Star Wars Battlefront 2 is the sequel to the successful multiplayer game that came out in 2015. There is a story mode that follows an Imperial Special Forces team and their journey after the events of Return of the Jedi leading up to The Force Awakens. There is also a multiplayer aspect to the game, that is same as the first title that involves different modes, as well an arcade mode as well.
General Gameplay
As with the first Battlefront game, Star Wars Battlefront 2 focuses on the same concept with having different multiplayer types of gameplay. What is different this time around is that there is a single player mode with a story that ties in events from Episode 6 to Episode 7. Also, there is a new class system to multiplayer as well Star Cards that you can use for your characters. The multiplayer portion of the game, well that is another story that we will cover in our Family Friendly Section. Graphics for the game are visually outstanding. This is one of the best-looking Star Wars games that I have ever seen. I would even venture out to say that this is one of the best-looking console games that I have seen in 2017. From everything in the detail of the characters, to backgrounds, to even general graphic animation. There is a lot of detail in the game and this makes it a great treat for any Star Wars fan to play it as you feel that the in-game world is alive and breathing and you are taking a part in it. For people that suffer from Red-Green or any other combinations, it is safe to say that there are colorblind modes that will help play the game. In our playtesting we did not see anything that would be a problem for any gamers in your family, as this is a more family friendly shooter, there was nothing graphically that would be offensive. As with the graphics in the game the Audio is very top notch. Just like if you are watching a Star Wars movie, all the sounds that you would expect to hear are very crisp and clear when playing the game. All the sound effects like lasers blasting, explosions, droids beeping and everything else is easy heard in the game. Voice overs in the game are done well and help tell the story well for the game. The game is in 5.1 surround sound also sounds very clear when using a headset. In our playtesting we did not hear anything offensive when playing the game, so this is very family friendly. The Controls for Star Wars Battlefront 2 are the same from the first one. With it being set up as a shoot, either in first person or third person it is very easy to pick up and play the game. The story mode gives you more direction on what each control button does and gives you an idea on how to use power ups for the heroes and other abilities. In our play testing we did not see any issues with gamers that are already familiar with games like this, but our newer gamers had to take some time to adjust to the gameplay. There is no special controller needed to play the game, however we do recommend going into the settings and customizing the button placement to your tailoring.
“Battlefront 2 is a fantastic story for those looking for what happened from episode 6 to 7 but it is very predictable and multiplayer microtransactions are what keep it from being a great game.”
Family Friendly
As the game is a shooter, it is very family friendly for a game of its nature. Just like the movies are, the game is the same, so as a parent if you are ok with your younger ones watching the movies, then they should be ok playing the game. The single player story mode is a great addition to the game and it tells a great story (A predictable one but still great) and it allows you throughout the single player to play as some of the iconic characters from the Star Wars universe. Now if we were just reviewing the single player portion of the game, the score that we would have given the game would have been a 8, however as Battlefront 2 is a heavy multiplayer game this is where the score and our expectations go down. Now to say that the multiplayer portion of the game is bad, would be an inaccurate description of the game, but that being said, how the developer of the Star Wars Battlefront 2 is handling the game is something that has been brought to question. As the game does not have any paid DLC (Down Loadable Content) but it makes its money in microtransactions. Now as most may or may not be aware of that microtransaction have been around for a while now and they are noting new, but the way that Battlefront handles it comes off very bad, so bad that some may even say that it can be borderline gambling to get the things that you want to boost your character and their class online. With most games out there is a natural progression to ranking up your character, however in Battlefront 2 they use more of a “Pay To Win” style in which you purchase Star Crates from either In game points that you earn, or from microtransactions (At the time of writing this review, EA has taken out the microtransactions from the game storefront, but who’s to say when they will return back into gameplay) and this can cause an very bad inbalance in the multiplayer in which players will feel that they will need to get more boost from Star Cards and Crates in order to keep up with gamers that have deeper pockets. We have done a podcast to talk more about this in detail, you can listen to the podcast here. If you or your gaming family do not plan to play the multiplayer and just stay on single player and local co-op then Star Wars Battlefront is a great addition to your digital library, otherwise better to wait till a sale or when EA fixes this game.
Closing
Star Wars Battlefront 2 single play story may be predictable but still fun to play, however with the microtransaction all but ruin the multiplayer experience, Battlefront is best enjoyed via story mode, or local co-op.
