Review: Star Wars Battlefront 2

In a galaxy not so far away, the new Battlefront is finally here! For those of us who have played the original 2004 and 2005 Battlefront series, here is to a new generation of gamers.

The nostalgia of the old series is still in everyone’s heart, but this game may replace some of the old deep feelings for the series.

New content, new battles, new blasters — and new everything. This is a modern-day Star Wars game that immerses the gamer to the front lines of their favorite era or scenes from the movies.

From the Clones, to the Empire and to the new First Order; the player can jump era to era from each game mode Battlefront 2 has to offer. There is so much more to the game than the multiplayer experience, now there is finally a campaign, unlike 2015’s Battlefront. EA has listened to the dedicated fan base and is willing to work with gamers.

Before delving any further into the newly released game, here is what was going on with GameStop and what some fellow gamers feel about this new game.

Dalton Runge, a Taylorville Gamestop employee was excited about the new Battlefront game. “As a fan of the Star Wars  movies, I’m really hyped to jump on in and play it.”

Battlefront 2 was released on Nov. 17 officially and was able to be accessed early by a special pre-order of the game on Nov. 14.

At the Taylorville Gamestop, it was a midnight release but gamers were able to pick up a copy early as 11 p.m. Fans also got the perk of free Mike and Ike candy while they waited.

The only fears Runge has for the game is that it could turn into the 2015 Battlefront, which was nothing but a static multi-player game with little to no customization.

Runge played the 2015 Battlefront and was not alone in his disappointment of the game. Many other fans of the franchise felt this way about it.

Cody Ferrill, Austin Bolfing, and Logan Veit shared their experiences with the 2015 edition.

“There was not much in the games in terms of customization or your gear setup while playing it,” Ferrill said.

“It was fun for the first couple of weeks, but it felt like there was a lack of content and I quit playing it after a few weeks,” shared Bolfing.  

Bolfing added that there are some improvements, “I wish they had more content, maps, weapons, gadgets, and character customization. It would also have been nice to see a campaign for the game.”

“The (2015 Battlefront game) looked good, but there was not a good cooperative game mode. There was little to no customization or gear for your character. All vehicles or hero pickups (pickups are in-game icons for special items or heroes) were camped by hardcore players. So it was hard to actually have fun. It was also sad to see there was no campaign,” Veit said.

The 2015 Battlefront was not a fan favorite by any means, there were horrible systems in place for cool items, no class system, and no campaign. It was a slap in the face for many Star Wars fans and Battlefront fans alike.

When EA released, they were making a sequel. Fans were in shock and afraid to see what was going to happen to their beloved franchise yet again.

As more information came out about it, fans were starting to see the major game developers had listened to the fans this time around and started working with them to produce the “dream” version of this game.

What needs to be said is very crucial, EA had a system in place which was the worst nightmare a gamer can dream of, a “pay to win” game. This is where gamers get ahead of other players by spending real life money to get gear or weapons in order to be better than a general mass.

Early on while playing the game, Veit thought “You had people who are like us who play the game as is, instead of pay to win.”

He added: “After playing for 20 hours, they could buy anything and everything they wanted. It wasn’t balanced or had a slow increase in power, they had ‘UNLIMITED POWER.” This is known as a pre-patch version of Battlefront 2.

After fans complained about how unfair it was, it was taken down completely after two days, now the post-patch is here

Veit is now happy to play Battlefront and not have to worry about others paying to get better gear than the general mass. “I really enjoy the different classes for everyone’s playstyle instead of being a one-man army. It’s now a DICE feel instead of a Call of Duty feel (meaning team based on a running and gunning style game).”

Onto a new campaign.  Yes, Battlefront 2 has a campaign! The player gets to follow a new and epic story that delves into the post Death Star II destruction. They follow inferno squad through the aftermath of the rebels victory. No spoilers here though.

The campaign takes roughly four to five hours to beat on a normal difficulty, but it takes the main character throughout the galaxy. EA will also be doing story updates or content packs as the game goes on, so there is more coming out!

“There is a really strong sense of character development in this game, it doesn’t feel like it is a rushed game, rather it feels like the characters evolve as the story does and it really sucks the gamer in,” Veit said.

Whether or not this game is worth buying, EA has improved on the Battlefront 2 series. From the breathtaking scenery, to cross Era faction gameplay, or a campaign, this game is nothing like the original Battlefront. This game deserves a  9/10 ranking for what’s in the game already and what’s to come with it.

I hope everyone enjoys this game and is just as overjoyed with it as I am! So grab your blasters, get in your starships and grab your lightsabers, war is upon us and it is up to us to save the galaxy!

Jack Pugh can be reached at [email protected].