“This is actually the biggest Star Wars Battlefront we’veever done, regardless of platform, Elite Squadron is the biggest Battlefront,” said producer Pat Alvarado when we spoke to him about the upcoming PSP and DS release, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron. “Battlefront is one of our most successful franchises, and I think Renegade Squadron did great, it was actually kind of a surprise. We found that a lot of people really enjoyed the franchise on a handheld [device]. And following up Renegade Squadron with Elite Squadron is something that a lot of people have been asking for, that’s why we’re doing it. And hopefully we’ve taken into account everything that they want to see in this handheld experience and we’ve delivered on it.”

Indeed, it seems that the design team have tweaked the formula of the game greatly, allowing for far more scope than was previously possible even on the console releases. In the PSP release, the fighting isn’t merely contained to ground battlesor naval confl icts between lumbering cruisers. In this game, you can jump in a starfighter on the ground, dodge blaster fire until you hit the atmosphere and transition into space, where you can take control of vessels to pummel the ground with orbital strikes, or blast from the ground with ion cannons and the like, creating an epic battleground.

The multiplayer, one of the biggest draws of previous entries in the series, has also been greatly enhanced for the PSP release. “On the PSP it’s 16-player multiplayer. So you can imagine big eight-on-eight battles with guys on the ground trying to take control of command post, guys dogfighting in space, guys trying to take capital ships – it’s pretty epic. The DS has four-player, so you can set up a battle any way you want – there’s a heroes and villains mode and as you progress through the story you can unlock extra characters and things like that.” Those interested in the plot won’t be disappointed either, as Alvarado stressed: “We take great pride in putting a great story in all of our games – and Battlefront had story before, but I don’t think ever to the level that we’ve done here with Elite Squadron, this totally spans the entire Star Wars saga and beyond.”