IT is probably no coincidence that Star Wars: Battlefront II has blasted on to consoles just weeks before The Last Jedi hits cinemas.

Disney has teamed up with Battlefield developer EA DICE for this multiplayer sequel – but with the added bonus of a single-player story in response to demand.

In the campaign, set in the wake of the Emperor’s defeat at the end of Return of the Jedi, you mostly play as Iden Versio, an Imperial special forces commander.

She sees the error of her ways when she begins to question the Empire’s motives and refuses to follow orders to abandon civilians on a doomed planet.

Iden is then branded as a traitor and joins the Rebel Alliance. This clever plot device means that you experience both sides of the divide and get to meet – and play as – iconic characters from the Star Wars canon.

Battlefront II pays fan service with great attention to detail and it is fun to see locations from the prequel and sequel trilogies like the regal splendour of Naboo and arid war-torn Jakku out of their usual context.

But the games handing of the series’ good versus evil is about as blunt as Anakin’s fall to the dark side in the much maligned prequel films.

And at times the campaign feels like a crowbarred addition to the multiplayer offering. It’s only lasts about five hours and some of it is little more than a glorified demo for the online modes.

As for multiplayer matches, it all runs really smoothly and connection to games has been made simple even for the massive 40-player ‘galactic assault’.

In a mix of first and third-person combat, John Williams’ scores have been used really well to pump up the experience.

There is also a ‘heroes vs villains’ mode where you can pit all the main characters from Star Wars’ 40-year history against each other. Want to see how Rey would do against Darth Vader? Here’s your chance.

And in ‘starfighter assault’ you battle it out in the likes of X-Wings and Tie Fighters which makes great use of the thumb pads for 360 degree control.

Sweden’s EA DICE is a great developer and the base of the game feels tried and true but where it falls down is that nothing seems to be based on merit in the matches.

Rather than being an equal playing field, it is the players who have unlocked the most ‘loot boxes’ and therefore have the best weapons, abilities and perks who generally win.

Sometimes this leaves you feeling cheated and this could get worse in the future with EA considering having premium loot boxes available to buy – which recently caused a controversy with the concept of ‘pay to win’.

Until EA finds a better way to ‘bring balance to the Force’ by moving the emphasis away from loot boxes or adding modes where perks are disabled, this is not a game that can be recommended.

RATING: 5/10

DAVID MORGAN