Star Wars Battlefront EA Reboot: Reviews and Thoughts

[TheGangstarTY]

Hello all

I finally got my hands on Star Wars Battlefront EA Reboot today, along with lots of others whom were still in European countries awaiting the release until today, 19th November 2015. I've played it long and hard today so I can go straight ahead with my review.
I decided to open this up since people were posting their ideas in different threads, but there was no main thread to say what you liked about the game. I'll leave people's thoughts/reviews that have already been posted at the end of this massive piece of text.
First off, I want to say that I hope those of you who decided to buy the game before or on release have had a good time playing it and feel like at least a little bit of your money went to something you liked about this game. I really do hope you haven't bought it and felt like you hate this with passion.

My Review:
So, release day comes so I decide to play it shortly before I head off to school. This was my first impression and experience. I got onto it, excited to see what EA had to offer, despite my hatred for their company. Knowing that I'd spent good money on this, I didn't even want to push myself towards disappointment. So without hesitation, I fired up my first game (the beginning tutorial). The tutorial was OK but I didn't find it all that impressive since I knew how to play due to the BETA. However, I'm almost certain it would be helpful for those whom didn't get the chance/didn't want to play the BETA. Once I'd completed that, I moved straight to what EA are all about. The online. So this morning (in the UK) the servers were pretty fine, which is surprising since my experience with FIFA and Battlefield were awful.
During my first online game, I got to try out Walker Assault on Sullust. I love the look of Sullest and really like Walker Assault. The first experience of this was absolutely lovely and at the time I had absolutely NO REGRETS on buying this "overpriced" game. I was tucked in and felt like it really was a Star Wars game, the immersity is great! I went through with no lag, no disrespectful players, nothing like that. It's probably the best experience you could have when playing a game you've awaited upon for 10 years. Absolutely fantastic!
However, the second game was when my first bug came along. Oh dear. EA. Always a bug upon launch, isn't there? Now before I mention, this is NOT a hardware problem, nor is it anything wrong with my software. My only thoughts on this is that my download may be a bit off with a file not downloaded properly or something. But nobody else seemed to have this issue which is weird. My sound would all shut off once I enter a second online map. All except the ambience which just made it look like a peaceful battle with explosions with no noise and bullets with no precision. Once I rebooted the game, I was happy again since it worked. However I had to reboot my game after ever match which was annoying.

Later when I had come back from school I went and booted up the game again to give it seconds, since despite the bug the game was still great. This time, perfect experience. In the end, that bug only popped up twice throughout which made me feel much more cheerful and immersed in the game. However, guess what? More issues. EA servers went down 3 times for me, all taking 10 minutes each exactly to come back online. Not sure if this was all regions or just the UK. Besides that, there was another bug that happened where the sound crackled for some weird reason. I had to reboot to fix.

The gameplay, absolutely nailed it all the way through, 100% enjoyment on that part. The graphics and sound also didn't disappoint me, but instead made the immensity too good to be true, without the sound issues that is. However, like most people, I completely and utterly am disappointed that EA have given us such little amount of content that I'll get bored within a week. Unless someone joins me that is.
I hope that EA rebalance some of the maps too. Maps that need rebalancing:
- Tatooine: Walker Assault = Empire almost always win.
- Endor: Walker Assault = Rebels win most of the time.
Other game modes like Supremacy seem to be great and have a fair chance at winning and relies utterly on the players rather than giving a side an advantage, like in Tatooine and Endor's Walker Assault. I haven't played all the game modes on all the maps yet though so I'm still unsure about that.

Single Player and Co-op seems great! I haven't played Co-op yet but Single Player had me entertained for a few hours. I enjoy the Battles best, they're the closest to Single Player Conquest from Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2 from Lucas Arts. The AI get harder like they should and an improvement that EA have made is the AI are actually Artificial Intelligence rather than Artificial Unintelligence.

Overall, the game was great, the immersity is successful but the bugs and lack of content should be dealt with.
7/10

I'd love to hear other people's opinions/thoughts/reviews on this, whether it's from someone else's observations (a YouTuber) or from your own perspective. Now awaiting the new Star Wars Movie from Disney

Thanks very much for taking your time to read this and I hope you all have a very great day!
- TheGangstarTY

What others have already said about Star Wars Battlefront EA Reboot (after release):

On the "SWBF EA REBOOT - Who's Buying It?". thread:
[spoiler]

Well, I went and grabbed myself a disk tonight, and I must say I quite like the game. Me and my brother played several rounds of survival already, and me being a noob on xBox (one) was able to get the hang of it quickly.

