Title: Video Game Review: Star Wars - Battlefront
Author: MJ Khan
Recovered Author: MJ Khan
Published Date: 2015-11-30
Original URL: https://geeknode.co.za/2015/11/video-game-review-star-wars-battlefront
Wayback URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20170706170449id_/http://www.geeknode.co.za/2015/11/video-game-review-star-wars-battlefront/
Recovery Confidence: high
Categories: Video Game Review
Tags: darth vader, ea, electronic arts, frostbite, Luke Skywalker, Star Wars, Star Wars Battlefront

- Developer EA Dice
- Publisher EA
- Distributor EA
- Where we got our copy EA
- Genre FPS, Third-Person Shooter
- Game modes Single Player, Multiplayer, Co-op
- Players Up to 40
- Reviewed on Playstation 4

- Available on PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One

- MJ Khan

- 2 years ago

- 5 0

Star Wars is more than a franchise, it’s a global movement that spans every media imaginable. Wikipedia lists 198 titles and expansions covering everything from pod racing to angry birds tie-ins. Even though there are more titles than there are countries, I doubt it gets any less daunting to develop a game, such is the zeal of Star Wars fans (whose numbers probably rival that of a major faith), doubly so now that the licence belongs to Disney. Nine and a half million people played the Star Wars Battlefront beta – EA’s largest – and considering this is the company that publishes the Fifa games, you’d understand why this is an astounding figure.

I have to say upfront that I’m a bit of a Star Wars agnostic. I’ve watched all the movies and played about a dozen of the games, so I have both an appreciation and a fair understanding of the lore, however, I have not booked tickets for the new movie and I don’t own any merch (apart from a sweet Darth Vader bust I got as a gift). You can say that I recognize the Force, but I doubt the power of its influence at a personal level

The game has a lengthy install time, and while the developers let you play a mini-game with an invincible Darth Vader while you wait, I had no idea how long it would take for the game to install (it’s a 20gb install). I saw a loading bar at one stage (at around 30 percent) and then nothing for about 15 minutes. I ended up googling it and took solace in knowing I wasn’t the only one – my suggestion is – make sure your PS4 controller isn’t set to switch off after ten minutes and just leave the game running in the background while you hem those pants you’ve been meaning to for the last two years.

Upon starting you have a choice between ‘Mission’ or ‘Multiplayer’. I recommend you spend some time with the training missions as there’s quite a bit to learn (it’s not so much ‘point gun at moving object and squeeze trigger’ as much as it’s ‘weave past forest in ridiculously fast speeder bike, search for imperial activity with an x-wing, spearhead an attack in Hoth or take down a walker).

The first thing that struck me was just how beautiful the game is. The graphics are simply sublime and raise the bar in every regard. I played the speeder bike training mission and kept losing my targets because I wanted to slow down and take everything in. I doubt any game will be able to top this, until perhaps Uncharted 4 drops early next year. You know a game looks special when your in-laws are over for lunch and you switch the machine on just to show them what it looks like. I imagine this is what they had in mind for the original Battlefront, and the tech is finally here to see it realized.

When I did eventually try to race properly, I found that the controls were a tad twitchy, but this could be down to me tricking my mind into remembering that the right stick is used for navigation (I played about four hours of GTA Online before starting Star Wars so I had to unlearn a lot of what was muscle memory. It’s worth noting that Criterion (developers of classics like Need for Speed Rivals and Burnout Paradise) helped with the bike bits.

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There are four types of Missions, (excluding the tutorial) that can be played alone offline, couch co-op or two-player online. This includes the training missions I highlighted above, ‘Battles’, ‘Hero Battles’ and Survival. I played a few regular battles against my wife (who isn’t a Star Wars fan) and she thoroughly enjoyed them (she also won most of the rounds which probably added to the enjoyment). My only criticism of the split-screen mode is that some stages fare better than others – we found that Tatooine’s dusty palette made it a little difficult to see what was happening – this might just be a factor of our TV’s brightness set to suntan bed).

Hero Battle is like a regular Battle except you play with characters that you care about – playable heroes and villains include Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and Boba Fett. Palpatine was my go-to hero and playing with him made me feel like I was playing a slightly cooler version of Infamous. In the absence of a campaign mode (something that struck me as being odd), I found that the Hero Battles got more of my playtime. It’s a relatively new trend to have shooters without story modes (Titanfall being one of the more popular ones). I can’t say I’m a fan – I’d rather have a five hour story mode than nothing at all.

I asked a friend of mine who is a huge Star Wars fan if he was going to get the game – he heard it was online only and that dissuaded him as he does not have ADSL. I’d like to clear that up and state there are 16 missions that can be played offline (solo or co-op).

