JJ Abrams, the game.
This weekend brings upon us a moment that many gamers and Star Wars fans alike have been awaiting for a decade now, the return of the Battlefront series. Well in beta form anyway, but what EA has decided to show off is an incredibly atmospheric sampling of galactic goodness.
First off let’s get what everyone wants to know out of the way; This is Star Wars. In fact I’d say it’s more Star Wars-like than any other game I’ve ever played. Advances in processing have allowed the developers at DICE to create their most photo-realistic and visually breathtaking game to date. Lasers fly overhead, explosions shower sparks on the environment, and John Williams’ score blares. No other game has ever really made me feel like I am playing a movie to the extent that this has. Yes of course it’s still a game and that can be seen but it blurs the line between the two mediums better than anything before it. If you grew up wishing there was a game that could convincingly transport you into the world of Star Wars then this seems to be that game.
Now the real question, how does it play?
We have been given a shot at 3 modes, Walker Assault which takes place on Hoth and out of the three is the most reminiscent of DICE’S Battlefield titles, Co-op (or single player) Survival which is just as it sounds and I’m not even going to talk about, and Pod Capture which is a kind of rotating take on domination modes from other shooters. Each is unique in it’s own way but all three share one common trait, speed.
This game is fast. I mean really fast. I mean Sonic on meth while driving a Ferrari fast. Many fans held the suspicion that this new Battlefront would be little more than a Battlefield re-skin yet what I have been playing feels a lot more like Quake or Unreal Tournament than any military shooter. Jet packs sling you across the map while tie fighters and X-wings dip down on strafing runs. Special abilities work on cool down timers, even grenades work on a cool down timer. Every blaster and ability has one purpose, to make you feel overpowered while at the same time making every other player feel the same way.
Most importantly it’s fun. I highly doubt that this is a shooter that will be rivaling CS:GO for a slice of the competitive scene but at this point, who cares? I don’t. This is all opinion here but personally I’m sick of scratching and clawing for the smallest window of fire I can squeeze. I’m tired of grinding away at shooters as if they were MMOs and I’m more than tired of playing in communities where half the players are doing the same. What’s the fun when all that “gamey” feeling has been replaced with meaningless unlocks and obsessing over in-game actions to acquire the next scope which you won’t even use? Battlefront seemingly throws all that away. Unlocking Vader or Luke is as simple as picking up an item on the field, learning how to play is as simple as “walk and shoot”, but at the same time it’s so much more. We may not have a list of 65 weapons to tweak and level but we have our skill to tweak and level and that’s what players will be doing if they stick around.
The early stages of play will feel very familiar and kind of bare-bones. You will enjoy the sights and sounds but you might find yourself wondering if the game is even finished. Then you’ll unlock the jetpack, and it’s a game changer. The jetpack works in a very literal way, you can’t hover or control your flight as easily as you can with some jetpacks in other games, the Battlefront jetpack is more like a sci-fi slingshot and it feels just as you would expect it to after watching Boba take off in Return of the Jedi. Once you have it unlocked though it’s a whole new game. You can jet over your enemies and fire on them from behind. You can use it as an easy escape or as a means to quickly reach an objective. My favorite way to use it is with a grenade, jetting in towards a pack of enemies and dropping a thermal detonator at their feet then opening blaster fire is immensely satisfying, even if it doesn’t always work out. Or you can choose to not use it all (if you’re a nerfherder) and opt for a sniper rifle or something else which isn’t as cool as a jetpack.
The Dark Side.
Darkness allegedly balances the light but I think DICE may have taken that a bit too seriously here. This game does have a few issues and sadly some rather big ones. First and foremost is a balancing issue that carries over from the source material, Stormtroopers stick out like sore thumbs. When you’re playing as a rebel in a brown and green uniform on a dark brown and black map against a team of all white robot men, well let’s just say things are in your advantage. You’d think that goes the other way too, making Stormtroopers more covert on Hoth while rebels are at a visual disadvantage but for whatever reason it doesn’t, the troopers still stick out more even when they are on an almost all white map.
Secondly the vehicles suck. I hate to say it so bluntly but they do, they just suck. Barrel rolls and maneuvers are on cool down timers (I told you about the cool down timers didn’t I?) and they don’t control very well. If you were excited to suit up on Hoth and harpoon an AT-AT with the typical level of visceral Battlefield vehicle combat that you’ve come to know than you’re going to be disappointed. Hopefully the dogfighting mode turns out to be better because the vehicles are so bad in Walker Assault that I don’t even pick up the tokens that let me fly them.
Heroes are also a little bit lackluster. Playing as Vader or Luke is fun but it feels stiff and looks that way too. When you see either Jedi or Sith on the prowl you are not overcome by the thought that this is one of the most powerful beings in existence, instead you’ll probably see it as it is, a stiff moving 3d model that is going to take some squading up to deal with.
Those are the big three problems that keep presenting themselves to me, of course there’s other smaller issues, such as turning your hud off turns off the reticule in your scope, but I’m not going to critisize a beta over tiny design flaws that could potentially be polished out before final release
All in all the new Battlefront seems to be the definitive “immersive” [buzzword] Star Wars experience. If this thing gets Oculus support I may never leave my house. Even if it does feel a little empty in spaces it packs in enough Star Wars atmosphere to get any self respecting fanboy or girl jumping out of their seat. If you are a fan of Star Wars and a fan of games you should check this out now if you can, the beta is free and open. If you’re looking for a watershed moment in the history of video games that will introduce new concepts and engage you in it’s in-depth mechanics then you’re probably going to be disappointed. EA has turned Battlefront into a movie game, more than it ever was. It feels a little rushed and a little bare and quite honestly it may not live up to the originals as far as depth goes (it definitely doesn’t live up to Battlefield 2142, DICE’S previous sci-fi shooter masterpiece). None of that bothers me though, it’s hard to nitpick when there’s 40 blaster bolts pew-pewing past my head and the howl of Tie-fighters in the distance.
*Played on PC, game ran great at Ultra settings using recommended specs, no crashes, experienced no glitches.
