Star Wars Battlefront Review

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ere’s the general summary you’re going to hear about the new Star Wars Battlefront game: “Sure it’s shallow, lacking in depth and a bit rubbish but it looks and sounds amazing- it’s like you’re actually in the Star Wars universe!”

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Funnily enough, a review of N64 Star Wars game Shadows of the Empire almost said the exact same thing back in 1996, commenting that “there was a moment when I first began playing Shadows of the Empire when I actually believed I was a living, breathing participant in the Star Wars universe”. Of course, the game looks laughable now but I think the comment raises a fairly important point.

Battlefront’s main selling point seems to be delivering an immersive Star Wars experience – but is that worth it when countless of other spin-off games have already captured that same experience before?

It perhaps wouldn’t be an issue if Battlefront had much else to offer but its offerings are really slim. The single player modes in DICE’s reboot of the franchise feel as if they’ve been added on as an afterthought, consisting of five mostly average missions and some battles against A.I. This shouldn’t come as a surprise – many modern shooters now treat single player as just an additional extra, and Battlefront is just the latest game to follow this trend.

Battlefront’s main selling point seems to be delivering an immersive Star Wars experience

There’s a lot of pressure then on the multiplayer modes to deliver an experience that’s actually worth the £40 price tag (£80 if you’re crazy enough to buy the Season Pass). For the first few hours, they do indeed deliver. The 40-player battles have everything you could ever want from a Star Wars spectacle, gorgeous visuals and exciting, fast-paced gameplay. It’s fun, and exciting, and it looks amazing.

Then the thrill wears off. You realise you’re left with just nine game modes, many of them feeling similar in nature and lacking in depth; modes such as Drop Zone and Cargo feel very alike in terms of gameplay. You also realise there’s just five locations you can play on them and you saw all of them in your first couple of hours of playing. Everything begins to feel samey, and dull, and boring.

If you played the previous Battlefront games, you’re going to be particularly disappointed by the lack of features, locations and just general stuff. There’s no single player campaign. No space battles. No galactic conquest. No clone wars. No game mode where you play as an army of Wampas (a tragic waste). Whilst I appreciate this is DICE’s reboot of the franchise, the inclusion of these features (or something similar) could have really helped Battlefront feel more fleshed out. The fact that DICE haven’t replaced these features with anything substantial leaves me particularly disappointed.

If you played the previous Battlefront games, you’re going to be particularly disappointed by the lack of features

So far, I feel as if I’ve been overly negative in this review. Don’t get me wrong – I did enjoy my time with Battlefront (or at least, parts of it). I enjoyed the Heroes vs Villains mode, which pits the likes of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo against Darth Vader and Boba Fett. I enjoyed the Endor chase mission, where you chase down rebel scum on your speeder bike. I enjoyed the times I got to fly an X-Wing and shoot down Tie-Fighters in the Fighter Squadron mode. I really enjoyed the visuals – for all its flaws, this game really does looks and sound amazing. Despite small moments of brilliance however, Battlefront still feels shallow and uninteresting as a whole.

You have to question too why exactly Battlefront is lacking. Unfortunately, it does feel as if DICE has left a great deal of content out of the game in order to justify that £40 price tag for the Season Pass (which include 4 new heroes; 4 new game modes and 16 additional maps). There’s also the possibility that they’re saving themselves for those inevitable sequels – EA have already stated they are committed to making several more Battlefront titles over the next few years.

Who’s this game aimed at then? If you’re a hardcore gamer, then you’re going to find Battlefront painfully lacking in depth. If you’ve grown up playing Star Wars spin-off games as I did, then you’ll probably consider Battlefront a waste of potential. This game is aimed at casual gamers and middle-ground Star Wars fans. Those who will find the shallow but hugely accessible gameplay appealing. Those who will find being immersed in the Star Wars universe a new and exciting prospect.

Simply put, Star Wars Battlefront is a popcorn thriller in video game form- a massively accessible, visually impressive and lightweight experience. If that’s your kind of thing, then this game can be considered a big success. Otherwise, Battlefront is a shallow disappointment- however, chances are you’ll be having too much fun mindlessly blasting away at Stormtroopers and force-choking rebels to even care.

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