Apart from the four mission types, there are also 9 multiplayer modes, roughly split into the following game modes

- Walker Assault and Supremacy – traditional large-scale battles that combine infantry, vehicles and Heroes. Walker Assault has you either protecting or destroying an AT-ST and is one of the stronger modes. In the absence of a campaign, you will spend a lot of time with these two modes

- Fighter Squadron and Blast – these are the deathmatch type games with Blast taking place on the land and fighter squadron in the air. A few reviewers have slated Blast for being too simplistic, the way I see it, sometimes you just want to jump into a game and shoot things.

- Droid Run, Cargo and Drop Zone – these are smaller modes focused more on infantry battles and lighter objectives. Droid run has very small maps (the game currently has 13 maps). Cargo is your basic capture the flag type game. With Drop Zone, pods fall from the sky and there’s a scramble between both sides to retrieve them

- Heroes v. Villains and Hero Hunt – I found Heroes vs Villains really tough for anyone who isn’t Darth Vader – either that or every single person who played as Darth was so much better than me. Hero Hunt is a lot like Call of Duty’s infected mode – it’s essentially 7 against 1

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There is a fair discussion on the issue of the season pass’s price-tag, and at 728 rand, it’s pricey. As much as I enjoy the game, I can’t see myself shelling out so much for the 4 expansion packs and a few new locations, especially since we have no line of sight on what these will entail.

Star Wars is more than a franchise, it’s a global movement that spans every media imaginable. Wikipedia lists 198 titles and expansions covering everything from pod racing to angry birds tie-ins. Even though there are more titles than there are countries, I doubt it gets any less daunting to develop a game, such is the zeal of Star Wars fans (whose numbers probably rival that of a major faith), doubly so now that the licence belongs to Disney. Nine and a half million people played the Star Wars Battlefront beta – EA’s largest – and considering this is the company that publishes the Fifa games, you’d understand why this is an astounding figure. I have to say upfront that I’m a bit of a Star Wars agnostic. I’ve watched all the movies and played about a dozen of the games, so I have both an appreciation and a fair understanding of the lore, however, I have not booked tickets for the new movie and I don’t own any merch (apart from a sweet Darth Vader bust I got as a gift). You can say that I recognize the Force, but I doubt the power of its influence at a personal level The game has a lengthy install time, and while the developers let you play a mini-game with an invincible Darth Vader while you wait, I had no idea how long it would take for the game to install (it’s a 20gb install). I saw a loading bar at one stage (at around 30 percent) and then nothing for about 15 minutes. I ended up googling it and took solace in knowing I wasn’t the only one – my suggestion is – make sure your PS4 controller isn’t set to switch off after ten minutes and just leave the game running in the background while you hem those pants you’ve been meaning to for the last two years. Upon starting you have a choice between ‘Mission’ or ‘Multiplayer’. I recommend you spend some time with the training missions as there’s quite a bit to learn (it’s not so much ‘point gun at moving object and squeeze trigger’ as much as it’s ‘weave past forest in ridiculously fast speeder bike, search for imperial activity with an x-wing, spearhead an attack in Hoth or take down a walker). The first thing that struck me was just how beautiful the game is. The graphics are simply sublime and raise the bar in every regard. I played the speeder bike training mission and kept losing my targets because I wanted to slow down and take everything in. I doubt any game will be able to top this, until perhaps Uncharted 4 drops early next year. You know a game looks special when your in-laws are over for lunch and you switch the machine on just to show them what it looks like. I imagine this is what they had in mind for the original Battlefront, and the tech is finally here to see it realized. When I did eventually try to race properly, I found that the controls were a tad twitchy, but this could be down to…

Video Game Review: Star Wars – Battlefront

Video Game Review: Star Wars – Battlefront

2015-11-30

MJ Khan

Total - 8

80
8

Star Wars Battlefront is best summed up with a Venn diagram that illustrates ‘people who like Star
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Wars in one circle, overlapping with ‘people who like shooters (first and third person) in the other.

As you can imagine, this is like having a peanut butter and a jam circle – you’re going to have a lot of fans across the board. Even though I’m not such a Star Wars fan, I found myself completely immersed in the game, and while it may not have the longevity of something like GTA Online (which really isn’t fair to compare any game to), it’s definitely something you should consider if you know who shot first.

User Rating: 3.55 ( 1 votes)

8

2nd Opinion
Star Wars Battlefront is a great game overall. Visually, it is quite honestly one of the best looking titles of 2015; however, looks are not always everything at the end of the day. Truthfully, Star Wars Battlefront lacks content, which is one of its biggest downfalls. Yes the game has a variety of modes; however, only 3 of these modes – Walker Assault, Supremacy, and Drop Zone – truly shine. If you are a true Star Wars fan, and can wait for upcoming DLC, then the Force is Strong with Star Wars Battlefront.

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MJ Khan

Gaming / Entertainment Author at Geek Node

A veteran gamer and award-winning strategist, MJ enjoys eating chocolate eclairs and watching WWE. He completed his Masters coursework on videogame theory and enjoys writing about representation in games.

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Article Tags:
darth vader · ea · electronic arts · frostbite · Luke Skywalker · Star Wars · Star Wars Battlefront

Article Categories:
Video Game Review
