Star Wars Battlefront 2 is broken
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (SWBF2) is released next month. But now you can jump into a free public beta to get a sense of the game, and allow EA DICE to stress test their servers.
But the game is broken. Fundamentally. Let’s get into why in a moment. First, though, it’s worth lavishing some praise on the game.
Compared to the first game (which, technically, is a reboot of an old game) SWBF2 has far better gunplay. And since this is an FPS, that’s a vital ingredient in the overall mix for this title. Each weapon feels unique, distinct and worth learning. The overheat mechanic (since ammo is useless in a laser-powered future past) feels more considered in the context of the game, and something more manageable.
Unlocks add features worth working towards, rather than being fairly rudimentary buffs that give you additional XP (to spend on more unlocks). Weapon modifiers and what-not are genuinely useful..
And a lot of these improves are brought about by the fact that DICE added classes. Properly. This feels far more considered than the previous Battlefront. Finally, DICE have put all their Battlefront military might into the Star Wars universe, and it really does work. Each class is totally unique, and an unbalanced team is likely to lose. Because unlocks and weaponry are important in the arching mechanics of the game objective.
A huge bug-bear for me was the vehicles, which felt deliberately awkward in the same way Halo’s vehicles always felt awkward to me. They were made awkward so that only the elite can play with them properly, while the rest of us mere mortals perished within seconds of grabbing a flying vehicle and kamikazee’ing into a mountain. SWBF2, though, reworks the vehicle mechanics to feel far more like the manageable and useful Battlefield vehicles. Yes, anyone can hop in and feel like they’re contributing. But even better, it still takes time to master them and become truly brilliant.
So here’s my point: DICE & EA put a lot of effort into this title to make it as brilliant as it deserves. A good Star Wars game can easily become legendary; something people look back upon in the future and define a console generation by. KOTOR springs to mind here. But DICE have also made some poor decisions to push for micro-transactions which makes the whole thing feel more hollow than it needs to.
The cards concept never sat with me in the first Battelfront. But in the second, it’s far more forced down your throat. It feels like if I put more money into the game, I’ll get rare cards that give me huge leverage on the map. Which isn’t a fair game, given the whole thing is a multiplayer FPS.
EA have decided to make future content (maps, etc.) for this one free. Which is astonishingly mature for EA. But the “cards” system is their route around that to make cash on an ongoing basis and really knock lumps out of the community. I do not want to play against someone at a similar level to me who’s absolutely beefing me on the battlefield because they paid more. It’s not fair, not good business and most importantly not fun. This is why I backed away from Overwatch in the last few months; all those cosmetics became important and ruined the gameplay.
