With the release of "Star Wars: Battlefront" on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, EA DICE has finally rebooted a beloved series that's been sadly dormant since 2008's "Star Wars: Battlefront: Elite Squadron." But while this new version comes up a bit short, it's still a good time for trigger-happy fans of the titular sci-fi saga.

For those unfamiliar with the franchise, "Star Wars: Battlefront" is an online-centric first- or third-person shooter in which you fight the film's major military conflicts from both sides: the Rebels and the Empire. In the case of this installment, this includes the battle on Hoth from "The Empire Strikes Back," the Endor offensive from "Return of the Jedi," and skirmishes on Tatooine and Sullust. Coupled with visuals that border on photorealistic, as well as the original sound effects, score, and even original actors reprising their roles, you have a game that does a fantastic job of making you feel like you're a supporting character in the movies.

Even better, "Star Wars: Battlefront" is also a solid shooter, regardless of its movie connections. Not only are the controls responsive and intuitive, they smartly mirror those of most other gun games.

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As for the gameplay, "Star Wars: Battlefront" is mostly (but not entirely, as we'll get to in a moment) about fighting teams of other people online. Not surprisingly, many of its multiplayer modes work the same or almost the same as ones you've played in other games. "Blast," for instance, is "Team Deathmatch," in that the wining team of ten is the one with either the most enemy kills when time runs out, or the first to reach a hundred kills. Similarly, "Droid Run" is a six-on-six capture point mode, except that the points you have to capture and hold on to are slow-moving droids.

Not all of the modes are so familiar, though, putting a distinctly "Star Wars" spin on things. For instance, "Fighter Squadron" is also "Team Deathmatch," but instead of being on foot, you're in a spaceship, and have to destroy or protect a transport while trying to shoot down enemy fighters. Then there's "Cargo," which is akin to "Capture the Flag" in that teams of six have to grab cargo from an enemy's base and bring it back to their own, while simultaneously protecting their own boxes of stuff. But where "C.t.F." has just one flag per base, your bases have four boxes of cargo, and the winning team is the one that has the most when the game ends.

Many of this game's online modes also distinguish themselves by adding some unique wrinkles. First off, if you do well in some modes, you can temporarily play as "hero" characters like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and other favorites. All of whom, naturally, have their own unique abilities, and are a bit tougher than your average grunt -- which is good, since once they're killed, you go back to being just a schnook until you unlock them again. Though you could also just play such modes as "Hero Hunt," in which one player is a hero while the rest play as grunts trying to kill them, or "Heroes Vs. Villains," which is "Team Deathmatch" but with half your team of six starting out as heroes, and your team only winning a round if you defeating all three enemy heroes.

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"Star Wars: Battlefront" also employs a card system somewhat similar to ones found in such games as "Titanfall," "Forza Motorsport 6" and "Halo 5: Guardians." As you progress through the game, you'll rank up, unlocking cards that give you specialty weapons and grenades, along with some superficial options to customize your character. But while using special attacks in other games are contingent on having the ammo for them, here they're rechargeable, much like a magical attack in role-playing games like "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt."

For the most part, all of the multiplayer modes in "Star Wars: Battlefront" work well. The only outlier being "Walker Assault," a massive but somewhat lopsided twenty-vs.-twenty mode in which the rebels have to destroy an AT-AT while the Empire just runs ragged over them. Unless the Rebels really work together, or the Empire team is lax, the bad guys will win this one every time. Which isn't to say it isn't a fun mode to play, just less so if you only have fun when you win.

While the online modes are the centerpiece of "Star Wars: Battlefront," the game also has a pair of modes dubbed "Missions" which you can play alone or with a friend. Unfortunately, they're not that engaging. In "Battles," you again play "Team Deathmatch" -- or, to be more accurate "Kill Confirmed" from "Call of Duty," since you have to pick up tokens after you off someone -- but with the computer controlling the rest of your small team as well as the opposing team. But because the teams are so small, this mode isn't as frantic, and thus as much fun, as "Blast."

What works somewhat better -- though still not well enough to recommend this game to anyone who prefers to play alone -- is "Survival," in which have to take on waves of enemies like you did when you played "Horde" in "Gears of War 2" and "Gears of War 3." But, again, its lack of depth is this modes' undoing, as it has none of the complexity that was added to "Horde" in the latter "Gears" game. It also feels like this mode would work way better if you could play it with a team of four or five, and not just two, or on your own.

Sadly, the lack of solo options is not the game's only shortcoming. For starters, it's a little on the light side. No, not that one. Though it has a good selection of multiplayer modes, and a dozen maps, all of the battles are set during the time of the original trilogy. There's no battles from the prequels, the "Clone Wars" or "Rebels" cartoons, or the new expanded universe comics or novels. It doesn't even have any of the fights chronicled in Alexander Freed's recently released spin-off novel "Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company." Which is really only a problem because planets in the "Star Wars" universe typically have only kind of geography.

Now, the lack of map diversity will be somewhat alleviated on December 8 (or December 1, if you pre-ordered the game) when DICE release a free, two-map add-on called "The Battle of Jakku," which is set just before the events of the new movie, "The Force Awakens" (well, except that Jakku is a Tattoine-ish desert planet). And the game will get beefier still with the addition of more maps next year, albeit ones you'll have to pay for. But as is, the selection is a bit sparse.

The irony of this game's lack of battlefield variety is that the ones it does have a really good. They're rather large, though not so large that you feel like you can never find anyone to shoot, and have lots of nooks and crannies, especially the Endor maps with Imperial installations.

But the biggest problem with "Star Wars: Battlefront" is that it doesn't have a story mode. Not only does this not make any sense, given how story driven the "Star Wars: saga is, but in playing this game online, it quickly becomes clear that this game's solid controls, engaging environments, and cinematic presentation could make for a truly epic storyline-based campaign.

FINAL TAKEAWAY: Even with a lack of variety in its battlefields, and the absence of a story mode -- or any real reason to play this on your own, for that matter -- "Star Wars: Battlefront" is still a fun gun game for both fans of the saga and those who just like shooting people over the Internet.