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Topic: Star Wars Battlefront

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Captain_Chao5

After seeing the gameplay (albeit PS4) videos for this, I'm tempted as it looks uber-good. I'm not the worlds best at FPS and I hate letting my team down in MP. Can anyone tell me if this is going to be a 95% multiplayer game with 5% single player challenges tacked on?
The official 'blurb' mentions offline solo and co-op missions but doesn't really go into much detail.

You don't stop gaming because you get old, you get old because you stop gaming.

Xbox Gamertag: Captain Chao5

aducky84

@Captain_Chao5: I think that split does exist the single player challenges are pretty lean. You can play all the co-op missions in single player with bots but I'm not sure how much mileage you would get out of them.

aducky84

Xbox Gamertag: flameboyNE | Twitter:

BAMozzy

As far as I know the 'wave' based mode can be played offline and in couch co-op but I don't know if that is the only offline content or not.

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Captain_Chao5

Thanks for the replies.

You don't stop gaming because you get old, you get old because you stop gaming.

Xbox Gamertag: Captain Chao5

realbehan88

Did anybody pick this game up in the end? Got it along side my one as a xmas present and have to say I am really disappointed by the graphics/picture quality. Looks so blurry and very poor texture. Tired playing around with to settings but with no luck - all other games look brilliant
Looking on other forums there are a few people who have mentioned this, only to be shot down by others who claim it is one of the best looking games around. Just wondered what you guys thought?

realbehan88

BAMozzy

@realbehan88: I bought this for PS4 and I must say its one of the best looking 'Star Wars' games ever. Its up there with the best graphical games this generation from my perspective but lie I said, I have this on PS4 so don' know how it looks on XB1.
I am more disappointed by the game-play and on disc content than the visuals.

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realbehan88

@BAMozzy: I've only played an hour or so, so can't comment too much on the gameplay but I can see it getting quite repetitive quickly.
Maybe I'm being overly critical of the XB1 version but just found it missing the polished finish you'd expect.

realbehan88

Red620Ti

Its looks fine on my telly, I've only downloaded the EA Access trial as I thought it may get a bit samey....And about 3 hours in it already a bit dull, if I'm honest.

"Justin Bieber looks like a lesbian i'd like to ****..." - Megakillscreen,out of frickin' nowhere!

Xbox Gamertag: Red620Ti

Captain_Chao5

I'm glad I didn't splash out for this now. Sounds like it's a 'niche' game for hard-core Star Wars fans.

You don't stop gaming because you get old, you get old because you stop gaming.

Xbox Gamertag: Captain Chao5

sorethumbed

Should have been called 'A new hype'.

Ancient, Angry, Armed and Inbound.

Xbox Gamertag: Sorethumbed

BAMozzy

Its very much a game designed for people who have never played FPS games online before and to ride the hype of 'Star Wars'. Its certainly not a tactical or particularly varied game. If you play games like Battlefield or CoD, it will seem very, very shallow and devoid of anything that will keep you playing much beyond the initial 'honeymoon' phase.

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BAMozzy

@Utena-mobile: @Captain_Chao5: For a Star Wars fan (like myself too), there is a lot to like but that's mostly down to the visuals. The audio overall is great too but I do find the voices in particular rather jarring as they are obviously not the original cast - some do a better job than others and the dialogue itself is rather weak too. The original score is still as fantastic as ever but the new bits of score are noticeable and whilst these are nowhere near as good as the John Williams original, they are 'adequate'. The actual sound effects though are exactly what you would expect which makes the poor voices of the characters stand out even more.

In terms of any extras or bonuses that could be unlocked specifically for 'Star Wars' fans, there is nothing. You could argue that the game itself, with the way Dice have recreated the look of Star Wars is 'fan service'. However I do think that some of the customisation is a departure away from Star Wars and I do think some has no place in this game. First off the actual character customisation comes in the form of generic heads and a few hair styles inc beards on the males. These generic heads are the same for both Rebel and Imperial. The uniforms in general are identical so the only customisation is the 'head' apart from 1 (maybe 2) stormtrooper options. The Rebels though didn't tend to wear 'uniforms' (apart from flight suits when piloting specific craft) and Stormtroopers never went into battle without helmets and so we never saw their faces. Their is a few 'alien' heads for the Rebels and a black 'shadow' trooper option but these are expensive and only available once you reach a high level. I do think Dice could have done a lot more here. There are also 'emotes' to unlock as well which really seem out of place in the Star Wars universe!

