Ahh, Battlefront. How many childhood memories you created, and youthful rivalries you sparked. With the announcement of a reboot in the works in 2013, my heart pounded and emotions soared. A new game! Who could deny the resurgence of nostalgia, the utter excitement at the prospect to relive the feelings of those glorious days of old?
I’m certainly not alone in jumping at the opportunity to part with what I have made of the game, especially with its launch a few weeks back in the UK. Here you’ll find what I’ve had to say about the game so far.
HAS EA’S DICE TEAM DELIVERED A GAME WHICH LIVES UP TO THE TIME-TESTED, ORIGINAL SERIES SO BELOVED BY MANY?
GRAPHICS
Firstly, I haven’t spoken to anyone who’s at least played the beta and had something bad to say about the environments or graphics on the whole. The various ecosystems are lush, vibrant, and visually mindblowing. The impeccable attention to detail continues to blow my mind. The vegetation, trees and weather changes look incredibly faithful to the real world environments they’re based on, most noticeably on Endor (check out those bushes in the rain!).
PLAYABILITY
The character design and mechanics are particularly comfortable. I’m sure that a good few people wish for a pink Stormtrooper gear set, however, DICE have chosen to keep the visuals as true to the movies as possible (smart move, DICE). Maybe one day you’ll have that swanky Stormtrooper, but not today.
Moving your characters and fighting with them is pleasing. The weapons are diverse and the terrain feels, for want of a better word, real. Climbing snowy mountains on Hoth or leaping over lava streams on Sullust is incredibly awe-inspiring and completely takes you into the world of the game.
GAME MODES
One of the things which has stood out to me quite strongly is the number of game modes available. Whilst it’s hugely enjoyable to engage in massive multiplayer battles in Walker Assault and Supremacy, I’ve enjoyed above all else playing the Fighter Squadron mode. The inclusion of dogfight-based combat adds a nice level of diversity to the mix – gunning down TIE Fighters and X-Wings has honestly never been more enjoyable.
Smaller game modes, such as Cargo and Droid Run, give players the chance to get involved with smaller maps and really enjoyable objectives. These new inclusions prove that sometimes, change isn’t such a bad thing after all.
HEROES AND VILLAINS
DICE’s wonderful inclusion of Heroes and Villains and balancing of them is extremely well done. Whilst virtually invincible in the games of the good ole’ days, it’s a lot easier to engage in combat with these recognisable characters today.
With a health-based system like that of the soldiers as opposed to surviving longer the more people you kill, it’s nice to know you have a fighting chance for a change. Seeing the legends Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo pitted against Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and Boba Fett is jaw-dropping to watch and partake in, regardless of whether you’re a troop or one of the universe’s most powerful characters.
ON THE OTHER HAND…
Unfortunately, there’s always going to be a dark side to any game (pun intended). Battlefront is infamous online for a number of choice exclusions which distance it from its previous incarnations. Many, many people have taken to social media in a furious tirade to complain about a number of things, feeling, on the whole, pretty cheated.
Whilst not amazing, the original games felt as if they had a bit more substance with the chance to live through major movie moments in the form of a story mode. With the game running so beautifully, I felt almost insulted that I had to play multiplayer, and not enjoy the game from a single-player perspective in an exciting narrative-based experience. Sure, the survival and mission modes for single player are enjoyable, but they feel slightly repetitive after a while, disjoined from the events of the movies which the earlier games are held in such high esteem for, and which DICE have strongly tried to recreate.
A KIND OF EMPTINESS?
In discussing the lack of substance, the handful of maps available is also rather disappointing. Perhaps the earlier games spoilt us rotten with the dozens available. However, only being able to play in mostly rural landscapes, on only four planets, makes me beg for urban places of battle, such as the Death Star or Bespin from Battlefront I and Battlefront II.
Finally – space battles. Love them or hate them, they gave Battlefront II a uniqueness which cemented it as one of my favourite games on the PlayStation 2. As earlier mentioned, I absolutely love Fighter Squadron to pieces, however not being able to venture into the darkness of space really takes away a really special element of the Star Wars universe. Star Wars without space, in my opinion, is a completely different experience – it feels empty.
TO CONCLUDE…
As it stands I, unfortunately, have to say that this is too empty a game to be deemed worthy of its hefty £45 price tag. A price at £30 seems a lot more reasonable for the content which is supplied, and I strongly believe that the pricing of this product was a huge overstep. The introduction of the new DLC titles raises questions about whether or not we will see the game further enriched. With Outer Rim out in March, followed by Bespin and Death Star later in the year, I am genuinely ecstatic to see more variation in environments. Unfortunately, there is still no sign of space battles, at least in the near future. What can we expect of DLC pack number four?
That being said, this is definitely not a bad game. I am going to be buying the DLC to flesh out my experience a bit more, but I do feel a little cheated, like many, that these basic elements were not included in its vanilla launch state. I’ve enjoyed my experiences with Star Wars Battlefront so far and look forward to seeing where DICE plan to take it.
How Are You Finding Star Wars Battlefront?
Editor’s note: for more Star Wars don’t forget to check out our six rewatch episodes!
SHARE:
