Star Wars Battlefront

- Reviewed on PS4 -

Star Wars Battlefront released on November 17th, 2015.

Developed by DICE, and nominated for multiple awards, Star Wars Battlefront is an action / shooter title, based in the extremely popular Star Wars franchise.

Although offline modes are present, a lot of the game's core features can only be enjoyed by being online with the recommended online (paid) services per console.

This review WILL have Major Spoilers so keep that in mind before continuing...

Star Wars Battlefront is a great joy for Star Wars and non Star Wars fans alike. 

The game mechanics for its various missions are easy to learn, a delight to see (thanks to its amazing graphics), and the sound effects are unbelievable!

From the crisp main menu, you only have a handful of modes to choose from.

My biggest gripe with Star Wars Battlefront is the lack of story mode. 

However, its succeeding title does include a single player story so if players were interested in this style of gameplay mixed with a good story, then this game's sequel might be a better suit.

Star Wars Battlefront focuses heavily on its multiplayer / online capabilities. 

Don't get me wrong, this game does have amazing modes (and missions), but if you're an offline, single player person like myself, then your attention span for this game might vary. 

The three game modes are...

    - Multiplayer
    - Missions
    - Skirmish

Each mode has its own specific ways of playing too. For example, Missions also has Training, Battles, and Survival. 

Training missions are a great way to get used to specific mechanics, and all game modes (missions) offer an achievement-based feature.

These optional achievements are stars that all have a prerequisite to earn. 

For example, when playing whatever mission you'd like, there may be a star achievement for completing the game within a time limit. 

Or another example is finishing the level while also defeating a certain number of enemies.

These star achievements are very satisfying to complete / earn, and really made the longevity of the single player experience more redeemable. 

The training missions in Star Wars Battlefront are...

    - Beggar's Canyon
    - Endor Chase
    - Overpower
    - The Dark Side
    - Invasion

Battles is a game mode in which you choose a team (Rebels or Galactic Empire) and must defeat enemies and collect fallen tokens. First team to 100 wins. 

Now, the fun feature about Battles, is that you can choose two different versions on the same map. 

One with normal fighters, and another with a "Hero". Hero Battles allow the player(s) to choose a cannon character from the franchise and fight with their respective abilities. 

You can only choose from two specific loadouts and only have one gun during battle (as of writing this blog post) which does hurt the game's potential slightly. 

The maps available in Star Wars Battlefront for Battles are...

    - Hoth
    - Tatooine
    - Endor
    - Sullust

Survival is exactly what the name entails. You can play split screen or alone and try to survive 15 waves of enemies that get harder to defeat as you play.

It is a fun premise for a game mode, but the actual gameplay itself can get extremely boring / tiresome, especially with only four maps (not including DLC).

The Survival maps include...

    - Tatooine
    - Sullust
    - Hoth
    - Endor
    - Ice Caves (DLC)
    - Rebel Depot (DLC)

Lastly, Skirmish is a game mode where you can play either Walker Assault or Fighter Squadron in AI based (offline) action. 

Walker Assault is when you must activate uplinks across various maps and defend them from the enemy.

Similar to the other game modes that utilize the first-person shooter style, when shooting blasters, you'll see a red overheating meter quickly build up. 

When your weapon overheats, you have a chance to stop this cooldown prematurely, by pushing square when the line is on the yellow dots. 

The yellow dots will get smaller after each consecutive overheating, so be careful!

Fighter Squadron is essentially Battle mode but with famous Star Wars battleships!

Two fun game modes that don't include star achievements, but still worth a try in the long run!

The UI during combat (gameplay) is very well laid out and understandable with its lower left compass, upper center timer, and the teams opposing scores. Simple, yet effective.

The game does tend to crash (at least on my PS4) here and there, but the fast load times in Star Wars Battlefront can make up for this issue.

The graphics are absolutely insane! They are very realistic looking and definitely matches up with the Star Wars universe.  

The controls for Star Wars Battlefront are very common placed for its aerial and ground-based shooter mechanics but are also extremely smooth with little to no frame rate drops (at least on PS4). 

Star Wars Battlefront is a quick and easy to understand title that offers a decent amount of content for its player base despite the lack of single player story / offline unlockables. 

Pros: 

    - Outstanding Graphics
    - Star Wars Music
    - Longevity
    - Achievements for Missions (Stars)
    - Smooth Controls and Pleasant UI

Cons:

    - Lack of Offline, Single Player Unlockables
    - Limited Number of Maps
    - Occasional Crashes (at least on PS4)
    - No Story Mode
    - Short Number of Game Modes (Resulting in Tiresome Game Sessions)

My Rating for Star Wars Battlefront (on PS4):

3 / 5


-----



Disclaimer

All Reviews, Ratings, Pros, Cons, and Opinions Shared on this Blog (Press A Reviews) are my (Connor Butler) own Thoughts and Feelings.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Legend of Korra: A New Era Begins

- Reviewed on  3DS  - The Legend of Korra: A New Era Begins released on October 28th, 2014.  Based in the world of Avatar, The Legend of Korra: A New Era Begins is a turn-based strategy game that actually takes place during books (seasons) two and three of the mainline series.  Though Avatar fans would enjoy this title, the laggy input, absurd cutscenes, and dated graphics wouldn't appeal to audiences (I feel) now a days.  This review WILL have  Major Spoilers  so keep that in mind before continuing... The Legend of Korra: A New Era Begins revolves around Korra being stripped of her bending.  The first few missions in this 3DS title are to familiarize the player(s) with how the turn-based combat works.  After you complete missions, you'll eventually unlock the Water, Earth, Fire, and Air bending elements.  This game mechanic blends in well with the mediocre story of Korra facing these chi-blockers and facing off against a new a...
Read more

Layers of Fear

- Reviewed on  Switch  - Layers of Fear released on February 16th, 2016.  To me, I went into this game completely blind with the expectations to have a very scary gaming experience, instead I got more of a walking simulator game with only a few scary moments, and the rest of the game was puzzle related.  Layers of Fear has its fair share of creepy, uncomfortable moments but in the end, this title failed to give me the horror aspects I have grown to love in video games.  This review WILL have  Major Spoilers  so keep that in mind before continuing... You play as a painter who slowly goes mad trying to get the perfect painting masterpiece.  With your daughter gone (SPOILER) because she was taken to a new home / family, and your wife unfortunately dead, the main protagonist must suffer through the horrific process of constant flashbacks and nightmares.  The main issue I have with Layers of Fear is the fact that there is only two chapters th...
Read more

Stardew Valley

- Reviewed on  Switch  - Stardew Valley released on February 26th, 2016.  When it comes to relaxing, stress free games to enjoy, you would be crazy if you did not pick up Stardew Valley.  Stardew Valley has the enjoyment to bring gamers and even non-gamers to the playing field.  This review WILL have  Major Spoilers  so keep that in mind before continuing... Your journey begins when (SPOILER) your grandfather passes away and he grants you his farm land, which of course you rename and customize as you wish. I think there could've been a better way to see how you gain your farmland, but even though I wasn't a fan of this opening, the rest of this enormous, glorious game made up for it. You can choose a different type of farmland as well, that being the default version, water version, and many more. After you settle in, you can also play split screen co op which is a massive plus for people who want to play a nice, relaxing, enjoyable game like menti...
Read more