So like many of you I installed the Star Wars Battlefront beta towards the end of last week and then played a couple of hours on Saturday before heading off to rAge, the local gaming expo. To be honest I was quite shocked at how generic the game was and how little it offered to gamers.
I chatted to a few people at the expo and the meet up afterwards and it seems like this game is splitting opinions in a massive way. Some people are absolutely loving it while others feel it really offers nothing. I got home and decided to sink some more time into the game, I’ve now ranked up to level 5 which is the level cap in the beta and I’ve used all the guns, grenades and game modes available.
And there is definitely more to the game than what was apparent at first.
The multitude of vehicles and special abilities is a nice touch and while I’m awful at flying it is definitely an entirely new way to play the game and can be invaluable in the seemingly impossible mission to take down those AT-AT’s. While the indoor and outdoor settings in the AT-AT mission add some nice options for either long-range sniping or tight and compact indoor shooting.
So the game has vehicles, multiple weapons, varying environments and that obvious draw card of the Star Wars licensing. But there’s a problem. It isn’t really very much fun and I’ve been trying to figure out why this is and here are my thoughts on what EA need to tweak before releasing the game to retail.
Weapons are all the same
Now I said earlier that I tried all the weapons in the game but I think I’m lying, because while the guns look different and are held differently when you actually play the game they all feel exactly the same.
Granted to stick to the theme they are all laser guns (except that one special sniper) and as such they all feel the same. Laser guns don’t have recoil, they don’t really do anything when they hit people apart from take some of their health down and they all never run out of ammo.
The weapons themselves do have different range, damage and accuracy attributes but in the end you are probably just going to use whatever looks better. I personally couldn’t get immersed into a game which used a pistol which could zoom just as well as a rifle.
It’s so sluggish
Movement is not good in Battlefront, it feels like your characters are trudging through a swamp most of the time with quick movements and aiming something that just feels off. My competitors showed this isn’t the case as some people have some amazingly quick reactions and aiming in the game but I personally felt the movement was just, weird.
Some parts of the mountains you can run up while others, which look pretty much the same, weren’t able to be climbed without the jetpack. It was quite common for me to find myself getting stuck while running because I stubbed my toe on a particularly hard piece of snow.. well that’s the only thing I could think that stopped me.
I often also found myself checking if I was really running as the speed just felt off.
It’s boring
The most damning thing I can say about the beta is that it is just boring. I played each of the modes a few times and simply couldn’t find any good reason to go back to the game instead of loading something else up.
Every mode feels pretty much identical and if there are some deep tactics and techniques in the game then I never saw anyone using one and I never found it myself.
And the thing is I think EA know this. Sometime during my playtime I was asked to complete a survey and when I gave the beta a 4/10 it then asked me to pick out a few reasons why and it named a few things such as the following (from memory)
- Card hands don’t do anything
- Vehicles felt the same
- Multiplayer not engaging
In the end it’s an ode to the Star Wars fanatics who find the idea of squaring off against Darth Vader something of a dream come true. Personally I liked the Star Wars movies but that’s as far as it goes. They are nothing special and I am quite happy living the rest of my life without watching them again.
Some people will find that blasphemous and that fanatical love of the franchise is probably the biggest thing that will hold EA back.
EA have done a good job at trying to immerse you into the experience of Star Wars and fans will love the game, but as for the actual game itself? Well that isn’t great unfortunately.
Oh but I would be remiss to not state how beautiful parts of the game are. A lot of care and attention has been put into rendering the experience and they’ve done a great job of that.
Want the other side of the coin? Here’s Alessandro’s very different opinion on Battlefront.
Last Updated: October 12, 2015
James Anderton
October 12, 2015 at 13:07
http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/msty.gif
Skyblue
October 12, 2015 at 20:22
Haha, add Unreal Tournament skins, weapons, vehicles and physics and it’s totally fixed
Fugly Gamer
October 12, 2015 at 13:09
Star Wars Battlefield 5
James Anderton
October 12, 2015 at 13:18
If you’ve played it, you’ll know that it is very much NOT Battlefield. I’ll begrudgingly give DICE credit there. Plays very differently.
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 12, 2015 at 13:18
SW Battlefront: Hothline
Hammersteyn
October 12, 2015 at 13:34
Stahp! XD
Brady miaau
October 12, 2015 at 13:14
I played the Beta over the weekend. It was fun, really it was.
