I've seen so much negativity out there surrounding this new video game, Star Wars: Battlefront, that I felt compelled to offer my meager two cents after spending time with last month's beta as well as this week's full release.
(In the spirit of full disclosure, I have not played enough of the original Battlefront games to speak in depth on them here. However, I recognize a hard reboot when I see one.)
This game is AWESOME. Fans on the fence who didn't have a chance to play the beta should at least rent it, but if you're like me (a Star Wars fan who enjoys playing online shooters with friends who are also Star Wars fans) pick this game up post-haste.
There are many caveats to developer DICE and publisher EA's approach to this thing. It thrives on multiplayer and doesn't feature much by way of an offline single-player campaign. There are several training, battle, and survival missions for players to choose from that each take place within the context of the larger "story world" of this game, which is almost exclusively based on Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Players can tackle these modes alone or with a friend offline locally, but online co-op is also supported. I had a blast racing speeder bikes on Endor with a friend who lives 100 miles away.
Battlefront also has myriad online multiplayer game modes. Some are better than others. Without the fan-favorite Galactic Conquest, most players will probably turn to Supremacy, Walker Assault, and Fighter Squadron. The current game has about 12-13 maps spread across 4 planets: Hoth, Endor, Sullist and Tattoine. The thing holding some of these modes back is that the game limits map choice. For example, you can only play Walker Assault on 4 of the 13 maps. However it wouldn't make sense to have the massive AT-ATs on a map like "Ice Caves" which is made up entirely of a network of underground tunnels on Hoth.
There are many critics out there that think limitations such as these constitute a broken game. They're also complaining that EA is pushing a $50 DLC season pass that, over the course of the coming year, will offer 16 more maps, more game modes (possibly Galactic Conquest?), more weapons, and additional playable heroes. Is that really more overall content than the final game? Who knows? I'd rather have a sure thing in my hands first than base my entire judgement on mysterious additional content that may be underwhelming.
From a visual standpoint, the whole thing just looks and sounds so damn good that it's easy for me to let some of the limitations slide. It really feels like I'm playing the movie. Blaster fire and character movement feel authentic. Killing stormtroopers is extremely satisfying when they crumble to the ground with physics that mirror the films.
Controls are pretty tight too. The only thing that feels out of place is the ability to switch between first and third person views on the fly, which is mapped exclusively to the down arrow on the D-pad. That feels awkward when I'm trying to quickly outmaneuver enemy fire.
For me, Battlefront is about as immersive a video game as I've ever played. I'm having such a blast with it that I'm not put off by any of these nitpicks, many of which can be fixed for free in future software updates let alone $50 DLC.
(Once the season pass is fully detailed, I might spring for it. Maybe that means I'm part of the problem, but from what I've experienced so far, it's worth it.)
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