Star Wars: Battlefront review – the force is strong, but not for long

The much-anticipated Star Wars shooter captures the look and feel of the series perfectly, but as with the original movie, this is just the beginning

When George Lucas first discussed Star Wars with his sound designer Ben Burtt, the director stressed that all the noises in the film - from the lightsaber swings to the whoosh of the landspeeder - had to be organically produced, rather than computer generated. He wanted this fantastical environment to feel downbeat and real. That is the magic of the original trilogy: it creates a universe that feels used.

EA Dice, the developer behind Star Wars: Battlefront, seems to understand that perfectly. This is a game that absolutely revels in the audio visual wonder of the movies. The unearthly moan of AT-AT fire; the scream of a swooping TIE Fighter; the spacecraft covered in dents and rust. This game looks, sounds and feels like being inside Star Wars. In aesthetic terms, it is the most accurate video game rendition of the series ever made.