Many years, with “Tv Game” we bought a new Knight Rider game. What it was was Space Invaders with some Knight rider pictures between levels and some sort of KITT themed menu.
This game reminded me of that. It was not a Star Wars game in any way for me, nothing. Locations and Ackbar voices do not a Star Wars game make.
AND I was never more then 8th out of 8 on my team. oops.
Matthew Holliday
October 12, 2015 at 13:16
gameplay actually looks better than i expected.
watched a couple of streams, but it seems the majority of them dont actually know what theyr doing.
frankieonpcin1080p made the game look quite enjoyable, and makes some fairly decent points about the so called “impossible” AT_AT raid thing. orbital strikes win the game ez.
overall, game looks like a star wars battlefield for casuals.
but it wont get my money.
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 12, 2015 at 13:18
I think if it didn’t have Star Wars going for it, less people would be impressed by it.
oVg
October 12, 2015 at 14:30
It needs more Mickey Mouse.
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 12, 2015 at 14:37
Wonder if you’ll get Meesa Mouse DLC.
40 Insane Frogs
October 12, 2015 at 13:22
Give this Gavin a Bells!!
Brady miaau
October 12, 2015 at 13:57
And the other Gavin?
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 12, 2015 at 14:04
They should all get bells, so we know where they are at all times.
Brady miaau
October 12, 2015 at 15:25
Nice one!
Raptor Rants
October 12, 2015 at 16:50
WHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH GG
40 Insane Frogs
October 12, 2015 at 18:03
A bag of sour milk!!
Hammersteyn
October 12, 2015 at 13:33
Downloading the Beta atm.
1. It’s free
2. It’s not Destiny
3. I can finally kill stormtroopers again
Brady miaau
October 12, 2015 at 13:56
It was fun to play, it really was. I got killed a lot, but I had fun.
Just was not Star Warsy enough, felt like a shooter game. BUT I never got to any vehicle bits
Hammersteyn
October 12, 2015 at 14:31
Me neither. But it has the pew pew and sound effects to go with it.
Nikola
October 12, 2015 at 15:01
Sad game really and what’s even more sad is you downloading an EA game…mr. I will never play an EA game hahahahahah!!
Hammersteyn
October 12, 2015 at 16:12
*Buy
This is free 😛
konfab
October 12, 2015 at 13:39
Well, I love it.
oVg
October 12, 2015 at 14:31
LOL
Ghost In The Rift
October 12, 2015 at 13:48
Well its a pass for me, i stand by my oath to never pick up a Star Wars game unless its KOTOR 3, online don’t count as do shooters.
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
October 12, 2015 at 14:23
I have absolutely no interest in this, whatsoever… And I don’t know why… I’ve played a bit of it and the only thing I could conclude is that it is massively underwhelming…
oVg
October 12, 2015 at 14:29
Looks like Hoth gave the engine frostbite.
Rock789
October 12, 2015 at 14:30
ba-dum-tish! 😉 🙂
oVg
October 12, 2015 at 14:36
http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/mrViDRGjL3a3s7lQ0.gif
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 12, 2015 at 14:36
Not even a Tauntaun can keep that joke alive.
Nikola
October 12, 2015 at 14:56
I played it and Rage going into it really not trying to be biased and expecting nothing from it but was really disapointed with the game. As Gavin said everything to me feels very generic, the way troopers fall when you shoot them, feel of the guns the movement is awkward just a disappointing experience!
K1FF J1MB0B (sizzle edition)
October 12, 2015 at 15:16
People who love COD style twitch shooters like Gavin will never like a DICE shooter. I played the beta over the weekend and loved the heck out of it.
Gavin Mannion
October 12, 2015 at 16:39
Are you implying it’s like the other Dice shooters 😉
K1FF J1MB0B (sizzle edition)
October 13, 2015 at 12:29
Yes very much like them, same pacing especially, and one of your big complaints was the sluggishness.
Uberutang
October 12, 2015 at 16:28
The game looks amazing. And super well optimized, but yes. SUPER boring.
CodeDisQus
October 12, 2015 at 18:31
Played it at rage, wasn’t too impressed either. Besides the cool jetpack.
Scott Lee Clayton
October 12, 2015 at 19:10
Have you ever tried running in the snow with a heavy backpack on?….
Hammersteyn
October 13, 2015 at 07:32
*Looks at avatar.
Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight 😛