By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's Moreover, the fan-favorite Heroes vs Villains mode makes a return. In effort to put forward the most impartial review possible, our review is written by Tom Marks, who joined IGN after Mitch left and, in fact, has never even met him.] This follow-up to the 2015 Star Wars multiplayer battle game promises "bigger and better worlds" and content from the new films in the Star Wars franchise. This review was written prior to the game's November 17 launch, and will be updated over the next few days as we spend more time with the game's modified systems. This is especially frustrating when you invest so much time in the game--coming across others online who've had better luck or purchased pre-orders copies to acquire epic cards for their characters--only to see your favorite classes fall by the wayside due to the overall systems working against your favor. It’s about making you feel like you’re smack dab in the middle of a massive Star Wars battle, blaster bolts flying inches over your head, as you watch General Grievous cut Obi-Wan Kenobi into ribbons with a flurry of light saber strikes. We are moving forward with our final score now that we’ve had time to thoroughly test the stability of Battlefront II’s servers, but will retain the original review-in-progress text for future reference.Editor’s note (November 16, 2017 -- 5:47 PM PST):EA has removed all microtransactions and have started measures to overhaul the progression systems. Sound plays a big role in this, with booming and familiar effects from every gun. It's essentially digital Star Wars tourism. 467. The second Battlefront adds new landscapes from the Star Wars universe, and a comprehensive single-player campaign to complement the multiplayer modes. Close. Star Wars Battlefront 2’s campaign is a gorgeous shooting gallery that takes you to amazing planets, both old and new.But is it any more than that? Star Wars Battlefront 2 is the sequel to 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront and promises to be bigger and better than its predecessor. Finishing the new Battlefront II's campaign in 4-5 hours, he was also able to spend quite a bit of time checking out the intense online multiplayer. Battlefront 2’s campaign caters to that fandom as well, but ends up being a bit of a mess because of it. Finishing the new Battlefront II's campaign in 4-5 hours, he was also able to spend quite a bit of time checking out the intense online multiplayer. Star Wars Battlefront 2 Review. Battlefront II's main attraction is its expansive multiplayer content. While the brisk 4-5 hour campaign features some strong writing and performances from its cast--with some standout levels that show off the visual luster and diversity of locations within the universe--the potential of its Imperial point-of-view soon becomes lost. For more. Despite its darker choice of perspective (we haven’t seen much from the Imperial soldier point of view since 1994’s TIE Fighter), the plot moves forward in a fairly unimaginative fashion from there. The starfighter missions thrive on their scale, usually set in elaborate battles full of busy skies and huge Star Destroyers. It’s a shame Iden doesn’t get more time to develop as a character because Battlefront 2 does a decent job of introducing her (outside of some stilted dialogue in the opening scene) as a competent, sympathetic person. The biggest problem with this system is that it's never clearly explained. Star Wars Battlefront 2 has some bright spots, but the game fails to deliver a compelling story campaign and its multiplayer is … In effort to put forward the most impartial review possible, our review is written by Tom Marks, who joined IGN after Mitch left and, in fact, has never even met him. Lovingly recreated locations like Maz Kanata’s bar from The Force Awakens and the palace on Naboo from The Phantom Menace are wonderful to explore, even if you’re being shot at while it happens. In effort to put forward the most impartial review possible, our review is written by Tom Marks, who joined IGN after Mitch left and, in fact, has never even met him.] Fun to play as, but not so much against. "The biggest problem with this system is that it's never clearly explained.". She normally works to undermine Rebel forces with wet-work missions and other forms of espionage. Star Wars Battlefront 2 is primarily an online multiplayer game although you can set up battles against the computer and also contains a single player campaign. Terms of Use and While you'll eventually come to understand how credits, crystals, and crafting components are used, you'll still have to reconcile the fact that the time you invest in the game won't always be rewarded with progress, or at least in the way you want. These are my thoughts on the single player part of the game, and I’ll be following up with a review of the multiplayer after the game properly comes out this Friday. Over the course of each match, you'll acquire Battle Points, which you can cash-in for mid-battle rewards--such as piloting special starfighters or taking control of select hero characters to dish out punishment. While it isn't a particularly deep mode to dive into, with each mission offering increasing tiers of difficulty for better rewards, it can be fun to try out the different heroes against increasing numbers of enemies. But as it stands, the biggest hurdle that Battlefront II will need to overcome--for its simultaneous attempts to balance progression with genuine feeling of accomplishments--is deciding on what type of game it wants to be. © 2021 GAMESPOT, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos. From the 40-player conquest battles in Galactic Assault to the smaller, infantry-focused skirmishes in Blitz and Strike, there's a greater variety of multiplayer modes than before. 