Star Wars Battlefront II
FPS a long time ago, far, far away
1-40 Players online
System: PS4
Developer: EA DICE/Criterion Games
Year of Release: 2017
Beaten: Nov 11th, 2017
In middle school my class read 1984 (and then again the next year, and then twice again in high school, they really wanted to bolster our Orwellian fears I guess). While I understand the concept of doublethink, it's a concept I've always struggled to truly understand. Until Star Wars Battlefront II came out. Recently, since a bit before Force Awakens released, I re-realized my adoration for that particular universe. Ironically I've been mostly dissatisfied with the Disney helmed movies, but that's unimportant right now. After Overwatch convinced me I could actually enjoy an online FPS I decided to jump into Battlefront II, seeing as from what I heard, the "first" was, by that time, a sinking ship.
I'm sure it's common knowledge, but I say "first" because this is actually a revitalized series from the PS2/Xbox era. Now I never played either of those, or the new "first" entry either, which I consider a blessing and a curse. It's helped me come into Battlefront II with the ability to accept it for what it is, flaws and all. Although I've heard those original two games are fucking gems and hope to play through them sooner than later.
There was a decent chunk of controversy surrounding the release of Star Wars Battlefront II, mostly centered around tired gamers finally having enough with EA's bullshit forced microtransactions, and how the beta for this game showed they'd be implemented. Essentially, progression in Battlefront II is dictated by, ugh, loot boxes. These will have a few random star cards in them which are character specific and will enhance various abilities to varying degrees. It feels really similar to a phone game, both in concept and execution, which in a full fledged title like Battlefront II is problematic at best.
Worse still was that it was fairly obvious to most people that EA set progression up in such a way as to, more or less, force player's hands into paying with actual money to get these loot boxes. Making it seem like even more of a phone game. Before release EA back pedaled hard after the immense amount of backlash they were receiving, and have been making minor improvements to the progression system since. The damage was done though, with many people refusing to even bother giving the game a first look, much less a second one. Which is a shame because there's a really great game buried behind these really scummy tactics.
Maybe it's a common feeling among people who play games like Call of Duty, or Battlefield, but for the first time in an online setting it felt like I was actually partaking in a war. A very chaotic war fought with very uncoordinated soldiers, but a war nonetheless. Immediately I fell in love with the basic gameplay of the game. I can't lie though, the set dressing is what really cinches it for me. Those moments when you're just some mook and yet you manage to gun down Darth fucking Vader. I can't even put it into words. Clearly bias is getting in the way of staying entirely objective, and while being in a battle in Star Wars is definitely what keeps me coming back, even still, the core mechanics are solid and it feels so rewarding when you pull off an amazing stunt that should not have worked.
Interestingly, another mode in the game focuses on ship battles and was developed by an entirely different team. It fits in perfectly with the on-foot combat, and, honestly, might just surpass it. The ability to twist around in space, dodging behind an asteroid while lining yourself for a shot on a TIE fighter that was just chasing you is fucking marvelous. Even misjudging distance and crashing can be hilarious, if the hit detection with certain obstacles can be a bit ridiculous.
One mode allows you to take to the skies while a ground battle ensues below, but it's still fairly disjointed. If they could find a way to truly incorporate the two modes, having two separate objectives to manage would be awesome, especially if winning one not only shut off that side of the battle, but also affected the other battle in some way. I'm getting off track though.
The multiplayer is undoubtedly where the vast majority of time will be spent playing the game, but Battlefront II does come with a campaign. And it's, alright? I won't spoil it, but for me, the plot becomes incredibly rote and uninteresting. Instead of being an exploration of the Empire, especially post-Return of the Jedi, it just does what every other Star Wars story does. Missions are mostly really basic as well, which was disappointing as well. The structure in general is odd, as you play as an Inferno Squad Death Trooper Iden Versio, but will randomly switch it up to play various hero characters like Luke, Han Solo and Lando. It gives you a decent taste of what the game has to offer, but it's nothing more than something to gloss over and earn some extra credits for those loot boxes.
Part of the reason EA thought they could get away with their nigh exploitative loot box system was the promise of free DLC. Apparently the last game had overly expensive DLC, I'm not totally sure. The praise the Battlefront II got when it was initially unveiled with free DLC to follow spoke for itself though. Granted, DLC in general has quickly become a bit of a sour spot for most due to shitty business tactics over the years. I think everyone's a bit tired of season passes at this point.
I understand that an online game can cost a lot to keep running, which is why the cost of DLC was going up, and without it they'd need to find some way to monetize the game further. EA's original intention to just nickel and dime every player, almost undeniably, explicitly with the systems set in place prior to release was definitely not the way to go. I apologize, but my main point of reference is Overwatch, but it gets it right. It's a full priced game, and it has microtransactions solely for cosmetic items. Whereas Battlefront II tried to tie actual game progression to how much money they could siphon out of everyone's wallet. Just recently they confirmed a progression system overhaul is in the works, which is a relief. It does raise some concerns though. They have heavily emphasized their, frankly, stupid star card system which relies on random chance as it stands now. I doubt they'll get rid of it, but for those of us who risked trying the game out at or near release how will our progression be affected? While I'm sure EA Dice will be smart enough to not screw over their early adopters, it's the uncertainly that really plagues the current player base.
Despite the fun gameplay present in the game there are undoubtedly problems with the very foundation the game was built on. Currently, it feels like the game is standing on stilts. Season 1 of the DLC wrapped up recently and it held my interest throughout, yet now it feels like there's no direction to follow. So far daily challenges have been popping up each day, but they're all fairly simple and I never feel to big of a draw to play the game each day to keep up. I keep logging in though, if nothing else to nab my daily loot box. Just another vestige of the phone game influence present throughout Battlefront II.
And yet... every time I do decide to play a few rounds I have a great time. Even if your team loses, at least at the time of writing this, you'll get credits and experience based on how well you do personally. Some might see that as a bad thing, but I think it encourages everyone to do as well as they can. Sadly, a lot of teams tend to run off and do their own thing simply to rack up points, as you do in online FPS games. But when the matchmaking sets up a good match it's a great experience. I think you can rent games through red box right? If you're still wary of the bullshit EA tried to pull on release I'd say it's worth giving it a cursory glance if nothing else. Either that or sales will inevitably start popping up, probably sooner than later. There is a solid experience here, buried in terrible PR.
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