What annoys me most though is the real lack of teamwork and tactical play. The original Battlefront games had 'classes' like Battlefield which led to more tactical play and variety in the game play. Battlefields classes have Assault/Medic, Recon, Engineer and Support - all of which have their own weapon class, gear and role to play and as such has a different play style and leads to more teamwork and tactical play. CoD has a variety of weapons, perks and scorestreaks that allow you to customise your character to perform certain roles - whether that's a run and gunner, aggressor or defender (for objective modes), CQC, mid or long range specialist, team support or slayer (with the scorestreaks) etc. I know CoD often gets accused of not being 'tactical' or good for team-work but I play a lot with friends/clans etc and if you watch the eSports, you will see that each member of the team will have different roles - whether that's Objective players, Slayers or Defenders. A good team with a good mix of roles and communication will beat a team comprising of 'Randoms' if they are not communicating - even if they are individually better. This customisation and multitude of options leads to much more variety in the game-play - its not just game-modes that dictate play-style or the games 'variety'

In Battlefront, there is no real tactical play and no way to really customise you character significantly to fulfil specific roles or change the play-style. Also with the 'power-ups' on the battlefield, it often means that players are more focussed on running around collecting these instead of the objective/enemy. In my eyes, seeing these floating about spoils the aesthetics too as they really don't belong. The 'special' power ups (heros, villains) are also ridiculous. Its often a race to see who can get to their spawn first and then the player who does get it can go whole matches without dying. I know Dice wanted all players of all abilities the 'chance' to be a 'hero/villain' but unless you know where these spawn or happen to be in the right place at the right time, chances are that a more experienced player will get there first or be waiting for it. I think it would have been better to pick players at random and limit it to a set time so everyone gets it at least once in a match - at least that way people aren't more focussed on the spawn points and no one-player can hog it for the entirety. Like I said there is no real 'team-work' or variety in the game-play. All modes play very similarly. The only real difference seems to be between the 'big modes' and smaller modes. The big modes have very limited Maps (5 now in Walker Assault but the new mode added with the Battle of Jakku is only available on that big map) have the added vehicles compared to the smaller modes which don't tend to have them. However the basic problems still exist in that players focus on the power-ups to a degree, don't particularly have team-work or team strategy and lacks tactical battles.

I know its sold well, but if it does eventually get a GotY version (which I doubt its not something Dice have done and its not likely to win any GotY awards), I can see the majority of the community playing other games and therefore the matchmaking won't be that great leading to poor connections and poor matches.

For those that have reached level 40 or so, the majority of significant unlockables (weapons and cards) will already be unlocked meaning that you only have cosmetics left to unlock. I doubt many will bother unlocking certain 'heads' that they will never use. Achievements (I don't mean Gamerscore ones) are showcased in a diorama but can only be seen by you. These are just models that you can look at and obtained by completing certain requirements - for example to unlock Han Solo you need to get 1,000,000 score in Multiplayer, to unlock Darth Vader you need to kill 250 soldiers using a Hero character and to get the Millennium Falcon you need to score at least 100 kills with either the Millennium Falcon or Slave-1... Nice but no real incentive to bother.

The Single Player content (can be played co-op) is basically just 5 training missions lasting up to 8-10 minutes max - some last 2-3 minutes and have 'star' challenges. 1 for completing on any difficulty, 1 for completing in a certain time and 1 for doing something specific. There is also a few survival maps too with a similar 'star' challenge - 1 for beating all 15 waves, 1 for finding all collectibles and 1 for beating all 15 waves on hard - again this can be played co-op too but doesn't really give you an incentive to play beyond getting those 'stars' unlike CoD's Zombies which with its unlimited waves mean you always have some target to try and beat. There is also a MP combat training option too which can be played co-op as well with AI but pretty pointless unless you are playing with a 'noobie' friend or child. The training missions though have some great if but brief cut-scenes which makes the fact there is no 'campaign' seem even worse. It shows what potential this could have been.

