Star Wars Battlefront first impressions
It’s not often I get excited by a game, but Star Wars Battlefront is a little bit of an exception.
By now you’ve probably read as much of the content as we can post on the game in our various news items, but I thought it best to bring together exactly what we saw and why we think Star Wars Battlefront is shaping up to be one game that will leave a lasting impression.
We’re not going to discuss the Star Wars Celebration, nor are we going to look into the history of the franchise here. We’re also not going to talk about the expectation to deliver a decent game from both gamers and of course Disney, who acquired the franchise over two years ago now. What we are going to talk about is the gameplay footage we saw and how Dice have handled the content.
To begin with, we saw a game mode called “Walker Assault” which is an “epic” 40 player online battle mode which features vehicles and heroes. This, says Niklas Fegraeus, “perfectly represents our wish to let players create their own epic battle fantasies.”
This is an ongoing theme throughout the presentation, the creation of your own “epic battle fantasies”.
Walker Assault is hectic, fast paced and very exciting. You could be forgiven for assuming it looked a little like any Battlefield game, with a Star Wars skin. But it’s not, and look a little harder and you’ll see although it may look the same, the game play and the way in which you progress is very different indeed.
As well as fighting off hordes of Stormtroopers, players will also have to deal with Walkers, ATATs and ATSTs too. As you fire your way through the game you accumulate points. It’s not been made clear what the points count towards. It is presumably for XP which, in turn, we assume will fuel some kind of RPG system to help you better you character and weapons. Of course we’re not sure, but we’re certain that the points you get for playing will have more of a purpose than just for bragging rights after the match is over.
Dice has refused to comment exactly what the points do, and has also refused to suggest whether there is an RPG system at all, but considering Dice’s previous game offerings, it’s safe to suggest that there will be some kind of reward and RPG system for your character.
And because there is no class system, there has to be a way to level up your character and its gear.
But it doesn’t just stop with the points and the presumed upgrading. There is also a power up system that allows players to find some powerful power up abilities that can help change the tide of battle.
Power ups are exciting things, but players will have to explore the map to come across them. These power ups will help you swing the tide of the battle in your favour; whether that’s unlocking abilities such as a huge shield, massive explosives or even your own X-Wing aircraft. And the greatest power up is to be able to play as the hero or the villain in the game. For one live only you’ll be able to play as either Boba Fett or Darth Vader (more to be announced). Only one person can be the hero or villain at any given time, so don’t expect to see 40 heroes kicking around the same map.
As it’s a map with vehicles, you can expect to see aerial vehicles too. And we’ve also found out that you’ll be able to fly the Millennium Falcon - not in this map, but we reckon it’ll be a power up for a dogfighting focused map.
The game certainly has Dice’s signature feel to it. And it’s hectic and loud, it’s disorientating but hugely fun looking and it looks stunning. Of course it has the incredible technology which we’ve mentioned in our news stories. And with the heroes, of which we saw Darth Vader at the end of this demo, is enough to make your hair stand on end. It did for me.
And there are more modes too, and ways to play. You can play offline on your own, or with a friend or even split screen. And these are more challenge type missions which are inspired from the film that allow you to play through harder difficulties.
Not to mention the dogfights and the partner system; a tag-team style event where you and a friend can play together, spawn on each other and even share your unlocks.
But there’s something magical about how the game looks and what Dice has achieved so far. The game really does feel like an extension of the franchise. It’s too early to tell whether the story is going be as strong as the attention to detail in-game, but it’s safe to say that visually and game mechanically the game looks solid.
And Darth Vader is bad ass…