Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron

Platform: PSP
Verdict: Too big for it's portable boots.
Rating: 3/5
Since the dawning of George Lucas' empire in '77 there have been over 40 videogames with the iconic logo emblazoned on their box art. Mostly they've been rubbish, apart from the odd diamond like The Knights of the Old Republic. After seeing how popular a home made Star Wars mod of Battlefield 1942 had become, Lucas Arts created the Battlefront series. The mixture of epic multiplayer gameplay, vehicular combat and the Star Wars license was a no brainer which saw it become one of the most successful Star Wars games made.
Renegade Squadron sees the traditional template of base capturing and Storm Trooper blasting married with online multiplayer (a first for the series on the PSP) and a new narrative to carry its single player.
Based around the secret group of galactic misfits organised by Han Solo to use guerilla tactics against the Empire, Renegade Squadron weaves its tale around the films with animated illustrations, filling in the gaps between episodes and creating behind-the-scenes tales.
Gameplay remains the same as ever with no dramatic changes other than removing soldier classes in favour of user customisation. Essentially allowing you to pick and choose your weapon sets, Renegade Squadron allows players to create their own style of soldier, restricted only by a credit system that prevents you from becoming a walking armoury.
As well as the rote base capturing, missions are spiced up with varying tasks like destroying generators or protecting friendly characters but they all essentially boil down to the same thing while space combat missions are a twitchy disappointment.
The eternal curse of the PSP's single stick layout detracts from the game immensely, providing an auto lock-on substitute to a second stick. It's an unsatisfying solution that removes most of the skill from the shooter template and makes multiplayer a tedious game of circling opponents while waiting to see who dies first.
To its credit though, production levels are high, customisation options varied and the all too rare inclusion of 16 player online multiplayer is the jewel in its crown - but then that was the whole point of Battlefront in the first place.