The first Battlefront premiered on the Xbox/PS2 way back in 2004. It was nothing less than a masterpiece. An instant classic that took the style of the then largely PC series Battlefield and merged it with Star Wars to create the experience of the most important part of Star Wars, the wars. It was followed in 2005 by Battlefront II. This next installment added a number of new features such as starship combat in space, a more story focused campaign, and the battles from Episode 3.
Regarded by many as a superior game to the original, gamers eagerly awaited the next installment in the series. Unfortunately what came next was a number of titles exclusive to handheld devices. These games all had unique features and showed potential but being on handhelds they were never going to have the impact that the other games did.
This new battlefront stepped out onto the stage as a return to form. The big battles we had all loved on the consoles would return, with new game modes, unlockable weapons, and DLC on the way. It all seemed too good to believe.
The game had a successful open beta and released in the holiday season of that year. For a time it was good. The game had more or less done away with classes letting the player now create a load out with weapons and abilities via unlocks through a sort of card system. These weapons were unlocked as one leveled up along with cosmetic changes. This was a new, fun idea and added a bit of personality to your storm trooper or rebel character.
The new game modes were great with the walker assault mode feeling like the massive battles of the films while the starfigher battles were a blast and added hero ships to the mix. Part of what made these modes great was the inclusion of AI units on the battlefield. Even though the player count in walker assault was high the addition of bots gave it the epic level numbers and fun. Doubly so for the starship battles which now had dozens of fighter rather than just a few.
The first DLC was free and released alongside the new Star Wars film. It added a new map and tied into the new saga well. Everything seemed to be going great.
Then the problems started. Even at launch the game seemed to take a long time to find a match. Years later and it now take upwards of 10 minutes to get a game started if it works at all. No story campaign wasn't really a problem for me but it was a huge problem for many fans. The same for no space battles, a big feature of Battlefront II. Finally, a number of people complained about the option to have a storm trooper without a helmet so the option was removed from a game.
Let me lay out exactly when it is appropriate to remove content from a game that the player had to work to unlock. Never. Games that are updated should make changes to improve the experience, but not when it comes at the cost of denying the players rewards they already earned.
The good:
-exciting, cinematic recreations of battles from the Star Wars saga.
-starfigher battles that are fun and exciting even when your lose.
The bad:
-horribly long wait times to find a game.
-much of the unlockable cosmetic content for the Empire was removed.
Its dammed hard for me to tell you not to play this game. It started out so well and with so much to offer. Unfortunately it's chosen to run itself into the ground. For fans of the original it's worth a look before you dig out your PS2 and start up the original.
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