There was no other game I was more excited for that Star Wars: Battlefront. I have been waiting for years, like many other fans of the original two games. Those were games where I spent quite a lot of nights playing with buddies, so again, I was pumped for Battlefront, especially since first person shooters have become to feel a bit repetitive for me: see every Call of Duty Game.
Then the game came out and I quickly spent time waiting for it to install on my Xbox One, which felt like it took for days. That’s not a knock against Battlefront though, just Xbox. Anyway, I spent some time playing match after match and all the tutorials and I realized that Battlefront, as a complete game, is insanely frustrating.
The biggest problem with this release is that it feels like half a game. After getting through some training missions, which were pretty fun, I decided that I wanted to do a single-player game. I had essentially four maps to choose from in that area. I wanted to play a level where I could fly around in an X-Wing or Tie-Fighter, but those levels do not exist in single player mode, minus the tutorials.
As I played a couple rounds of battle mode, squaring off against a group of AI, I quickly found that there’s no reason to keep playing this mode. You don’t unlock anything, since all the weapons are already unlocked for you, and the only mission you have is to “shoot people that aren’t on your team.” Single player mode became something that felt like it was shoehorned into the final game with no thought behind it. If they simply mirrored multiplayer mode for offline play, it would actually feel like a bit more complete game.
The real driving force of the game was behind online multiplayer and again, there’s no real story there, just things happening. The last online-only FPS I truly enjoyed was Titanfall and there was a campaign mode in the game which at least gave us a bit of a story. Within Battlefront, depending on what mission you play, there are objectives which are pretty much the same for every level. There isn’t much variety here and before you know it, you’ve played through all the levels in the game. There is replayability, but it’s frustrating to not be able to talk to your teammates, in a game that needs strategy.
Luckily, EA is really good at taking money from people and got suckers like me to pay $10 extra in order to buy the deluxe edition, which gives players access to a level a week before anyone else. In addition, there’s a $50 DLC where we’ll get a few more levels. That’s right: $50. The most insulting season pass for a major video game, especially when you compare it to other games, like Witcher III which offer a ton of bang for your buck.
That lead me to come to the conclusion that this isn’t a full game. It’s half a game, at least it feels like half a game. In order to get the full game, you need to dump down $110 in total. That sucks. It’s a kick in the crotch after you’ve already been kicked in the crotch.
Why this has been nothing but complaining and the venting of frustrations, I actually do like the game, even if, at times, it just feels like a bare-bones FPS with a Star Wars skin pasted on top. It’s fun and it looks really pretty. You can fly around in a Tie Fighter or ride around in an AT-AT and blow people up. That’s one of the many cool moments you can get experience in this game. The control scheme works well, and again, everything looks so incredibly pretty and true to the Star Wars universe. Even playing as the heroes or villains like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader is a pretty cool addition to the overall game, but it’s simply not enough to get me to ignore the fact that so much feels missing.
Overall, there’s a lot to love but so much within this game that doesn’t reach its potential. It’s a bummer to see what could have been with this game because so much of it feels halfway there. If you’re a Star Wars fan, like myself, you’re going to pick it up. You probably already picked it up, but with the $110 price tag to get everything this game should have originally come with is an insult to those who purchased it. As for me, I’ll probably keep playing the game, and most likely, I’ll eventually cave on the season pass because I’m a sucker and the exact type of person EA wants to buy their game. So, in the end, I’m the one that loses.
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