Overall I would be very hard pressed to recommend this - even for Star Wars fans. Its fortunate that it had the Battle of Jakku, then the movie and afterwards Christmas to keep a steady player-base but I can see numbers dropping off significantly. The game really hasn't done enough from my perspective to justify considering the DLC either. Whilst it may add modes, maps etc, its certainly going to divide the player base and if its dropped off significantly - which I suspect it will, I can see it struggling to get decent lobbies. I know CoD can cope with DLC and the divide because of sheer numbers in its player base.

It's certainly 'fun' in the early stages as the relatively few maps (5 now in Walker Assault and 9 maps for the smaller game modes) are 'new' and look stunning and you also have gear to unlock and work towards but it very quickly becomes repetitive and not really many options to switch it about. Like I said, its not just the variety of game modes but the 'style' of game-play and roles you can fulfil in your 'team'

Edited on by BAMozzy

A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!

Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??

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stylon

Looks stunning on my Plasma screen (Xbox One)... it's definitely one of those games you can load up to wow friends with the graphics... many of the environments look real!

If you are a COD junkie or FPS expert then I suppose you would find it lacking but speaking as someone who isn't great at PVP online shooters I have to admit that I had a blast playing the EA Access trial of this... now that I've seen The Force Awakens I can feel the force compelling me to go play this again now

If you've not seen the movie yet then go see it... it's absolutely tremendous... George must really be kicking hell out of himself that JJ has made a better Star Wars movie than he's managed to do since ROTJ!

stylon

Xbox Gamertag: stylon

DesiccantOwl

@stylon - I'm assuming you saw George's latest comments about Disney being the "white slavers". Lol. Sad really as he doesn't seem to realise that the success of the original was down to the "in the trenches" mentality.

I agree with the above comments. If you want to kill thirty minutes to an hour on a georgeous shooter then you can't go wrong with Star Wars Battlefront. Any more than that and it tends to grate a bit.

Speaking of...I haven't played the Battle of Jakku yet. And I've seen the film twice!

Edited on by DesiccantOwl

DesiccantOwl

Xbox Gamertag: DesignateTurian | Twitter:

BAMozzy

@Utena-mobile: I think there is around 8 or 9 different heads but each has 2-3 different hairstyles/beards depending on gender. However the same set of 'heads' appear for both Rebel and Imperials although you have to buy them separately. These are preset options as well so if you prefer to be a white 'female' with a 'bob' hairstyle you have basically 1 or maybe 2 if you want a more tanned white look but that 'bob' is available on all female heads. All the uniforms though are the same - slightly different shape depending on gender as you would expect. Its not that you don't get to see it as you can play in 3rd person if you prefer so would see it, its just that its all generic and why would you want to unlock every different 'head'? The most unique character customisation comes from the rebel alien heads but these aren't that plentiful - they could have added wookies, ewoks, gunguns etc with their associated outfits but all you get is a 'head' to choose

There are different uniforms in the movies - what about the Imperial Guards and their Red uniform, clone troopers, Galactic Marines, snow troopers, scout troopers as well as AT-AT drivers, Imperial gunners etc too all have a different uniform/helmet style. Admittedly there are probably less variation on uniform than heads but have a much greater impact. I can see everyone (or at least the majority) running around as a Shadow Trooper (all black) as that is the only significantly different imperial option. The Rebels tend to wear more general clothing as they are meant to be more like 'civilians' who rise up against the imperial army so wear clothing native to their planet or planet they are on. They are not a 'military' army and therefore could open up a great range of character customisation.

A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!

Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??

