Star Wars is more than just Jedi, Sith and The Force. While Mr. Skywalker was busy Criss Angel-ing his X-Wing out of a bog and going Bear Grylls with a Tauntaun, the war was being fought out there by normal grunts, goshdarnit. The Galactic Empire battled the Rebel Alliance in a series of 16 to 54-person skirmishes – at least where Star Wars: Galactic Warfare is concerned.

SW:GW is a multiplayer mod for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, brought to you free of charge by the kind folk at BlackMonkeys. All COD:MW weapons have been air-locked and jettisoned, replaced by canonical Star Wars weapons. The mod also brings new sound effects, music, weapons, models and a single new map (for now).

I must point out that SW:GW is still in Beta stage. At the time of writing, the first playable beta was released as version 0.4b and only includes the solitary Mos Eisley map to play on. However, helping to give the beta legs, all of the old COD:MW game modes can be played (such as Free-for-all, Headquarters etc.).

And herein lies the problem when playing a multiplayer mod; there are either not enough servers that host the mod, or there aren't enough people playing the mod to have a decent match. SW:GW falls into the latter category, but it's not really the fault of the developers. The server browser is adequate for finding servers, but they're almost always empty. If you want to play a competitive match, it's probably best to organise something among friends or through an Internet forum like I did.

Once you do get something started, the fast-paced COD:MW gameplay translates well to the Star Wars context. UAVs are replaced with “Spy Drones” and you'll hear the “Wwwrrraaaaaggghhhhh” of a TIE Bomber air-strike long before you see the fantastic electric-blue explosions. Classes retain their names but unfortunately there isn't any customisation besides choosing your perks. That can probably be attributed to the mod still being in Beta; hopefully, new weapons – and maps – will be added in the future.

Speaking of maps, Mos Eisley is well-designed and balanced for team play (and lean, take that MW2!) There are plenty of opportunities for players to flank the opposition, or camp if that's the kind of player you are. However, it's not particularly big (slightly smaller than “Countdown” from COD:MW, but not as open), so I can only imagine how chaotic it would be on a 54-player server. One particular thing to note is the music that plays as you walk past the Mos Eisley Cantina – you know, during the scene when Han Solo shoots Greedo *in self-defence*.

If you've ever played the Star Wars: Battlefront series of games, you'll know how fun a Star Wars multiplayer experience can be. This mod doesn't – and likely won't have – the large open battlefields and vehicles of SW:BF, but gives Star Wars shooting a distinct COD flavour (pun unintended). Ultimately, its longevity as a multiplayer shooter is limited because of the lack of unlockable items and maps. Of course, I have to emphasise that it's still in Beta so there's always a chance that more features will be added as development continues (here's hoping for a lightsabre melee attack to replace the knife). Until then, I'll be scoring it as it is, because it’s not uncommon for Mods to get stuck in beta for the same period of time it takes a promising young Jedi to turn into an asthmatic cyborg overlord.

Want to blast some poor Stormtroopers into smoking heaps of meat and metal? Here's what you need to get crackin' on the Galactic Warfare battlefield:

1. You'll need to have Call of Duty: Modern Warfare installed.
2. Click here to download and install the relevant patches to get your version of the game up to version 1.7.
3. Click here to download and install the Star Wars: Galactic Warfare 0.4 Beta.