Although the release of Star Wars Battlefront 2 faced harsh criticism upon release, there are still many good qualities of the game as a whole. From characters, to multiplayer teams, to interconnecting story lines, Star Wars Battlefront 2 is a great game for Star Wars fans to get in the action and pick a side and watch stuff explode.
Taking place between Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Imperial Iden Versio gets herself locked up in order to erase the Imperial Transmission that she has the codes to, in order to protect the Empire. After escaping the planet and launching herself into space, she teams up with Endor, Hask and Meeko who simultaneously watch as the second Death Star explode. The last command of the Emperor was to begin something called Operation Cinder. As these members of the fallen Empire begin to enact this plan, some might start to question why or should they are doing this. There is a strong similarity to Rogue One, in that people are presented as not being simply evil or good. This is where things get interesting. Although there is a lot to the story line of this game, there’s no need for me to spoil anymore.
Visually the game is nice but not too overbearing. Characters fit well in the environment and everything moves in a fluid motion. Using different aircrafts is my favorite thing to do because I can help the ground teams, or focus on sabotaging enemies while keeping them away. Since Battlefront 2 has multiplayer, up to 40 players can play together in five different modes. While the breakdown can be a hassle, the multiplayer differences come down to where you play in space and how many players are on each team. There is either 20 versus 20 or the option to do a 12 on 12 match. Everything else includes a deathmatch called “Blast” mode where teams of 10 fight to get 100 total combined eliminations. Another fun multiplayer experience of the five is the villains vs heros in a deathmatch and last but not least, the capture the flag mode. All are equally fun but the multiplayer is reminiscent of Overwatch for me, which was distracting.
Originally upon starting up and loading the game, there were many questions about why Darth Vader, who was played in the tutorial level of the first game, couldn’t be chosen as a character. Seeing how he is a fan favorite, this is just one of the characters that comes up during the debate about micro-transactions. Players that chose to use real money in order to get loot boxes had an advantage over those that did not. They were able to unlock characters and other in game options that put them ahead of everyone else. Some might have argued that players could just grind, but the ratio was would require almost two real days of gameplay. This alone sparked an outrage from fans that caused EA to take away micro-transactions until a later date. Hopefully if and when these are put back in the game, players will get to experience a more level playing field. But now that the initial fire is over, gamers can now see what the game is truly about.
Much like Call of Duty, Battlefront 2 has a lot of weapons to chose from and the weapons are absolutely massive and pack a punch. So this is fun of course. The controls are easy to learn, but much like the Force, hard to master. The space fights are particularly grueling, causing me to practice the ancient tradition of rage quitting The sights and sounds, however keep me coming back. One thing that EA has done right is get the feel of the Star Wars universe. You feel as if you are there, actually playing a part in the galactic conflict. If you are a Star Wars fan, this is a must buy. If you are new to the Battlefront series, consider playing one of the older games first. Yes the micro transactions were bad, but it is one part of a very fun game.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is available on PS4, Xbox, and PC