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BAMozzy

@Utena-mobile: 8 or 9 in total 4-5 per gender and the main difference is skin colour! The Stormtroopers are all human looking and so you only have these 8 or 9 different heads plus a couple of helmeted options. The Rebels have these same heads and around 6-7 alien heads. All in all I thought it was very disappointing but maybe others are satisfied with this. It is after all just cosmetic and has no impact on the game play. I must admit though I was a lot more disappointed with the very limited choice of weaponry and equipment. If you equip a grenade and jetpack then you can't equip anything other than your primary of which there are 11 to choose from. Equipping a secondary (sniper, rocket launcher etc) means you have to sacrifice your jet pack or grenade and you can't fire 2 shots of these in quick succession as there is a cooldown after every use.
Maybe you will get a lot more enjoyment from it than myself but as someone who plays a lot of FPS games, I found it very basic, shallow and gets very boring very quickly. Even for short bursts, I would rather play many of the other FPS games online. Obviously if you have friends with the game, it does help for a bit of mindless fun, running around and blasting people but that's more down to sharing an experience rather than the actual game itself.

A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!

Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??

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BAMozzy

@Utena-mobile: The DLC is expected to be a bit more extensive than the Battle of Jakku. My fears though are that we will get maybe 1 big map and several small maps based off this. Effectively only increasing the 'big' modes by 1 extra map (to 6 with the first DLC) and maybe adding an extra mode and maybe an extra limited to 15 waves survival mode. I think each DLC is likely to add a new 'planet/area' with maybe a few extra customisation 'star cards, heads/emotes as well to make it 'bigger' than the Jakku DLC.

At the moment, I personally cannot justify the Season Pass or even buying the first DLC separately. I struggle to see the community sticking with this throughout the season without getting bored - especially as you can unlock basically everything you are likely to want/use by level 40. As it is basically an online MP, its reliant on the community to work well. If there isn't a big community, it will affect the matchmaking, game modes that are available and performance too.

A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!

Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??

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Captain_Chao5

@BAMozzy - Thanks for taking the time to write a thorough game review. You've confirmed my suspicions that this is (to me) another Titanfall. Lots of hype, excitement and eye-candy that quickly wears thin. Luckily I sold TF before the price plummeted and I skipped buying Star Wars BF altogether.

Disclaimer: To those still playing Titanfall, I mean no offence. Just expressing an opinion

You don't stop gaming because you get old, you get old because you stop gaming.

Xbox Gamertag: Captain Chao5

BAMozzy

@Captain_Chao5: To be honest, I see a lot of similarities between this and Titanfall. Titanfall was certainly fun initially and the new movement mechanics and of course those Titans though were quite ground-breaking at the time. However after a while, the lack of much variety within those game modes (the way they played), lack of weaponry options and some frustrating challenges required to progress led to many leaving. People felt that they had seen and experienced everything the game offered and all 'regen' did was make you have to do it all again with nothing but a new number to show for it. Respawn did update the game for free to include a lot more customisation and the survival modes but all this came too late.

SW:BF is very similar - if anything it actually lacks a lot of the options that Titanfall has - No weapon attachments/scopes etc, less choice in the type of primary weapon and therefore how you play (CQC, Mid or Long Range) and additional gear and of course it doesn't have the Titans and different options that brings. The game play is more basic too but it does have more modes and character customisation - a bit more than just the male/female choice of TF had at launch.It also has the added advantage of giving players the opportunity to battle in some iconic places and control some iconic vehicles as well as play as some iconic characters too. It also offers players a bit more 'offline' things to do from launch although I doubt this will last players more than a few hours.

I do think Dice need to add 'something' for free - even if they take away the limitations on the waves in the survival mode and maybe add a 'leaderboard' or something to show what wave people reached would help. I appreciate its difficult to add weapons and customisation/attachments to these as it takes away from the authenticity and look of Star Wars. A campaign would have been great but its not often these get played more than once or twice anyway.

I would like to see a bit more depth and tactical play from its MP. I don't like the power-up system and affects the 'look' seeing these floating about. I think the Heroes/Villains should rotate amongst the team and last for a set amount of time so everyone gets at least 1 chance. I think it would also help if they allowed a bit more create a class - allowing players to pick a grenade, secondary etc with power ups being more like score streaks to remove those from the battlefield. It could also lead to a bit more tactical and team play.

A pessimist is just an optimist with experience!

Why can't life be like gaming? Why can't I restart from an earlier checkpoint??

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