The training wheels have come off in Star Wars™ Battlefront™ II's Starfighter Assault. This time around you're in absolute control over your speed, pitch, roll, and weapons as you pilot an assortment of lovingly-recreated Star Wars™ fighters. It's an entirely different experience than what you've played in the original Star Wars Battlefront's starfighter duels, whether you're rolling away from blaster fire in Darth Maul's Scimitar fighter or blasting an enemy ARC-170 out of the sky. The acrobatic maneuvers are entirely of your own invention. Every shift of the sticks results in a delightfully smooth response from your craft. It's a pure skill environment where the true ace pilots will rise above the rest on the merits of their wits and reflexes.

Star Wars™ Battlefront™ II's vehicles (and the entire Starfighter Assault mode) were built by Criterion, the Guildford-based studio known for the fast, tight controls found in the Burnout™ and Need for Speed™ franchises. They brought their penchant for fast, frantic, and – most importantly – fun vehicular gameplay to Star Wars in a big way. Their work started on the controls, which allow you to embrace the broadest range of possible configurations. You'll have the ability to toggle your auto-roll controls on or off, allowing you to opt for an automatically-correcting horizon. To take down enemies with your blasters, you'll need to carefully lead fighters with your guns, paying attention not just to where they are, but where you think they'll be in a moment. This allows bold pilots to attempt some absolutely incredible skill shots. Likewise, your ability to evade enemy fire is limited only by your imagination and accumulated experience.

Your control over every moment of the battle is heightened by the cleverly-designed levels, each of which provides plenty of room for high-speed maneuvers but is likewise intersected by lanes of cover, convenient hiding places, and large structures perfect for pivoting around to shake a foe or escape a missile lock. The stages are beautiful, and every map and objective-based, multi-stage mission requires a different approach, from the near-claustrophobic dogfights among the clouds and stormy seas of Kamino to the cold, dark, space of the Unknown Regions.