I've tackled this game twice in a pretty mean spirited way, and in both cases I felt kind of bad about it, yet stood by what I said. It seems like a fitting example of just want I don't want out of today's market. However in both cases I also let it be known that I wasn't trying to frame the game as objective trash (unless it really releases broken, but that was just a rumor + prediction which I hope doesn't hold true). Either way I feel I owed it to the game to play and discuss its beta and list out the positives... but still keep it honest where the negatives belong. I think I can let it stand that my views on it are mixed.
The Basics
So without mentioning modes, or tech fluff, its my personal priority to discuss core mechanics. I haven't followed the game quite as well as I thought I may have, because quite a few things caught me off guard. I was aware power-ups would roam the field, and there was supposed to be some card system replacing classes, but how it all fits in is weirder than I ever imagined. The set-up is actually really basic for a shooter today, yet still on the verge of mocking COD at the same time, its kind of strange. You have one weapon. That's it for your real guns, you carry that one around and use it as a main rifle. It has no reload system, but rather a heating system, which is oddly something that I think is more true to star wars than the older games were (of course my memory may be fizzled on that). Also as mentioned before, there are scopes but not iron sights. The difference is trivial in the end though. However its not exactly just you and your gun. Instead there is also this, dare I say it, MOBA-like piece where you have cool-down abilities. These are your cards, and they can consist of utilities, grenades, or weapons that in any other game would be gun loadout choices (grenade launchers, sniper rifle). So instead of designing a load-out, its almost like your selecting a characters abilities in an MMORPG, or MOBA. That's a very strange concept that I kind of like.
The sad thing is this counters one other trait of the game: Its progression system. The beta progression system is a bit weird. You start base multiplayer with nothing but that one weapon. Doing absolutely nothing but getting one weapon, and even being told to stay out of the other mode until even after that, is a bit messed up. Its either a self-destructively strict tutorial process that gets you killed for being new, or its a really bad way of giving us a "You gotta earn it all and tough it out" approach. I admired Killzone 2 for doing the latter and making it a true progression system where you actually felt yourself truly earning and advancing things. However the difference here is that Killzone has more entertaining gunplay and gave you the basics to work with: pistol, grenade, rifle. Your next few levels were things like more ammo, a shotgun, a new class, squad leader abilities, etc. Of course on top of that you could choose your server, and go into a newbie only level. Here I was tossed in with people who were dropping orbital bombs, grenades, sniper rifles, jump packs, and all I had was one rifle and the phantom pain of missing the items I loved from survival (the first mode I tried to practice in). Yeah that's not only unfair, but its just boring. Thanks matchmaking + XP system, you live on to remind me of why shooters used to be better. Next level from there just lets you get your hands on a grenade. Even after I got both common card slots in and a choice for a new weapon, I was still told I shouldn't enter the other mode. Something is just... wrong with this picture. This isn't a tutorial so much as it is a failure of modern trends, and oddly at the hands of people who were ahead of the trend.
On top of all that previous mentioned, I could moan about how the unlock system is a double-walled layer. You have to level up and then pay for what you unlock. Then there's the question of why this system even needs to be here to begin with, and with only 4 beta weapons that's low, even for a beta. Just how far they can take star wars weapons in terms of variety anyways? You can't do blaster rifle #14 as a level 50 unlock like generic shooters do. That kind of shows when the blaster pistol of all things is one of your core weapon choices. I can't help but wonder if this game will stand up well in the public, because I know for a fact other people aren't as complacent as I am with low weapon counts anymore. Of course the locked up cosmetics area could be telling that there will lie the bulk of the grinding. If that's the case, then consider that a positive from me, but others will whine. So it appears like you have a grinding system that irritates old-school shooter fans like me, likely won't have enough content in general to please the skinner box loving modern market, and is set up to force an awfully boring and unbalanced start no matter what kind of shooter style you like.