I really like the ice crystals on the walls of Hoth caves

I was able to just go and get the Deluxe edition tonight without preordering. Mainly because my town is small enough that a new game release doesn't really go huge and sell out like it did before I moved. So yeah, that's cool.

I haven't set up an origin/EA whatever account for multiplayer yet, but I doubt I will since I suspect I need xBox live anyways (which I am not paying for xD)

I had the PS4 bundle pre-ordered and I got it yesterday. The game is pretty amazing in my opinion, I know it's nothing similar to the old Battlefronts but it's 2015 almost 2016, it's time to move on.

My deluxe edition Darth Vader PS4 bundle came in the mail yesterday.
I think the game's really awesome, though I'm a bit disappointed by the small amount of singleplayer content. Though overall I've found the game to be very fun and well polished. 

I'm also loving the classic SW games the bundle comes with.

The maps are excellent. I love the speeder training mission through the forest. I haven't tried any online content yet cause i will prolly be destroyed and I'm trying to get all the stars in the training missions. It has 4 expansions for future content so I'm not too worried about the content right now with what they have.  Nothing like the old BFs but it is very fun to play.  I recommend it.

I have to second this. I've played all the single player content already xD..

It took me a few days to get through the original battlefront set of single player levels, which I think is something this new one can't really hold a candle to.

I'm parroting the above. I wrote a mini-review on Facebook:

Mini review of Star Wars Battlefront.

DICE have done a good job on recreating the Star Wars feel. It's a very competent shooter with some nice throwbacks to older Star Wars games. The biggest issue is the lack of content, especially the Single Player experience. The AI there is decent enough to get away with having more than just Training, Battles and Survival. The Multiplayer obviously has more modes and is quite fun (it's my first online shooter so I kind of suck compared to the other guys - or, let's put it this way, I was playing a stormtrooper for most of the matches, so that part is accurate lol) but again there is a lack of content. Some of the maps are largely the same as each other (Walker Assault and Supremacy share the same maps). Heroes are fun and on the PS4 starfighters are just as controllable as they were back in the original game. The token system is a nice idea for certain things but for others certain systems should be given in their stead. For instance, it doesn't really make sense to have a token that puts you into an AT-ST when it would be better if they had static AT-STs located at certain spawn points you could just hop in. People were ragging on the AT-ATs being AI controlled as well, but in all fairness that's probably for the best.

If you're looking for a continuation of the style from the first two games, I am afraid you'll be disappointed. It has quite a few callbacks, such as the ability to switch between first and third person (quite handily, you do not need to pause the game to do this now) and third person is handled really well.

All in all, Star Wars Battlefront is a competent shooter that is let down by the lack of content at launch. The Battle of Jakku will add two maps to the game and there will be four content packs you can get early if you got the seaosn pass. Setting those aside for the moment and judging the game at launch, I would give it a 7/10. It's a good start to a rebooted version of the franchise, but it clearly needed a bit more time in development.

I've played for two nights now and while there are a lot of positive aspects to the game, it isn't quite what I what hoping for.  The graphics and environmental detail are simply stunning, that much I liked.  But it's too reminiscent of the CounterStrike style of game - a bunch of highly skilled players running around pointlessly shooting each other, wrapped in Star Wars skins.  Aren't there enough games like this already?   How can a new player be competitive without an expensive gaming system, and the leisure time needed to accumulate credits for the best weapons? 

What this game is missing is the campy fun of SWBF1.  Where is the rancor?  Where are the pigs with axes?  Sadly, I haven't recognized even one name from the other SWBF1 and SWBF2 users.

True true...Also i hate when DICE talk about their game in a way like there was not Battlefront game before their game. 

(I saw some more, I'll add those later)
[/spoiler]

[hellish hellbird]

as you know i like to fly in star wars games so what ill be saying is mainly about the ships. the rebels have imo better ships because they can use shields to deflect laser fire whereas the imperials can only go faster lol. the hero ships though the slave 1 is horribly OP because not only does it have an ability to make it invulnerable to lock ons and missile it also has 2 separate missiles. basically you can use the dodge from the f1-f3 keys and then hit invulnerable to f1-f3. the falcon has shield capabilities but the other ability is the same as the ties which is to go fast and even that its slow lol ontop of it it feels clunky and way too big its much much easier to shoot the falcon than the slave 1 just because of the sheer size of it. the dodge capabilities of all fighters are almost all terrible except for f2 which i always use because the other 2 dont allow you to flip backwards and generally get you killed because they go IN A STRAIGHT LINE. in atat assault the ion missiles are a  because almost 24/7 you gotta avoid them which leaves you vulnerable to getting shot down by enemy fighters.

