That's where the ticker comes in quite handy - it keeps you closer to galactic hot spots. It all depends on how many players are signed up for a faction, and how many are playing in one specific location. If the Empire control over Hoth was, say, 65-35 and you completed an entire shooting sequence for the Rebellion, you may see the refresh turn to 62-38. After finishing a battle, hang in there for a minute to see the results go live. Every sixty seconds, THQ Wireless updates the servers with new information. Especially cool is the constant refresh rate. When the sequence is over, the results are uploaded to the server and the amount of influence/control your faction has on the planet either goes up or down. You can use thermal detonators to clear the screen, and if you are lucky enough to uncover (and shoot) a vehicle icon, you can use AT-ATs or tanks, which have individual fire patterns far greater than your basic blaster. The further you make it into the node, the more 'points' you score for your faction. Using a cursor, you must blast Rebel scum, Storm Troopers, Wookies, and other 'enemies' off the screen. Instead, when you select a planet and node to fight on, you go into a shooting gallery sequence composed of several screens. As mentioned, you do not directly challenge another player. If you are the Empire, you may be prompted to join a battle on the Death Star, for example, where your faction is losing control of a few nodes due to an influx of Rebellion activity. There is a useful ticker that lets you know the progress of the battle in the various regions. Your goal is to get in there and not only shore up planets that you already own a commanding percentage of, but also attempt to turn the tide in campaigns where your faction is losing.

When you look at the planet select screen, you see a percentage of how much of each region you control. The battle stretches across a total of fifteen planets, each planet with several nodes.

The battle doesn't begin or end due to your participation - you are just a cog in the mighty war machine, but depending on how well you fare in battle, your efforts may inch your side to eventual victory. After you choose a faction to fight for, you are then thrust into the middle of an ongoing conflict.

You choose a side in one of two galactic conflicts: Empire versus Rebellion in the struggle from the original trilogy, or the Galactic Republic versus the Confederacy of Independent Systems from the Clone Wars, subject of the prequel trilogy. Star Wars Battlefront Mobile follows the basic formula of the console game. There's a whole lotta Jedi love going around today, and it's good to see mobile being a good part of it. At the same time, Lucasarts has released Star Wars Battlefront II on Xbox, PS2, and PCs. Star Wars Battlefront Mobile bows today exclusively on Cingular, catching a little heat off the DVD launch of 'Revenge of the Sith,' which also drops today. It's a workaround that won't please everybody, but it pleases this reviewer - especially since the reviewer doubles as a 'Star Wars' fan. While you may not necessarily engage an opponent in direct combat, your actions, once piped over to a server, have an effect on a large-scale battle between different factions that you and your friends are part of. However, THQ Wireless and developer Mikoishi have found a clever way to step around network speed issues and still deliver a solid multiplayer experience.

Star wars battlefront rank system