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| Uh... I guess the gun shipment took a pit stop on the worm asteroid |
Now on health I found some good news and bad news. The good news is that there's a health bar that contextually shows up, showing your chances of survival once you've been hit. This is especially welcomed for survival mode, where you have a solid bit of health to keep up with. The bad news is that last statement only applies to survival missions. Multiplayer battles have the COD policy of shoot first, die later, where its nearly impossible to engage in a real gun fight before someone dies. This especially comes into play when you realize your run speed is pretty slow to. Getting shot in the back is a very helpless situation, and getting shot from the front only is a matter of accurately landing about 3 shots. To shorten this up, the time to kill (as people like to call it now) is too fast for comfort or fun. Whenever I have had a gun fight last longer for a couple seconds though, it was a lot of fun. I've had some really great wildwest-style potshot battles with enemies around the rocks of the drop pod match, and being defeated or winning that way always felt like a just and satisfying experience. Save for the low health, gunplay is pretty solid, but I'll explain more about that later as I feel its more due to the presentation.
Vehicles and Jedi are introduced in power-up form. For whatever reason, Dice didn't want the vehicles being hogged by players who race for them, so they decided to make them obscure power-ups that... everybody can see and chase after. Yeah a really silly misstep. I love how it looks whereas your character calls for "support" and the camera fades to a big walker or a cut-scene of your hero, but otherwise this system is honestly just stupid and keeps compentant players out of their preferred method of play unless they have the luck to stumble into something. You can go intire matches without getting a vehicle, and then find one match where yohu happily bump into them three times. You can also have the tokens snatched right from you. In other words the vehicle system is just badly designed and failed on their goal. Oh and your first one or two rides for each thing are basically junk, because there's absolutely no tutorial to them. You just snatch in during live online play, and get used to it by trial and error... and error means dying and losing your token privilege until you find the lucky jackpot again. I've only gotten to touch the AT-AT once, and the only thing I managed to learn is that its noisy, hard to aim, and has an orbital strike ability built in. That being said, once you understand the vehicles they are a blast to use, and are very fun.
Game modes + map design
So first thing I did was survival with a solo run. That was actually pretty cool. Being tossed in and told to survive isn't my idea of a fun mode in most cases, but it was a fun way to get introduced to the game here. My first fight was around some tents when suddenly blaster shots shredded through them, turning them into shattered clay rubble bits and dusting up everything. I held off some waves, blasting through troopers like cannon fodder, and then struggling against awesome boss-like walker fights. The terrain is open, yet curvy with a lot of turns and circles, so you can kite enemies around and lead a great chase when you need to shake things up a bit. Meanwhile there's some verticality as well, and its great for the jump pack your given in either loadout. It was a pretty great experience, but it gets old fast given what little we have. So I decided this would be fantastic online, and... oh, its friend based only. I really hope that's just a bad beta decision, but seeing as they show but lock up so much I'm getting the feeling they forgot to let you do public online matches in survival. Lets hope I'm wrong, because its pretty good for a survival, and very few games have left me complimenting a horde mode. However it would have helped if you could do more with the loadout. As it was you selected any of the 4 guns, and then two pre-set card choices. I would have loved to mix them up, or at least had one with a grenade.
The first true test of multiplayer came in with drop pods (and its the only one your supposed to play for a few hours, because the XP system hates you). I got a very weird feeling from this mode, and I'm not sure if the bad side is from the map, or just how the mode is set up in itself. Its basically a round of changing KOTH spots. You get a drop pod, defend it until the timer is up, and you get a point and pick-ups if you win. The map is a small area basically designed as if you were playing as bug-sized people inside of cracks of some kind. The entire map is just a giant cracked surface. It has lots of jagged hills, lots of narrow veins all around, and tiny patches of open areas. Oh and did I mention everyone dynamically respawns? That's fancy terminology for spawning in the middle of wherever and hoping you don't get shot in the back. Get used to that, the map loves that kind of gameplay. With the speedy time to kill, explosive side weapons, unpredictable sniping spots, and a focus to one area, your going to find that anybody can come from anywhere and just send you in a death loop. It kind of feels like MOH... the rebooted MOH. Dice also worked on that (MP only), so not such a huge shock. The good news is that when people moved slow and played cautiously, it was fantastic. However if they were just running around like headless chickens, and the spawn hated you, then it just feels like a poor man's COD. Like I said, I'm not sure if its the map doing this because of how aimless it is, or if its the mode itself since it has this frag-fest with a flag type of vibe. Thing is I was really enjoying it once the tiny learning curve was over, and when I got a fair team line-up where we were playing things with a mixed bag of caution and chaos. Stopping to listen to the blasters, sit in a corner and have your friends play spotter so you can get the edge, or taking that dive to charge in after a neautral point only to succeed and then wedge yourself under a broken tie fighter were all fun moments and made me love this mode. On the other hand, I had one boring one where nobody could find anybody and the result was a one sided ghost town even with the server being nearly full. Then another match where people just showed up wherever and shot you in the back. Again its value is all about whether the spawns and people are working right for you. Its just a mixed bag.