[Helios]

I love this game, i've played 16 hours or so since the release 2 days ago. It has such an authentic battle type feel. Although i prefer the good ole 2004 version, the 2015 version places 2nd on my favourite star wars associated game. So far my best KDR has been 37-5. I play Supremacy mostly.

[TheGangstarTY]

as you know i like to fly in star wars games so what ill be saying is mainly about the ships. the rebels have imo better ships because they can use shields to deflect laser fire whereas the imperials can only go faster lol. the hero ships though the slave 1 is horribly OP because not only does it have an ability to make it invulnerable to lock ons and missile it also has 2 separate missiles. basically you can use the dodge from the f1-f3 keys and then hit invulnerable to f1-f3. the falcon has shield capabilities but the other ability is the same as the ties which is to go fast and even that its slow lol ontop of it it feels clunky and way too big its much much easier to shoot the falcon than the slave 1 just because of the sheer size of it. the dodge capabilities of all fighters are almost all terrible except for f2 which i always use because the other 2 dont allow you to flip backwards and generally get you killed because they go IN A STRAIGHT LINE. in atat assault the ion missiles are a  because almost 24/7 you gotta avoid them which leaves you vulnerable to getting shot down by enemy fighters.

I haven't quite gotten into flying ships yet, mainly because I'm bad at flying them. I have to put my vehicle sensitivity to 10 to keep it steady, and using arrow keys are NOT good for ground sweeps due to how inaccurate it is. And It's not my DPI on my mouse either, if anything my mouse should be slow at turning.
Any ideas?
The flying in my view though is still fun. I love going into first person in the X-Wings. It feels so cool!

I love this game, i've played 16 hours or so since the release 2 days ago. It has such an authentic battle type feel. Although i prefer the good ole 2004 version, the 2015 version places 2nd on my favourite star wars associated game. So far my best KDR has been 37-5. I play Supremacy mostly.

Nice, glad you enjoy it! My best KDR has been 62-15 but my connection cut-off in game The actual recorded best KDR that I've got... I don't actually know Is all I know is I did my best in Walker Assault and my connection just ruined it

[hellish hellbird]

I haven't quite gotten into flying ships yet, mainly because I'm bad at flying them. I have to put my vehicle sensitivity to 10 to keep it steady, and using arrow keys are NOT good for ground sweeps due to how inaccurate it is. And It's not my DPI on my mouse either, if anything my mouse should be slow at turning.
Any ideas?
The flying in my view though is still fun. I love going into first person in the X-Wings. It feels so cool!

lower your mouse scrolling speed so you have better control of the ship. if being chased by an enemy fly as eratic as possible and slow down at random times when you take hard turns to throw them off. another good thing to do is go up really really high and fly straight at the ground at max speed and at the very last second f2 to flip around. most times people crash other times people dontknow where you are and you can get behind them and kill them

[Drunken_Master]

Got about 3 hours so far.  I like it mostly, but I got bored after a bit.  Still getting used to it. Got a little tired of how hectic it feels, but I'm clearly playing against people who have more time on the game than I do.  I get frustrated with having to push #'s to switch between weapons that I don't know if I have or not.  I guess I might be able to reprogram that.  Then, I found what I was soooooo much hoping for.  I played with the video settings and ... YES!!!  AWESOME!! 



This is making me dizzy!

FYI: hey I also got into BF command cli.  I hit alt tab, then alt tab again (I think) and got into an  awkward
console.  Twice.  not sure how to get out of it only to quit then re-open.  And I also had the audio problem happen once too. 

