Battlefront Zero

Description
Battlefront Zero version three-point-zero is, as you may have guessed, not the author's first release of this particular mod. In fact, many of you will be familiar with it from its previous upload to SWBFFiles, [url=http://starwarsbattlefront.filefront.com/file/Battlefront_Zero;103793]Battlefront Zero v2.1[/url].

This version has a few substantial additions, but by and large it is an update to everything released previously - there were several bugs in past versions and this one has notably fewer. The least fun part of any big mod is always going through and killing all those last few (hundred, sometimes) bugs. Manderek here has done a good job of knocking out almost all of them, but most notably the gamebreaking ones, like CTD's or freezes (due to award weapons bugs).

The biggest change from version 2.1 to this version is the two new maps added, and as such most of my review will focus on them.

The first new map is a very interesting map; Dantooine: Base. It's a map with only one mode available, a "Jedi Affairs" mode that doesn't show up on any other map. The player plays as Nahdar Vebb, the unlucky redshirt Mon Calamari jedi from "The Clone Wars" TV series. It's a fairly standard campaign, but it is always nice to see something different from the standard conquest - which is why I do enjoy playing the various different campaign missions available in this mod.

The Dantooine map itself is a really interesting idea, but it could use (a lot, in some places) more polish. If the terrain were done a little bit better, then I think it would really help, because the idea behind the props is a neat one (even if it doesn't necessarily look like any Dantooine we've seen). I like the look of the stone arch bridges found in many places. The biggest highlight of this map was, in my opinion, the skydome. It's not something extraordinarily obtrusive, but it looks exactly how it needs to look at the texturework done on the skydome mountains model looks great.

The second new map is "Mustafar: Burning Platforms." It's a neat take on the platform-map idea - as you may guess there are several platforms floating just above a lava lake. It seems like it plays pretty well, but it was tough to get an idea of real flow (or at least how the AI is moving over the course of the game) because it was an assault-only map.

One thing that I both really liked and really thought needed work was the building with the center inside platform suspended over lava. It's a really neat idea! However, the texturework on that building seems like it was done so quickly or with such a poor sense of scale that the textures stick out like a sore thumb. I think that model needs a bit of redoing, but if the textures can be fixed it'll look great.

There are two things I do wish I could have seen in this version. First, conquest on every map. While I enjoy playing a campaign map (as mentioned above with Dantooine), I lose out on some of the exploration I can find in conquest. And while I have the chance to explore a bit in hero assault (as Mustafar above has), to be honest hero assault with AI just isn't a whole lot of fun, especially with stock heroes (which it has). I think both of the new maps could benefit from having a conquest mode added.

The second thing I wish I could see was an effort to improve some of the models/textures. Well, to be accurate, I should say "some [i]more[/i]" of them, because I do know at least one model was changed this time around (Obi-Wan's model, which looks much better now). There were some nice new models, too (like the Nahdar Vebb model), but as I said in the last review, I still think there's a bit too much difference in quality between the best models and the worst models in this mod.

In any case, this mod is definitely worth a download. If the screenshots don't convince you, then give it a try anyway - you won't be disappointed that you did.

-Mav