The Walker Assault mode is more true to what they'd advertise as Battlefront. Its on a wide open hoth map, has Jedi and vehicles, there's the famous AT-ATs, and... well you get the point. Its star wars fan service on one of the most iconic scenes. Your goal as the imperials is to defend the AT-AT, and screw up these command post type locations where rebels are signaling fighters from. You have a couple of sets and must push on the rebels to force them out of that position. If you're on the Rebel's side though, you have to defend these points to the best of your ability and open fire when the wave of fighters comes in and weakens the AT-ATs. This stage is really fun, especially if you don't care about winning. If you do want to win... well, stay faithful to the old empire, because its been well known and confirmed that this beta favors their side by a large margin. At no point did I see even one AT-AT go down. However just playing it, its fun. I tend to equip the rebel's with the imperial weapon though, as that's just better, but aside from adapting to the open terrain you can really enjoy yourself here. Struggling through the trenches, ducking in and out of rocks, and sniping from the mountains are all great. Power-ups make you try and think real smart about them, and can put you into some really interesting situations. Meanwhile if you do get the treat of using a vehicle, its great. Basically this is the best mode to be playing for fun once you get used to things. However if I were to complain, I would say it could do with a better explanation, and the map itself can take a sour turn when things get too chaotic (like what I said about the other really).
Presentation
If there is anything this game gets completely and 100% right, its the presentation. Everything on a technical level, the UI, the use of the license, and just the feel of it all, is done soooo very well. If you came here on the sole basis of a star wars game, then you'll be very happy. For starters lets talk graphics. I've heard mixed talk on it, but mostly praise, and while I don't think I'd call this "the best" I will say it looks great. I can't find any faults in it. Snow sparkles with little glittery bits, distant backdrops look great, textures all feel so full of life, and the lighting is stunning. No really, stunning hasn't ever been a better use of that term for visuals, because the lighting is actually set up in such a way that you can be blinded for approaching it at the wrong angle. You actually can be looking outdoors or indoors on Hoth and not see a damn thing until you come close enough to have it seemingly adjust. Its a very weird and interesting thing to have happen in the game, and it actually feels kind of intense since you don't know if the enemy is looking right back at you ready to shoot. If its really running at 60fps to, then this is an amazing accomplishment right alongside (if not better than) the FOX engine. There's been some light controversy over its resolution, because of course there is on the internet, but I think they need to shut up and appreciate what's being done here as I can see Dice has put some good work behind the visuals and performance of the game. It doesn't need 1080p to look good, and it does look good. Of course I will say its a shame they went off course of their stated target for the PS4. Generally, it all performs well too. Of course I wont be surprised if that isn't the case with its launch, but I'll discuss any lingering doubts on that in the end. |
| Not quite this good of course, but closer than I predicted |
Now lets talk Star Wars. I'm nowhere near a star wars nerd like I used to be around... middle school? Still this game so clearly ties into the series, to amazing accuracy. Sound effects were right, the right music was picked and kicks in at perfect points, the weapons all seem familiar and fire as I'd expect them to (minus the horrible accuracy of the Stormtrooper's rifle, because obviously that's a bad quality to imitate), and the terrains and vehicles all feel like they came out of the SW universe. Oh and the hero units, definitely seem believable at the expense of balance. I remember dying by Darth Vader over and over again at a distance with his force choke pulling me in. I remember seeing look flip across the battlefielding, taking high leaps, and strong confident sabre slashes. Meanwhile its next to impossible to hurt either with their skillful moves, and blocks. If you want to be immersed in Star Wars battles without resorting to the obsolete PS2/xbox era methods, then your in for a real treat.
