I'm not going to mess you around here - there are three loves in my life: video games, my early morning cereal, tea and cigarette, and Star Wars. That's why I find it all the more painful when every time a new title arrives it's nearly always disappointing. Clone Wars? Chuff. Bounty Hunter? Pants. In fact, I can name only three decent Star Wars games off the top of my head - Tie Fighter, the original Star Wars arcade machine and Knights of the Old Republic. However, I'm gleeful to say that today I can add a forth to that list, for Battlefront is not only the best use of the license to date, but arguably the best Star Wars game yet made. There's one quite vital catch to this wondrous revelation, however, that being a broadband internet connection and a Live account. The bitter truth is that if you're not then you won't be able to experience Battlefront at anywhere near its best. That's not to say that the single player game is bad - it's more that the online is significantly better.

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Impressive, most impressive.

The truth is that the structure employed by Battlefront would not work were the title not set in the Star Wars universe. There's no underlying plot, no character progression to drive things along. What you get here are bite size chunks, disjointed nuggets borrowed from various points along the plotlines. One moment you'll be battling the Republic's clone army on the dusty, mountainous terrains of Geonosis, the next you're sniping Wookie's from the giant snow drifts on Hoth. If by some bizarre, perverse amalgamation of life circumstances you've somehow never seen the Star Wars movies, not only do I deeply pity you, but also you'll probably get very little from this title. If you're anyone else though you're nearly guaranteed to have more fun with Battlefront than you've had in a long time.

Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral.

When setting up a game you're given the option to choose between the old and new generation of the franchise, fighting for the Empire or Rebellion, the Republic and the CIS. You also have a choice of several planets set across the Star Wars universe, ranging from more familiar locales like Tatooine, Hoth and Endor to more specialised planets like Kashyyk and Rhen Var. There are a few other things you can also choose between before delving in. For instance, it's possible to allocate one "Jedi Hero" to each side (including Luke Skywalker, Mace Windu, Count Dooku and Darth Vader) which are invulnerable CPU characters that roam the battlefield dishing out lightsabre-fuelled destruction. Whether you choose to activate them or not is down to personal preference as their indestructibility is a contentious issue for some, but there's no denying the coolness of fighting alongside the real heroes of the movies.

No disintegrations!

The gameplay here is undoubtedly modelled on the Unreal Tournament school of thought as opposed to the Counter-Strike or Rainbow Six camp. Although the number of human players is limited to 16 according to the tech specs (though you will often find rooms hosting up to 24 players) every game presents you with a monstrous battlefield of combat, with CPU players making up the numbers. In fact, developer should be commended for implementing some impressive AI - even when the number of human players is limited battles never feel less than fully convincing. These battles follow a rather basic capture-the-flag formula that sees both sides fighting until one team has either captured and held all of the command posts for 20 seconds or used up their allocation of respawns that is limited to either 200 or 250 depending on the map. Death does not bring the end fortunately as all you need do is wait a few seconds until you respawn and when you do so you'll not only be given a choice of spawn points (dependent on the command posts currently under your teams control) but also a choice of fighter. Each team has a standard drone that can take the form of more basic characters from the (Storm Troopers, Battle Droids and the like) and typically packs an automatic rifle of some description, a smaller pistol and some grenades. Also on offer are more specialised drones that carry an assortment of weapons such as rocket launchers, sniper rifles and EMP canons. Each team also has a selectable pilot drone that whilst lacking firepower can repair gun turrets and vehicles.

Mine, or help you I will not.

"Did I hear you say vehicles?" you may ask. Yes you did. Vehicles are also optional, though only the most weak-minded fool would choose to deactivate them as they offer some of the cooler moments of the game. Much like the locations, a great selection of vehicles are on offer ranging from AT-AT's to Snowspeeders and Tie Fighters to Speeder Bikes. Fortunately each vehicle feels pleasingly individual and will require a little practice to get to grips with. The AT-ST's walk in relation to the aim of your lasers for instance, the Y Wing has a larger turning cycle than its nimbler X Wing counterpart. Also, two players can occupy most vehicles with one person manning the heavier weapon whilst the other pilots and operates the more standard lasers. Whilst an AT-ST can prove a destructive visitor to one of your spawn areas, a couple of well placed rockets, blasts from a gun turret or even a Ewok tree trunk trap will soon tumble even the mightiest foe.