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No matter what PC I was using, cutscenes were frequently choppy, and that lag followed into the campaign missions as well. It’s also worth noting that I ran into some massive performance issues on PC during the campaign. Summary: Star Wars Battlefront II allows players to experience the untold story of an Imperial elite special forces soldier in an all-new single player campaign. Your set of troopers, starfighters, and hero characters can be boosted with Star Cards. Alessandro Fillari Star Wars Battlefront 2 campaign review. Instead, several missions put you in direct control of some of the heroes available in multiplayer. I also really loved that these flying sequences weren’t sequestered into their own little corners of the campaign, with a few missions having you switch from ground to air multiple times. Yeah, the single-player campaign is a bit meh, but that isn’t the focus of Battlefront 2. Along with some stellar visual and sound-design, the large-scale battles have the same exciting flow as Star Wars' most iconic fights, where one heroic action can turn the tide of a conflict. It’s also disappointing that the events we’re participating in don’t seem to have much impact on the story. RED FLASHING LIGHTS. There is a right way to play Star Wars Battlefront 2's 40-player Galactic Assault mode. Each of the four basic classes (Assault, Heavy, Officer, and Specialist) in the ground-based multiplayer modes has a unique weapon and complementary set of abilities that makes them stand out from each other without any one of them feeling more or less vital. While the game gives you options to purchase premium currency in the form of crystals--which you can buy in bundles costing up to $100--these can only be used to buy more loot crates. The Campaign for Battlefront II is a bad joke. Whether it’s securing a secret cache of the Emperor’s, sabotaging a weapons facility, or gathering intel about the enemy, you usually just jump to the next mission afterward to see what thing from the movies you’ll encounter next. Every blaster, TIE Fighter, and Battle Droid looks and sounds like it’s straight out of the movies, with the only notable exception being a couple of less than stellar voice impersonators used for heroes like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Kylo Ren. The campaign in Battlefront 2 is unchanged since our original review, other than the addition of a new epilogue chapter, … Due to the randomness, and the inherent dependence on the loot crates, progression is often dictated by what these results are. [Spoilers] spoiler. Violence, Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB. It’s essentially digital Star Wars tourism tied around the loose concept of Iden’s battles in the final days of the Galactic Civil War. Do you want to reload before the next fight so that you have a full clip? I’ll need to do more testing to see if it was an isolated case, but the campaign was nearly unplayable at times on that computer. I experienced these even on low settings on my GTX 970. Above all, it ends up doing a disservice to the core gameplay, which can still provide solid moments of enjoyment despite the looming presence of its progression systems. Not enough time is devoted to Iden and her relationships to give her pivotal decisions the context they need. Y ou can practice an untold story in a just new single-player campaign of Star Wars Battlefront. The Arcade mode makes a return, featuring themed levels where you battle AI bots as classic Light and Dark side characters. That all said, the excellent voice acting and lifelike facial animations sell each character’s performance well. The downside of these missions is that they often veer into pure fan-service territory, leaving Iden Versio--who proves to be an interesting character with her unique view on the galactic struggle--standing in the shadow of more-established characters. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Unfortunately, the focus on chasing Star Cards--and the prominence of loot crates--reveals bigger issues related to the progression. The music and sound effects deserve a special shout out as well, doing a lot of the work of sinking me into a world I’m already very familiar with. It undermined the drama of a few scenes to have the video freeze up while the audio kept playing. Instead, it feels more like a series of barely connected missions across a smattering of recognizable locations, featuring the major characters you’d expect. EA has promised to continue monitoring the game and adjusting the progression system based on player feedback, but when those changes will occur and what they will be remains to be seen. Her defection was unnecessary and it made zero sense. You take on the role of Iden Versio, commander of Imperial special-forces outfit Inferno Squad. Star Wars: Battlefront II’s writing was hamfisted in the original campaign, but it comes off somehow even clumsier here. [Spoilers] spoiler. So the large-scale multiplayer modes remain the most compelling reason to play Battlefront 2. Star Wars Battlefront 2 Review. Recently, EA removed all microtransactions from the game, and while that seems like a change that would be for the better, many of the rewards and systems in place have not been altered to make up for the lack of paid options. Yoda's tiny hitbox makes him the Oddjob of Battlefront 2. This review was written prior to the game's November 17 launch, and will be updated over the next few days as we spend more time with the game's modified systems. The purpose of this review now has a single player campaign mode ranks for a full-priced.! 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