Star Wars: Battle'field' Beta Impressions

[J4MES OX4D 10,040]

Absolute crap.

 

Firstly the game is very well presented and the audio is fantastic but the rest of it seems a lot to be desired. Firstly I played survival which was nothing short of boring as hell - finished the six waves on offer in under 10 minutes and just found the concept underwhelming. Although the finished article with house maps with 15 waves in each; it's dull. 

 

Next up I tried the multiplayer and the first match was a mode whereby you have to defend these pods to capture them and score. The map was a complete and utter mess with a dreary layout, hideous spawns and extremely bland combat. The infamous shitty DICE netcode that plagued Battlefield 4 was ever-present and even shooting someone 6 times in the head couldn't reduce their health bar below 50% as they take you down in seemingly a couple of hits. The HUD is also as ugly as hell and cluttered all over the screen. There's no strategy on offer, no real combat variety and not much enjoyment I found - just run, shoot, kill/die and do it again. The guns I was using was also pure hip-fire or overly-zoomed in ADS.

 

Next up I tried the Walker Assault mode which is just lazers flying around on a very open barren snow map with a couple of walkers providing a slight distraction from the dull combat. This map had more scope and looked far better but still the layout was incredibly poor and lacked diversity - it's basically an empty mountain with a few players running around aimlessly. Despite seeming spectacular with the walkers; I was bored come the end of the match. Unlike BF4; there is no real room for tactics, not much weapon/combat variety or even map quality. There was no buildings to blow up, no destructive scenery or anything dynamic to impact the match - basically a firefight out in the open with nothing to do apart from shoot from the hip or easily pick them off at range if the hitboxes sync and stick to the player.

 

The beta only represent a fraction of the game but I feel the underlying issues will affect the rest of the product as they are so significant. I'm not too disappointed as this is £50 saved right off the bat and it will give me more time on Fallout 4. Also not funding EA is a bonus. With no campaign and content in dribs and drabs scattered over many half-baked modes; I can't justify this price especially with DICE's dodgy reputation. I can see this peaking interest on release and then dying a death soon after launch just like Hardline. That game flopped as many remained or went back to BF4 and this will go the same way I think. This isn't the Battlefront I remember - it's just a half-arsed Battlefield reskin with limitations and a lack of ingenuity selling itself off the name. Unless the rest of the game represents a major shift in quality and content; I don't think I'd even pay a bargain bin price for it. 

 

Uninstalled. 

[techno 3,511]

Good write up,I'm downloading now from what I've seen it looks good but dull as hell I guess I will see tomorrow.

I actually enjoyed my time with hardline tbh but that was on console I know it died on pc

[JsinOwl 644]

Disappointing, but can't say I'm surprised.

[Madjonny 386]

I do think it's a little basic...

Like James said, it does feel like you just run around, kill/die over again... Even when on a killing spree it really dosent feel like I'm contributing or helping our cause, same when I died... Oh well I'll just run out again, there doesn't seem any consequence for being killed or reward for doing killing...

I'm not a fan of them weapons either, although I have only used 2, I wasn't impressed by either of them... Not really a fan of the COD type acog scopes fitted onto each weapon, it just zooms too much...

I'll be honest I am a little disappointed, although I could see this coming...

I think the main reason I was getting any real enjoyment out of trying this just now was that I haven't played a FPS in months and was itching to play again, and the just the fact that it's STAR WARS!

If it wasn't skinned as Star Wars, and in a generic modern shooter skin, then there's better games out there...

I think I'll still get it... But only because I love Star Wars, and it does look quite beautiful...

[lepercolony 275]

[J4MES OX4D 10,040]

I'm not a fan of them weapons either, although I have only used 2, I wasn't impressed by either of them... Not really a fan of the COD type acog scopes fitted onto each weapon, it just zooms too much...

Agree Jonny! I used a couple of weapons and they were both exactly the same apart from having different skins and it was either hipfire people even from 25+ yards away which didn't feel right or use the horrible zoom which is equally horrendous to use. The guns just don't seem to have much personality between them and aren't much fun to use. 

