"For a Beta",
, the game has a few quirks, which is to be expected.
Flying is pretty smooth (no dead stop ability though with the in-your-face action going it'd be hard put to use it). Basic controls like in B 1 so those folks without a joystick will still be able to mix it up with the rest of us (though I would suggest you get one, there is a slight advantage).
You'll spawn inside one of either side's cap ships hanger, run to the nearest fighter, hop in and take off. Like I said before, the intercepters are probably the most sought after (best speed, manouverability, and anti-fighter weapons load). The standard Tie and X-wing are slower but a with a tad more punch to their weapons (which are effective against all targets, the intercepters mount guided missiles which really give them the edge in fighter-to-fighter combat).
Of interest is that you can set barrel rolls and Immelmans to specific keys for when you need to pull a manouver right off the bat.
The bombers are pretty much the slowest ships there but thats to be expected too. They are also the most armored it seems, a little more tough to kill (Tie Bomber and Y-wing). The ONLY thing they are for it seems is to mount attacks on the exterior points on the enemy cap ship (comms array, engines, shield array, bridge) and to destroy enemy frigates.
Game play so far seems to be a variation of CTF. A module is floating out in space, which represents the flag. Flying your fighter through the module picks it up. Easy enough right? But in a VERY interesting twist, you have to fly the flag TOWARDS your goal which happens to be ON THE ENEMY CAP SHIP!! Takes newbs a little while to figure that part out. This new type of CTF is also reproduced for the ground combat maps too. Makes CTF a real bitch to say the least.
As for boarding parties, once you've gotten a few points to your name, through kills and what not (damaging enemy cap ships, etc), you're given the choice of becoming a Imperial Marine (I'll post a few screenies of that too). In either hanger theres a troop carrier (Imperial Shuttle/Republic Gunship). Just hop in and take off for the enemy hanger. Once there, and for as long as the carrier remains in the hanger, you can spawn other marines there to wreak havoc on enemy pilots/fighters/bridge/etc. This is sometimes not as tough as it might seem, as both shuttles are rather slow so getting to the opposing side's hanger might seem a waste of time. In fact, and with alot of persistance, shuttles do make it quite a bit (noone paying attention, noone manning the AAA batteries, etc). The shuttles are also quite tough as well as mounting the standard gun turrets and armament from the original game.
The Marines are also quite heavily armed with standard blaster rifles, rocket launchers, grenades, and mines.
The novelty in the ground combat maps lie in the new locations (Utapau and aboard the Tantive IV). That and the inclusion of the new clone trooper types. A small variation has been included here where some types of troops for either side are locked out until the player reaches a set level of attained points.
These locked out character types include the new Clone Commander, Jump Trooper, Imperial Officer, and Dark Trooper. Sticking close to these guys has benefits too as they can "dispense" things like a bump up in defense or attack abilities to other troops around them.
Playability remains essentially the same as the previous game with welcome improvements in graphics and map size (a little larger it seemed to me), and the "new" CTF mode being the most obvious.
Oh, lest I forget, if a player achieves some goal of points or kills or what not, you can, for a short time, play one of the "hero" characters. So far I've been Darth Vader once, and Princess Leia once, but have seen Obi Wan Kenobi and General Grievious a few times. These give you other special abilities as well as weapons (talk about a bitch to kill, that multi saber twirling Grevious is one tough bastard!).
I would recommend downloading and playing the Beta if you were anywhere near a fan of the original game, and even if you weren't. (oh, having the SW soundtrack music going while you are playing is another nice addition they put in).
I have high expectations for when the game hits the shelves and will definitely pick it up!
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