Meanwhile I'm not sure I've ever been so won over in gunplay by effects alone. I mean Killzone 2 is about my highest standard, and that is due to everything from accuracy, to the weight system in aiming, and yes the presentation as well with thundering heavy sounds and visual recoil where every shot feels like deadly metal being charged out a barrel at high speeds. Most games work kind of in a similar fashion, you judge them based on how the control, sound, and accuracy is, and of course its usually with mundane or fantasized guns. Its all about tying mechanics in with the presentation. Battlefront here is an exception to that, mainly because it takes the road less traveled with lasers, and perfects their own style. Mechanically, its very flat to the point of pretty much doing nothing. It doesn't have a strong weight to it that sensitivity bumps can't fix, there's little if any recoil, and there isn't even a reload function or true ADS (thankfully). You just point and shoot, and then there's that time to kill problem I discussed earlier. Yet the sounds... oh that sound is just so perfect. There's a true feeling of power behind that sound, seeing a bright light come with it, whizzing across the battlefield, and someone collapses smoking from a successful take-down. You truly feel like your holding a devastating face melting sci-fi gun in your hand, and the only thing that comes even remotely close to comparison is Doom 3's pulse rifle. To say that every gun feels like (or even better than) Doom 3's pulse rifle is a very strange, but good compliment from me.
Conclusion
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| Can it survive |
I also still advice people to be cautious with this one. While it may sound like my worried "ITS GONNA BE BROKEN AND TEARS WILL HAPPEN!" article I wrote is obsolete, I already took the beta into account and still stand by the possibility of a launch tragedy happening. The beta is very polished for what it is, and as others have brought up there's already been clear improvement seen over a game that at one point didn't want to leave a floppy framerate. So is it time to cheer and say it'll be alright? Well, no. BF4 was also looking great to if you remember it. This beta wasn't so open, even to the point of not allowing online survival runs (part of the server your supposed to be testing in a beta) or cosmetic customization. We got 4 whole weapons, a few card picks, two maps, and each attached to one specific mode out of what will be quite a few in the end. This could very easily be a vertical slice, and considering all the conditions we're going up against I stress to people that this game should not be pre-ordered. Let others be the final beta testers who burn $60 on a questionable product. Its still a movie tie-in set for the holidays, published under EA, and even Dice themselves have come forward and said this was originally an intimidating thing to squeeze in. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this all goes as well as the beta does though, because the beta really was a smooth experience.
..and of course, just a small reminder, don't take internet analysis too seriously. I may be harping on all the negatives, but at the end of the day I'm still coming up to the beta and playing it, often smiling and happy I did so for at least a few minutes. Its a game, and one made by a company that has a sizable fanbase for various reasons. At the end of the day, its going to have its rough spots, but its also going to be fun because... well its a video game. Do I think its one worth $60? Ha, no! However the more time I put into it, the more I come to understand and just appreciate that its here to play in my free time. There are times where I stopped writing this, played it some more, and felt bad over spending so much complaining about the XP system that is no longer an obstacle and the current match is going great. ...then I respawned into a wave of enemies twice in a row and wondered if I wasn't harsh enough. Its a game, its going to be fun, and its going to be flawed. Considering this is a free beta, you shouldn't be taking beta reviews like this so seriously, and instead go out and play it yourself and just stand by your own feelings. Then ask yourself if you'd pay for the type of fun you're having, and how much would you pay for it. Then you have an answer that is better than all the hours spent on this whole opinionated report.
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