For North America, this was a holiday on both ends of the border. For those who have been anticipating the new Star Wars Battlefront revival, the last 5 days have come and went in a blur of red and green laser beams from both ends of the galaxy. That’s right: the beta of betas happened this weekend for Star Wars Battlefront. There was even a date extension from the new EA shooter, which meant a couple extra days of battling it out on Hoth and Tantooie before we see it in November. There was some fun to be had in this attempt at recreating some memorable main trilogy moments. For myself, it was too good to past up not to indulge in Battlefront. Here’s a bit of my Star Wars Battlefront Beta Post Up Log.
The visual feel did strike true to the series from the start of the menu. The score engulfed your speakers with a familiar orchestra feel. Some notable tracks and some not, but still lovely. The game’s detail seemed to be the high note. Seeing the treats of the Frostbite 3 engine in its’ form, with X-Wings screeching through the skies, couldn’t be something to scoff at. Aesthetics did do the justice here in Battlefront. The snow was dazzling and there wasn’t a slow down for the battle of Hoth. It was hard for me to fathom this being a 40 man brawl on a console, but I lived doing so. From the hit sparks(and yes – this felt JUST LIKE THE DAMN MOVIES) to the noises, it did feel as if I was right there holding off for Han and Luke to get out of Hoth from the Echo Bases before the giants were in range. The Y Wings needed to assault those. There was also a pod capture in a more enclosed area, Dropzone, and the survival that took about 5-6 waves. AT-STs would appear in the survival from time to time. Survival can be played alone in Battlefront with several enemies of the empire to make chase. I wasn’t too enthralled with the other modes until I hit Walker Assault.
Present to the beta party were a couple of modes for multiplayer experiences with Star Wars Battlefront beta. Most notably, the massive 40 man snowball laser fight, Walker Assault. Shooting down an AT-AT isn’t as easy as Empire Strikes Back made it. As a matter of fact, the lassoing seemed to be omitted from the shooter’s current form. In were the dog fights between fighter crafts on both sides as the two walkers rode to the finish off the rebel outpost. There were vulnerable openings after a point, depending on how open the 3 satellite points were. The battle took to the ground mostly with power-ups which to could lead to controlling other vehicles. The “summons” so to speak. Even Hero mode can be activated through sheer luck of how one traverses through the deadly lightshow. Darth and Luke would ravage the playing field with some sort of advantage to their respective forces. Your character would literally crouch on the ground to make these happen via a radio/comm after the power up was required. Even the AT-AT can be driven. The controls on those ends aren’t totally spelt out, yet the speed on the ships themselves are pretty fast for movements sake.
The level system throws a bit of a tie-in to unlocks in the Star Wars Battlefront beta. Each player gets a hand of one time use weapons and ability, and has the ability to build this out via credits. 3 of these can be brought into a match. The jetpack would be 2000+ Credits, which are given out at each matches end, yet one would still need to be Level 5 inorder to see it in ones’ possession. The cap for the beta was level 5, so one could get everything after a certain point.
At the moment, from where I stood after this weekend, and the Turkey comas, Star Wars Battlefront is quite promising thus far in terms of multiplayer in the series. There were some minor glitches in the network performance for matchmaking, but the rest was bliss. Survival did feel a bit tied down to a loop, but the showstopper – Walker Assault – had me at Hoth for days. For those into nostalgia and something with a powerful gimmick in a shooter akin to Titanfall’s gimmicks, Battlefront might be that chosen one that you would need both hands, and a torso, to enjoy this December. No Anakins allowed.
For something more concrete in terms of gameplay, check out my twitch on the Star Wars Battlefront Beta.
