Star Wars Battlefront Review

Star Wars Battlefront GAME DETAILS

 

 

In a Galaxy Far Far away, gamers are faced with a difficult path, choose to be good and battle the forces of the Galactic empire or turn to the dark side and take down those rebel scum, yes Stars Wars has finally made it to the current platform with Battlefront, the first Star Wars game to appear in a long time, can it live up the expectation of not just gamers, but Star Wars fans alike.

Me being a huge Star Wars fan and a gamer I had high expectations for this game in which gave me pleasant memories of the previous versions of the game and i was delighted to finally get my hands on this game i’d waited for an eternity for, now was the time to see if they could create a masterpiece within the Star Wars universe.

On loading up the game  the Lucasarts logo commonly seen in the movies appears, followed by the usual iconic Star Wars themed music as it blares out of the speakers which gave me goosebumps as i could not contain myself to get stuck in. The first thing that i noticed was the in game sound was spot on from an authentic point of view with every laser blast sound and vehicle correctly represented in the game.

The attention that went into this with some recognizable blasters like the DLT-19 which was the standard stormtrooper weapon as it fire’s or the lightsabers as they crackle when deflecting laser blasts, but it’s the vehicle sounds which you instantly identify with Ships like Slave One and the Millennium falcon as they fire their weapons it really showed off that familiar Star Wars sound.

“it’s the ingame music that creates moments of

suspense with the familiar works of John Williams”

 

If you have watched the original movies there are sounds that really identify a location no more than that of Endor with the sound of the creatures within the forest, with Ewoks running scared really draws you into the game, but it’s the ingame music that creates moments of suspense with the familiar works of John Williams playing away not just within the menus but within the game when you have to push forward or destroy a shuttle the music becomes more intense emphasising that time is running out.

From the early footage of the game the visuals were stunning and on playing the beta of the game i was impressed with the level of detail on close inspection that has gone into the game. There are certain maps that showed off more graphical detail than others with the Ice caves of Hoth showing icicles and snow blowing in at entrances too carcases scattered around and partly covered in snow, but for me Endor was the most Spectacular with lush greenery with the tall trees and the spiral wooden walkways up to the Ewoks village which you can climb up and around as you see Ewoks scamper into their huts, there are rebel bases, Empire bunkers to run and gun through, even large tree trunks provide alternative paths to weave in and around to get the upperhand on your opponent. However this does not apply to all aspects of the game with some parts of the game not necessarily bland but not up to the same par as other areas, for instance this could be said with the cockpit views within some of the fighters which might look decent with their dirty windows, but overall feels disjointed from the rest of the game.

Even though the certain game modes provide that believable Star Wars Experience, its game modes like Fighter Squadron which provide less detailed environments within scenario’s never before seen in the movies, as most fans would know that those battles took place in Space, and this does take something away from the experience with large intense battles being thought over the landscape of various plants does take away some of that Authentic shine and appeal of the game.

The game is solely a multiplayer only game like Titanfall but lacking even less of a story, the game is divided into Multiplayer and Missions.

Missions consists of training to allow you to get use to the basic controls of the game over 5 scenarios on how to shoot or operate various types of land and air craft. The core part of missions is split into Battles and Survival which allow for co op gameplay.

Battles – This mode is like a dog tag match in Call of Duty of sorts with the first team to achieve 100 kill points are declared the winner, you battle within smaller variations of the core four maps where killing a rebel soldier or stormtrooper drops a icon which you must pick up to add points to your score, but watch out as fallen comrades icons can be picked up providing you with more points as you steal valuable points away from your enemies. Also includes in this mode is Hero Battles which is similar to the standard Battle mode but you can choose to play from 3 Heroes or Villains depending on the side you choose such as Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Han Solo or Boba Fett.

Survival – For me this was one of the most satisfying modes within the game as you battle through fifteen waves of enemies where you must take control of drop pods to give you essential supplies to defeat the ever increasing difficulty of the waves, with moments of having to go up against a AT-ST can be challenging, but you have large areas to explore and hide plus the odd health pickup is essential to surviving if you should die.

Multiplayer is the core aspect of the game with nine game modes to choose from it provides a good mix of objective or outright blasting action from game modes such as Supremacy where you must take control points and push forward while still defending your own areas, to Droid Run where you must control three droids which are constantly moving. There is a decent mix of modes within multiplayer but it’s the lack of maps which means it can get a bit stale after a while.

Star Wars Battlefront does have plenty to unlock as you progress through the game with greater rewards for the more you play. Within the Missions there is a star system where you are awarded a star for completing certain goals such as complete it on Master Difficulty while finding all the collectables.

Multiplayer has much more on offer as you rank up, with you basically staring with ineffective weaponry and no Trait or Star Cards to help you to begin with, but as you do progress you unlock Star Card perks such as Scan Pulse which allows you to see unseen enemies in your area, or the Jet Pack which helps to get to higher ground or a specific objective a lot quicker, there is so many perks to choose from with the Star Cards giving a player some necessary firepower in the form of a either an impact grenade or thermal detonator while the trait card will help you either Heal quicker, gives you reduced damage or will allow you to sprint for longer.

Star Cards can be upgraded allowing for a quicker cool down time which means that you can use your Star cards more often.

Star Wars Battlefront  has pick ups scattered throughout the maps to give a player some spectacular power ups which can be offensive or defensive in nature these can be vehicle power ups for Tie Fighters or X-Wings or weaponry such as a thermal implosion, auto sentry gun and Dome shields to name just a couple that can be picked up.

Other unlocks that become available within Battlefront is your character’s outfits and emotes, with so many to choose from with the better more unique skins becoming available from Level 40 onwards, this feels pointless as why should you waste ingame credits on a outfit that does not differ much from the costumes that are already unlocked from the start, but what really infuriated me was the different human heads in Stormtroopers outfits was unacceptable as when do you ever see a stormtrooper in the original movies with their helmets off.

Also the Diorama feature which allows you to collect figurines for completing various requirements which adds to the polished feel of the game but does absolutely nothing to the overall game, this shows that they have spent time putting in features that were not necessary and could of give way for a single player campaign.

With all these extras within Star Wars Battlefront there is a major underlying flaw, this is the unbalanced gameplay with no spawn protection opens up the issue of spawn camping, but it’s the moments where you can fire 4 to 5 blaster shots at someone who doesn’t die and can turn around and kill you with one shot, even with the Trait cards and Star Cards available this can become really frustrating throughout the game.

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