one comes under attack the other can pick off the speeder.
Then there's Endor, which was the level featured on the OT DVD set demo. For the Rebels, your objective is to destroy the shield generator protecting the Death Star II. For the Imperials, you have to defend it. At your disposal are AT-STs, speeder bikes, and plenty of ammunition. The Rebels also have the assistance of Ewoks.
The Kamino map is perfect for the Republic's Jet Troopers, who can go from outerdoor platform to platform with ease. The Geonosis map is lots of fun with AT-TEs, Hailfire droids, spider droids, LAAT/i troop transports, and Geonosian starfighters. Rhen Var, the only planet that's in the game but is in none of the movies, is an ice planet much like Hoth, except it has giant, ancient structures that make it less open. There are two Tatooine maps. The first is the Dune Sea, which is a great big open map featuring the ever-so-fun Sarlaac who will grab and eat you if you get too close. The other is Mos Eisley, which is an extremely urban-combat-type map where vehicles (if the map had any) would be utterly useless. Troops with jet packs are particularly convenient here, as they can navigate the city with ease. Naboo also has two maps, one open and one city map.
And then there's Kashyyyk, which will be featured in Revenge of the Sith. The Wookiees help out the Republic on that map, which is neat. It's great to have a little preview of what the planet will look like.
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More Videogames
With the success of Battlefront, I see a sequel coming -- and I'm very glad about that. I hope they have more content from Episode III -- a lot more content -- and more planets. On Hoth, AT-ATs shouldn't respawn, but the Empire should start off with six or something. To counter that, the Rebels should have lots more snowspeeders.
The AI should be improved. In this one, it's pretty good, but the AI guys occasionally run into walls and such. There should be more planets, including lots that aren't in the movies -- places where epic Clone Wars battles take place, and other places that come under attack at various times during the Original Trilogy.
After that, there should be a "Battlefront EU" focusing on the events following Return of the Jedi. Instead of "Galactic Civil War" and "Clone Wars" as the two eras, it could be "Imperial Remnant Wars" and "Yuuzhan Vong War."
You know I really love a game when I've already imagined two sequels. :-)
Knights of the Old Republic is currently getting a sequel that takes place five years after the original, aka still a few thousand years before the movies. I think that after that, they should make "Knights of the New Jedi Order" or something. It would take place during the years of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. In addition to everything one would expect from a sequel to KOTOR, it should have some elements of RPGs like Fable worked in. In Fable, people's reaction to you changes depending on your actions -- much like in KOTOR, only to a greater extent. If you're really evil, people drop what they're holding and run in terror when they see you. If you're good, they follow you around and adore you.
In KOTNJO (not a very good acronym), that could be taken to an even higher level. You could have different reputations with the New Republic, Luke's Jedi, Kyp's Jedi, the GFFA, the Peace Brigade, and the Yuuzhan Vong. So, if you helped the Peace Brigade capture other Jedi, the PB would like you, the YV would be tolerant, all Jedi would hate you, and the NR would be fairly neutral.
[[NEW JEDI ORDER SPOILER ALERT]]
As you played through the game, events from the books would pop up. Your character would start with an apartment on Coruscant, but could buy houses on other planets. That would probably be a good idea, since about halfway through the game the Yuuzhan Vong invade Coruscant. If you're on the planet at the time, you can...
- Fight your way off-world in your ship.
- Stay put, go into hiding in the lower levels, and wait for NR Special Forces to come by and try to get you out of there.
- Stay put for the remainder of the game, fighting off Yuuzhan Vong as you go.
- Help the Yuuzhan Vong there.
That's my fantasy, anyway. I think it would be cool -- who knows what LucasArts would think.
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Reading Materials
Currently, I'm reading the Insider 78 (which came a couple days before we got the DVD set) and Tatooine Ghost. Both are quite entertaining. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the NJO, the rest of the Clone Wars books, all post-NJO books and all post-Episode III books.
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May the Force be with You! Now I'm off to play Battlefront. :D