 

If BF4 didn't exist; Hardline and Battlefront would seem more acceptable as FPS titles but compared to that; they lack in every aspect and I'm really struggling to get past that. I'm not even feeling much of a grand scale on this game either - the maps are actually smaller than they look I noticed and there's a max lobby count of 40 players which makes the matches seem rather empty. 

 

I encourage everyone to have a go though as the beta runs until Monday and hopefully some will enjoy it more or be more forgiving than me. I may brave it and reinstall it to have a few more matches but I can't see my opinion drastically changing. 

[Diddums 4,346]

Reading around various sites, this is definitely splitting opinions. There seem to be two major camps: FPS fans and Star Wars fans. The FPS fans, whether also fans of sw or not, think it's dull and boring.

The Star Wars fans seem to enjoy it more as many have admitted they rarely play FPS games, so don't realise quite how far the bar has been set in recent years.

It's a shame really, but then I read somewhere on this forum a while ago that it'll be running the Frostbite engine, the same as BF4 and since then it's never felt right. I think I always suspected a blatant cash in from EA on a ridiculously famous and popular franchise.

[Madjonny 386]

I can totally agree with that... Like I said, the fact that it's Star Wars Was what was keeping me entertained throughout, but the FPS player in me was thinking this is kinda average...

[techno 3,511]

I would have thought that fans of starwars would be more appalled at a mediocre product,I'm thinking as Dave said it's just a cash in on a famous franchise.

I've watched gameplay and though it looks great the gameplay itself did look dull and pointless.

[J4MES OX4D 10,040]

Reading around various sites, this is definitely splitting opinions. There seem to be two major camps: FPS fans and Star Wars fans. The FPS fans, whether also fans of sw or not, think it's dull and boring.

The Star Wars fans seem to enjoy it more as many have admitted they rarely play FPS games, so don't realise quite how far the bar has been set in recent years.

That's a very good way of looking at it. I'm a massive fan of both the FPS genre and Star Wars but the quality of the game is really overriding my love for the SW franchise and as this could be described as an EA/DICE cash grab; I have to judge it as a game especially as it's just a reskinned watered-down Battlefield. 

 

 

It's a shame really, but then I read somewhere on this forum a while ago that it'll be running the Frostbite engine, the same as BF4 and since then it's never felt right. I think I always suspected a blatant cash in from EA on a ridiculously famous and popular franchise.

Yep, it's running off the Frostbite 3 engine but it feels like it's using the original BF4 build that Battlefield Hardline (cash grab) used and if this is the case; then Battlefront would be a even more sickening cash grab. BF4's FB3 engine was riddled with horrific netcode woes (the same I experienced in Battlefront earlier) but that eventually got upgraded with a new clean build. If DICE have recycled the original build from the bin like Visceral did with Hardline; that would be utterly disgraceful. Even if Battlefront is using the latest Frostbite build; it's still an old engine that was 'only built for Battlefield' according to EA...

[phil bottle 9,776]

Meh what a shame, it looks nice but feels shallow. Plus to the most effective way to shoot is in third person without ADS, the bullet spread etc is the same as hip fire. Boring.

[Stretch616 697]

Had a bash last night and pretty much have the same feelings as everyone else.

Survival can fuck right off. I've got some paint that i can watch dry instead of that.

Drop zone just seemed like a complete clusterfuck of spawns with a very flimsy objective tagged to it. The walker map was better, but that was only as the map was linear in build and made sense.

The gameplay though just isn't up to scratch. Very, very loose hit boxes for the blasters. Infinite sniper, just a 7 sec wait between shots. Horrible(fucking god awful) ADS on the blasters. Map colour scheme was quite uninspiring also.

Just not good enough to pass as a shooter nowadays in gameplay i'm afraid.

But with that said, the pew, pew of the blasters, flying an x-wing and flinging of a lightsaber will sell the game on it's own. This game is a novelty not a contender, such a shame. If it was £20 i'd get it and mark out like the star wars geek i am. But i won't pay full price for a game of this calibre

[techno 3,511]

All I get is must be signed into ea account ... I halve tried all sorts and nothing works can anyone point me in the right direction

Why does it not just drop a link

[DarkArch3typ3 58]

It's like bf4 you say? Thanks just stopped the download.

