Star Wars Battlefront is a 3rd Person/First Person space shooter that is from the Star Wars Universe. The game setting is from the New Hope IV, Empire Strikes Back V, and Return of the Jedi VI storyline. The game is rated T for Teen and was released on 11/17/2015.
General Gameplay
Star Wars Battlefront is your run of the mill shooter. Taking from the lore of the episode IV, V and VI it places players in iconic locations from the Star Wars universe. You as the player will traverse planets from the original Star Wars trilogy, such as Endor, Hoth, Tatooine, and Sullust, as well as environments from episode IV, V, and VI. The game also includes to play as the “hero’s” or “villain’s” such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and from the Empire characters as Darth Vader, Boba Fett and the Emperor. Playing as the “hero’s” or “villain’s” gives you special abilities such as Luke’s speed and Vader “Force Choke” and so forth. The ability to have these special characters on the battlefield makes the game more enjoyable and a treat to play.
Also vehicle combat is also fun within the game. From flying an X-Wing to a TIE Fighter, the game gives you the feeling that you are flying and dogfighting as they do in the movies. Also again with the Millennial Falcon and Slave One being available as “hero” vehicle makes the game even more fun to play.
The game is set up in with different combat style of gameplays. There is your traditional Team Deathmatch, as well an CTF (Capture The Flag) style of game modes, a AT-AT Walker assault, Air Combat, Hero’s vs. Villain’s and other game modes that you can play. The game also sets up training modes so you can play these modes and get more familiar with the controller settings and how things work.
Also there is a survival mode in the game that can be played with another player online or as a “Couch Co-Op” via split screen. This is the only offline mode to the game as the majority of the game is designed to be played online with others. The game surprisingly does not offer any type of story mode what so ever which is surprising which we will dive into more in our review.
Audio
If you own a 5.1 or larger home theater system, you will be in shock on how well the sound is done in this game. From blaster shots to light saber clashes the sound is top notch. The game’s music from the Imperial march to the Rebel Alliance theme makes you feel that you are right in the middle of the action. Everything sound wise in the game sounds exactly like what you would expect from the movie. Of all of the years that I have been playing Star Wars based titles, this one, hands down have the best sound. Even the background ambient sound makes you feel that you are on the planets fighting for either side. Also for those that use headsets, the sound that comes through is top notch.
Visuals
The game runs smooth on a HD monitor and the game lives up to its hype. The game is breathtaking and as expected with the Frostbite 3 engine that makes this game a joy to see on the screen. From the details of the Storm Troopers, to the backgrounds, Star Wars Battlefront looks beautiful. I would even dare to say that the game itself can pass for an animated movie by the way it moves. The movement is fluid and that there are not graphical hiccups from what I can tell playing the game. The only time that I have ever seen some pixilation in the game is in which when players with a slower connection is playing or on there is heavy lag on the servers on peak hours. The colors also pop with vibrancy when this game is in motion.
Controls
The controls in the game are very solid. As expected with a 3rd/1st person perspective game that the controls will match the viewing style of the player. The controller setting can be changed based on what the user wants the controls to be, however from our experience leaving it in the default setting is just as fine. We would advise for younger gamers in the family that maybe having them game with a wire controller that is smaller for their hands. As the online session does pick up the movement of fingers and thumbs will matter and may frustrate some younger gamers with a larger controller. During our sessions I did not notice any lag with user feedback to the system both wire and wireless.
Delivery
If you are a Star Wars fan or have family member that love the Star Wars series, they will enjoy this title a lot. The game is very easy to pick up and play and that for the most part the online sessions that we have played in is all based on the team you are on and player skill. As with most online multiplayer games there at first some in game weapons, but at the time of writing this review, EA has fixed and balance for the most part most of the post launch in game issues.
However, this is where in the review in which we have to address the elephant in the room. Being an online game, there is only limited offline modes. There is a training mode, and a survival mode. Both modes are designed to help you get more comfortable with all of the game modes, but this game is best enjoyed online. Now for some younger children and other gamers this may be a turn off and because EA did away with the single player portion of the story, there is not much else that you can do in the game other than multiplayer. Also for parents that are looking at this game for multiple gamers on a single console, be aware that because of a lack of a split screen for gaming (expect for survival) only one gamer can play this title online, per console. We also found it to be a grind when it came to the limited availability of in game weapons and gear to use. This also made parts of the game dull and boring.
Also parents should be aware that the game comes with more levels to play on, however they are only available via DLC (Downloadable Content). The season pass will cost you 49.99$ and it will have per quarter release more levels, game modes, Hero’s and Villain’s and more weapons. Now some parents (including myself) see this as an extra purchase, where that same 49.99$ can be used to purchase another title of equal value. This is something to consider when purchasing this title either for yourself or for any family member. Also as we shown from our review that the this is a great title, but the game modes do get repetitive after a while. Also with just the quarterly release of new content, some member of the gaming family may get bored of this. Also for owners of the console version of this title if you do not already subscribe to either Xbox Live or PSN there is an additional fee to play this title online. So again parents and gaming family members please keep this in mind when picking this up.
Family Friendly
We here at Family Gamer Review feel that the rating for this title of T for Teen maybe be over rated. As most parents if you allow your child to watch all of the Star Wars movies limited supervision, then this game and the representation on screen is as we feel equal to watching the movie. So we feel that the ESRB should have rated the game a E10 vs. a T rating.
We would like any other game out there advise that you monitor your children online gaming habits. As without full moderation that the online community can get raunchy and may use colorful language online. What we did see is also that is advantage is that family members that may be colorblind or have a harder time seeing the colors on the display, that there is a colorblind mode to assist the gamer with seeing who is ally and enemy.
Also with testing the game with children with special needs that the game itself did not pose a challenge in the limited single player survival mode. Playing this in competitive multiplayer that we did see some ansixity occur in close matches. Also with a controller that is the right size for the gamer, this too will help with a more enjoyable gaming experience. Also with the adjustment with the in game color as well controls, this helps our special needs gamers enjoy the game.
As with any online game, we encourage parents to take part or be aware of where their gaming family is playing and with who. Also be sure to educate your children on online danger and safety as well.
So in closing that Star Wars Battlefront is a great title for all fans of the series. For casual gamers and for more hardcore gamers that are looking for the full single player experience and deeper multiplayer experience, you will be disappointed in this title. However also think of it as a training game for younger and new gamers to online shooters. This game for newer family gamers will help them incorporate their 3rd/1st person skills to be better gamers.
