Verena Defence: Immortal

In the words of the great Peter Griffin: "Freakin' sweet!" A lot of people at Gametoast have been waiting for this great map by Penguin and this will undoubtedly meet expectations if it doesn't exceed them. If you loved Penguin's 'Tatooine: Valley' then you'll l fall head-over-heels for Verena Defence: Immortal.

Here's how the story goes: The Republic star destroyer, Immortal, is the last line of defense between the CIS and Verena. But Immortal is knocked out of orbit and crashes on Verena's moon. The CIS swarms down on the fallen ship like hungry buzzards and a kick-ass battle soon follows.

Got your interest yet? If not then I'll inform you of the 3 modes the map features. For starters there's good ol' Conquest mode. You can play as the Republic (Phase I Clones) or the CIS (B1 Battle Droids). The second mode is 'Elimination'. It's basically hunt, except you can play as either Jedi or bounty hunters. Personally I think the bounty hunters are cooler. Last, but not least, is XL mode which you're all familiar with. It's basically the Battlefront version of a Super-Sized meal at McDonalds. Ew...McDonalds...

Now onto the bugs.

Fortunetely the map isn't plagued with bugs though there are a few here and there that are worth mentioning. For starters, Elimination mode didn't have any sound except for music. I'm not sure if this was just me or what. I checked all my sound settings and they were fine so I'm not sure what the dealio is.

The other bugs are minor in comparison but are worth fixing and shouldn't take but a second. Planning. The AT-TE occasionally gets stuck in spots around the hangar, requiring you to steer it out for the AI. Other vehicles will also run into walls from time to time. In the tunnels I noticed some crowds of units running into corners in 'Elimination' mode. I'm not sure what would cause this but I'd recheck your AI pathes. My suggestion would be making them thinner so that the AI don't brush up against walls or don't push each other into them.

Now onto the good.

The map is a little big, but Penguin has made use of every space available. The largest benefit of the map's size is bigger battles and a variety of types of combat. You can either go on foot blasting down enemies as you progress, take a walker or tank and crush all resistance, run through the tunnels cutting your way through, or pilot an air ship and shoot down opposing fighters. Either way is fun but I prefer the tunnels. I absolutely love tunnel battles. They're the best!

Penguin has made some personal adjustments of her own and they're really cool. All the skins have been tweaked to be more realistic or similar to the movies. If you're observant you'll notice the sharpened armor on the clones and little spots of dirt. The droideka is also looking quite shiny. But aside from skins the Republic has a Commando and the CIS has a MagnaGuard...with the electro-staff and cape. Both require some serious skill to unlock. I'll admit that the both times I played the map I didn't unlock either one. New heroes are on the battlefield as well: Nina and Lana. Nina, the red-skinned Twi'lek Jedi Knight, leads the clone troopers of the Republic against the battle droids of the CIS, lead by Dark Jedi Lana who wields a purple lightsaber. Both of them are fun to play as.

Phew! Just so you guys know, writing these big reviews isn't easy. Anyway, enough out of me. Go see for yourself!

Great work Penguin! I'm sure everyone will love this one. I know I did.

-[GT]EraOfDesann