Star Wars Battlefront Review

EA’s Star Wars Battlefront is out now on Xbox One, PS4 and PC, Battlefront is a online multiplayer first person shooting game that allows you to join the Rebel Alliance or Galactic Empire, fly the Millieum Falcon and go toe to toe with some iconic Star Wars characters like Darth Vader.

There can be little doubt that Battlefront is easily one of the most beautiful video games I’ve seen, it just looks stunning and the sound effects really help bring you into the Star Wars universe.  Some of the action on the screen looks like something out of the movie and there has been many times I’ve been distracted by the overall scene instead of paying attention to the enemy!   The variety between the planets does make the game more appealing, the frozen planet of Hoth, the forests of Endor, the desert of Tatoonie and the hard volcanic rock of Sullust, all give a different feel, though it does feel like there should have been more in the main game, while Jakku is coming in December to lead up to the Force Awakens movie, more locations are being added later via DLC, which is slightly disappointing.

Battlefront does a great job in recreating classic moments from the movie and giving players a nostalgic trip down memory lane as snowspeeders bring down AT-AT’s or the thrill of Boba Fett entering the game. Nostalgia is an important factor in the game, the game fits in with the classic trilogy, with very little interest shown to the prequels, which I felt was a little unfortunate, playing against the droid or clone trooper from the prequels would have been just as enjoyable. While Battlefront has some new content from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in a new map based on the battle of Jakku, this game is very much centered around the classic trilogy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more DLC on the other movies from the franchise or even if the sequel focused on the new trilogy.

I’ve played many first person shooters over the years, going back through Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem, Call of Duty, Halo, Ghost Reacon and many other shooting titles, so I’ve always enjoyed this style of gameplay, but its always been in the single player mode, which was why the lack of a single player story mode is a big disappointment and something I think EA need to look more closely at, online multiplayer can be a lot of fun, but having strong campaigns with story elements and offline play could make the game much more enjoyable for those gamers who don’t want multiplayer gaming.

I have never been too interested with online multiplayer shooters before, often being killed within seconds by more advanced players or having loud mouthed youths swearing over voice chat, which is something completely missing from Battlefront and I’ve loved playing online.    It’s easy to get into a game and with so many different options, and while being a new shooter will result in many deaths while you hone your skill, you are instantly thrown back into the action and it never felt like I was punished.

While the lack of a main single player mode is missing, there are a wide variety of local missions that don’t involve online play on different maps which are a great place to start before jumping into the multiplayer mode.  The training modes also allow you to practice some of the tricks of the vehicles, heroes and villains, so when you get them in the multiplayer games, you aren’t totally unprepared.   Getting to play as all the different heroes and villains in the single player area is also good for more casual players to get that experience.

Vehicles take a little bit of getting used to, but again, having those local modes really helped me get some time playing and enjoying things like the Snowspeeder or AT-ST, though I found the Speederbikes to be almost impossible.  There is a multiplayer modes like Fighter Squadron that allow you to compete in flight missions but its a shame we don’t see more of this, but this is a lot of fun and different to playing as a “human” and suddenly becoming the Millennium Falcon did put a huge smile on my face while battling the Empire.

There are a wide variety of different game options available in the multiplayer mode, going from large 40 player games where large AT-AT’s are attacking the Rebels, which was a crazy experience that feels epic.  There are also smaller modes like Droid Run and Drop Zone , which was one of my favourites as there is a clear objective rather than just killing the enemy.  I also loved the Hero Hunt, where all the troopers are chasing after a single hero or villain, if you manage to kill them, you become the next hero, though I found Luke Skywalker looked more like the Incredible Hulk has he leaps around the map with ease.

As like many games nowadays, Star Wars Battlefront has many updates coming to the game over the next year via a Season Pass including 4 new expansions packs plus the free Jakku pack which is coming in December.  The Season Pass costs only a couple of pound/dollars less than the original game which means to experience everything in the game, turns Battlefront into an expensive game.   The argument about game prices and DLC has been going on for years and will continue long after Star Wars Battlefront, but for me, maybe its time for initial game prices to increase rather than Season Passes.

Taking away the Season Pass argument and just looking at the content available at launch, I was pleased with the experience, this game captures the Star Wars experience and is a lot of fun.  The different gaming modes do feel different enough to maintain interest for casual Star Wars fans and the upcoming DLC packs will keep me coming back in for more.

I’ve totally fallen for the charm of this game, as a casual fan of first person shooting games, I was wary of online multiplayer, but its very friendly to casual fans, especially Star Wars fans and while it might not compare to other shooters which might be slightly better, this game was so enjoyable to play.  I loved the sights and sounds of the planet, I loved how much fun it was to join together with other players to capture pods or take on the huge battles, for Star Wars fans, this is awesome game, it does have some flaws and might not be the perfect shooting game, but I’m having so much fun playing and that’s something I didn’t get when playing some other shooters.

 

In our latest Podcast, Abe & Myself discuss the game in more depth:

Here are some gameplay videos of Star Wars Battlefront in action:

 

What do you think of Star Wars Battlefront?