‘Star Wars Battlefront II’ Beta: Promising, the First Impressions Are
Let’s be honest. Very few of us likely went into the Star Wars: Battlefront II beta expecting to walk away with little more than continued disappointment in Electronic Arts and Dice and an even greater respect for the PlayStation 2 / Xbox era Pandemic series.
Had that been the case, I wouldn’t be here talking about it. I would have written it off as another letdown, made one tweet about it, and went about my business. Thankfully, there’s actually something positive to say because, contrary to the norm, large video game developers do apparently listen to outrage.
While it’s true this was just the beta and it’s difficult to tell if the full game will deliver entirely, you can already tell things are a little different this time around. First and foremost, I finally felt like I was playing a Star Wars game. The weapons, which are handled completely differently this time around, are more in line with the laser blasters from a galaxy far, far away and less “machine guns with laser bullets.”
There are some significant changes that help the experience over all, the most obvious of which being character classes. Rather than having to completely customize your character by choosing a weapon and abilities, you can pick from Heavy, Assault, Officer, and Scout classes. If you’ve played any sort of online shooter, you can probably figure out which each one does. I didn’t expect there to be any distinction between them, but thankfully the beta proved I was wrong and each class falls into its respective roll.
Classes have access to specific weapons (some purchasable through in-game currency), three standard abilities, and access to Star Cards that can change abilities or provide character boosts in each match. It’s a system that feels familiar but still lets the game do its own thing without coming across as an FPS clone.
On the battlefield, the gameplay improvements carry over, making this one satisfying beta. I never felt like one class could easily replace another and the specials, like the Heavy’s shield or the Officer’s stationary turret, are incredibly useful in the thick of battle. The controls are smooth though there’s something about the first-person view that makes the game more appealing to play than the third-person.
Besides the fodder troops of the Galactic Empire, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the First Order, the Rebel Alliance, the Galactic Republic, and the Resistance, specialty characters and heroes will also help dominate the map. And thanks to a little leniency, even the unluckiest of players can get a chance at wielding Darth Maul’s lightsaber or toying around with a Jet Trooper’s practical jetpack.
Foregoing the random, scattered pick-ups that called in heroes in Battlefront (2015), throughout each match points cumulate and do not reset to zero after death. Even if you can’t seem to earn a kill-streak, so long as you play the objective and land hits on the enemy, your score will continue to increase until you’re able to purchase time with the hero, vehicle, or specialist of your choice.
As in the original series, heroes can turn the tide of battle but are far from invincible. Darth Maul is quick on his feet and boasts devastating Sith powers, but against a well-coordinated team, he can easily be taken down. Vehicles return as aerial support, but it’s still obvious that their main place is in the large space battles of the Starfighter Assault game mode and often prove to be a waste of points.
Sadly, you won’t be able to seamlessly go from ground to space combat, and while piloting the iconic craft of the Star Wars universe is fun, Galactic Assault’s large-scale ground battles are still more enjoyable. Even the smaller Strike mode, which pits two teams in an objective-based firefight, drew my attention more than space battles.
It may not have been my favorite aspect of the beta, but Starfighter Assault is still a welcomed addition, and the map included showed that there may actually be more than a flat plane of boredom to explore as I was able to use the interiors of Galactic Starships to avoid enemy fire and put my piloting skills the test. There’s even more left to explore that the beta denied access to, including an off-line split-screen multiplayer and full-length campaign.
Grumblings around the internet focus most on loot crates, which indicate a “pay to win” model, but as I’ve found with all games with loot crates, if the gameplay is solid, it’ll be possible to enjoy Battlefront II without having to drop a dime. Judging by the beta, for the average gamer not looking to hardcore collect on every aspect of the game, it looks like loot crates, while an obnoxious practice, won’t ruin the experience any or even be required to enjoy the game.
Star Wars: Battlefront II may not be the perfect answer for all those pining for that original Battlefront experience, but it’s definitely getting warmer. And unlike the 2015 attempt, Battlefront II feels like it belongs in the Star Wars universe.
Mark LoProto is a horror-loving video game enthusiast. Look for more from him on his horror-themed Instagram or connect with his gaming side on Twitter.