[Corey the Kiwi 83]

Yeah I agree with people saying it lacks depth. Quite a shallow game at the moment. However I have enjoyed my time with it so far - I like how they have structured the gameplay in terms of power-ups, cards etc. I feel like the maps and game modes are not up to scratch though. If they were more interactive and there was a greater sense of accomplishment it would be a much better game.

Obviously this is just the beta so hopefully the rest of the maps are better than these but if not this game will remain a what could have been.

Also, the sounds are awesome and it is bloody great playing as Darth Vader for the first time [emoji41]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sennex 1,903]

With all the other information that came out a few months back, I was afraid that this would happen

 

Oh well it saves me money for other games

[JsinOwl 644]

That leaves Mass Effect Andromeda as my last great hope for a new multiplayer game to play the hell out of.

[techno 3,511]

Delete

[Drifter 851]

Downloading it now, I'll see how I like it tomorrow when I get a chance. I planned on getting it when it was released but after reading this I don't know about that now. Although it is hard IMO to base an entire game on just a basic beta free trial. I'll post back tomorrow after I have had a chance to try it out.

[Drifter 851]

Well I could not wait. I had it downloading downstairs and while I was upstairs it finished and I heard the Star Wars music blaring from up here after it self started. So I went to it like a moth to a flame being the old school Star Wars fan that I am

 

First off I only played with it for about 20 mins. Enough to get through all the waves on the survival on Tatooine so it's hard to get a real feel for anything after that short of a time, but I will say this. The graphics are flat out amazing, and the sounds are just absolutely spot on! On the 54" HD it was like watching Star Wars on the big screen and being a part of it.

 

I can see why some people that are super die hard FPS gamers may think it is not up to par, but keep in mind this is simply a taste of the game, I'm sure once it is the full game there will be enough to make it a very enjoyable game to play. Is it something to rival the best FPS experience out there? probably not gonna do that, but if you're a Star Wars fan and want to play a game that is just beautiful to look at and most likely from the little taste I got...will be fun, then I think this will be worth it.

 

And lastly.....Back when I was a kid and wanted to play Star Wars, THIS is what I had to play right here...So quit yer' bitchin!

 

 

 

I'll try it again more tomorrow when I have a bit more time as well.

[jordie1892 681]

Well I could not wait. I had it downloading downstairs and while I was upstairs it finished and I heard the Star Wars music blaring from up here after it self started. So I went to it like a moth to a flame being the old school Star Wars fan that I am

 

First off I only played with it for about 20 mins. Enough to get through all the waves on the survival on Tatooine so it's hard to get a real feel for anything after that short of a time, but I will say this. The graphics are flat out amazing, and the sounds are just absolutely spot on! On the 54" HD it was like watching Star Wars on the big screen and being a part of it.

 

I can see why some people that are super die hard FPS gamers may think it is not up to par, but keep in mind this is simply a taste of the game, I'm sure once it is the full game there will be enough to make it a very enjoyable game to play. Is it something to rival the best FPS experience out there? probably not gonna do that, but if you're a Star Wars fan and want to play a game that is just beautiful to look at and most likely from the little taste I got...will be fun, then I think this will be worth it.

 

And lastly.....Back when I was a kid and wanted to play Star Wars, THIS is what I had to play right here...So quit yer' bitchin!

 

 

 

I'll try it again more tomorrow when I have a bit more time as well.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's enjoyed it. It's been a while since I've regularly played an fps game, it seems they're all the exact same boring modern/advanced setting at the moment. Battlefront may be a bit behind other FPS's gameplay wise but a change of scenery is more than welcome. I'm looking forward to playing some other game-modes on different maps.

[JsinOwl 644]

I remember playing that!!!

[Drifter 851]

Remember when you had to wait for that little white spot to blink on the At-At so you could actually take it down Jay? I use to love that game. Spent many hours sitting in front of the big screen 19" TV playing that lol

[JsinOwl 644]

Remember when you had to wait for that little white spot to blink on the At-At so you could actually take it down Jay? I use to love that game. Spent many hours sitting in front of the big screen 19" TV playing that lol

OMG yes, totally forgot about the weak spot, memories...

[Drifter 851]

I hadn't had a chance to get back and play again till last night. Tried to play and it said servers were down. Also said the beta was coming to a close. Is it over with now ??