So, this week saw the release of one of 2017’s most anticipated game releases from Electronic Arts and DICE in Star Wars: Battlefront II. Overall the game is fun and entertaining. But, before you take that small bit of praise and go, let’s remember that this game is an Electronic Arts game and in recent years have been known to make their customers pay out the booty for content. So yes, in short, it is fun but I’m going to go over a few things both positive and not-so-positive and let you decide if it’s worth it or not.

Campaign

Basically I had no problems with the story mode. It was its own movie. It helps give people a visual as it bridges some of the gap between episodes six and seven from the movies. The only real issue I had(which wasn’t really an issue) was that it had to end. And for those of us that have finished it, that epilogue though?! Without providing many spoilers I’ll say that I would love to continue the story arc.

I apologize if I started to go on a tangent but like I said, the campaign is great. Action packed, drama(not in the cheesy lame way either), visually stunning to be sure. No, I would not buy the game just for the story but I am glad that I had the chance to play through it. Playing as a badass heroine was great. The campaign generally takes 5-7 hours to complete depending on your playstyle. So, if you wanna dedicate a day to discover the exciting world of Star Wars from a different view then more power to you!

Campaign score: 8.7

Multiplayer

Okay…so here are where the issues start appearing out of hyperspace. Again, visually, the game is amazing. gameplay is fun and exciting but you’re limited on the amount of things you get to do. We are granted the ‘Starfighter Assault’ mode which is pretty much the space battles we wanted from the 2015 release but didn’t get. Also, you’re able to play splitscreen which is fantastic, but(of course there’s a ‘but’) it’s limited to two game modes and you can’t do space battles in splitscreen which was disappointing. As far as the main multiplayer mode ‘Galactic Assault’ goes it’s fun to have forty players running around. Chaotic but fun.

This next one isn’t an issue so much as just informational: The new version of ‘Heroes vs. Villain’ is exciting but not as large a scale as the 2005 version of the game. It’s smaller but the action never stops so prepare yourself and “May the force be with you”.

There are a couple of other smaller modes you can choose as well: ‘Strike’-where two 8-man teams compete in objective-based scenarios, and ‘Blast’-which is faster paced, close quarters combat for up to twenty players.

Honestly, I enjoy playing the game but I was expecting much more from this release. They need to add more for splitscreen but hey, I’ll settle for some old-school ‘Galactic Conquest’. If you don’t know what that is it’s probably because you didn’t play the 2005 version of the game where players could move their own fleet from planet to planet and battle for control of the galaxy. It was the ultimate game mode in Battlefront; space battles, ground battles, pretty much everything you could want while trying to take over the galaxy.

Multiplayer score: 7

Arcade

Simply put, ‘Arcade’ offers splitscreen or solo gameplay. You are given the choices of preset battle scenarios or custom games which, again, you are extremely limited to. The amount of changeable options are great, just add more maps, more modes and space battles and you’ll have yourself a grade ‘A’ game mode.

Arcade score: 6.7

Miscellaneous

The leveling system is a little confusing for people just getting into it but provides similar elements to Battlefield in purchasing crates for in-game credits which include ‘Star Cards’ which can be used to upgrade your trooper classes and heroes as well as your Starfighters. You are able to upgrade each class individually as well as your overall rank.

 

Here we are, the final judgement. whether you think it’s harsh or not is up to you. Again, I like the game but I feel we as the gaming community expected much more from this launch. Especially after hoping that EA had “heard” the outcry of the fans to quit dooping us. But let’s hope there are some updates in the works that may alleviate some of our throbbing headaches due to anger buildup.

Final score: 7.2