[TheGangstarTY]

lower your mouse scrolling speed so you have better control of the ship. if being chased by an enemy fly as eratic as possible and slow down at random times when you take hard turns to throw them off. another good thing to do is go up really really high and fly straight at the ground at max speed and at the very last second f2 to flip around. most times people crash other times people dontknow where you are and you can get behind them and kill them

Ok, cool! I'll have to try that later Sounds like you really know what you're doing when it comes to flying

Got about 3 hours so far.  I like it mostly, but I got bored after a bit.  Still getting used to it. Got a little tired of how hectic it feels, but I'm clearly playing against people who have more time on the game than I do.  I get frustrated with having to push #'s to switch between weapons that I don't know if I have or not.  I guess I might be able to reprogram that.  Then, I found what I was soooooo much hoping for.  I played with the video settings and ... YES!!!  AWESOME!! 



This is making me dizzy!

FYI: hey I also got into BF command cli.  I hit alt tab, then alt tab again (I think) and got into an  awkward
console.  Twice.  not sure how to get out of it only to quit then re-open.  And I also had the audio problem happen once too.

Nice setup Looks amazing!

The command console is activated and deactivated by pressing [`] on your keyboard. It gets annoying though because I accidently press it when trying to activate my left Star Card. The audio problem can be fixed (sort of) by updating you driver. I did this and it took 4 hours of sitting there playing without closing the program until the sound cut off. But the static that I heard has fixed now by the looks of things.

If not, you could try right clicking on your Star Wars Battlefront game on Origin and clicking "Repair Game." This should help fix some things, but it rarely fixes the audio bugs

[Ryanoceros]

Just bought the PS4 version. Loving it! the graphics are awesome. Having a little trouble adapting to the hand console compared to the keyboard for the computer version, but still it looks great and I'll get better at it. If I ever get around to getting my parallels for mac, and windows, I'll get the PC version... unless someone has already figured out how to make the PC version work on a MAC?
Anyway, happy camper here. Love the game!
BTW, nice to see you all again. Look forward to many great battles.
Ryanoceros

(Ryanoceros876 on PS4)

[Unit 33]

If I ever get around to getting my parallels for mac, and windows, I'll get the PC version... unless someone has already figured out how to make the PC version work on a MAC?

(Ryanoceros876 on PS4)

It has been achieved on a Mac Book Pro using BootCamp, but upgrading the graphics card might be necessary. I'm very tempted to test it out myself when I find the time.

[Ryanoceros]

It has been achieved on a Mac Book Pro using BootCamp, but upgrading the graphics card might be necessary. I'm very tempted to test it out myself when I find the time.

I have a Mac Book Pro, but I also have an iMac, with a AMD Radeon R9 M290X 2048 MB video card. Is that adequate?
That would be very cool to be able to play it on my iMac. I'd be one happy gamer.

[Unit 33]

I have a Mac Book Pro, but I also have an iMac, with a AMD Radeon R9 M290X 2048 MB video card. Is that adequate?
That would be very cool to be able to play it on my iMac. I'd be one happy gamer.

It's a matter of testing it out yourself I'm afraid, and that test would of course involve gambling on a PC copy of SWBF as well as buying a copy of windows...

[Ryanoceros]

It's a matter of testing it out yourself I'm afraid, and that test would of course involve gambling on a PC copy of SWBF as well as buying a copy of windows...

I still have an old copy of Window 7. I'd just need to get the latest version of Parallels to run it. Well, maybe I'll just wait until someone else tries it out first.

[Rayce]

I decided to write a more in-depth review:

Personally, I enjoy this game quite a lot. I don't think it's my *favorite* Star Wars game, but it's definitely way up there, at least in my top 5 (With Knights of the Old Republic at #1). I think the critics are too hard on this game, there's really a lot to love about it (other than the graphics). The game runs very smoothly, I haven't encountered even the slightest bit of lag, nor have I found any bugs. The game is very immersive, it feels like you're really in the Star Wars universe. The multiplayer is just pure epicness, lots of fast paced, strategic combat. Walker Assault is my favorite gamemode, because it has everything, but all the modes are a ton of fun. The customization is great, too, though I wish it could have been a bit deeper. Be aware that the game quite different from the original games, so if that's what you were expecting, you may be disappointed. Now let me break it down for ya:

Pros:
-The graphics and sound are incredible, of course.
-Very fun, fast-paced strategic gameplay.
-Huge epic multiplayer battles.
-Splitscreen.
-Challenges and Collectibles ensure replayability.
-You level up quickly.
-Singleplayer.
-Wide variety of weapons and equipment.
-Lots of diverse locations, even though there's only four planets!
-The first DLC is free.
-Vehicles are fun and easy to use.
-So are the Heroes and Villains.
-There's a mode where you can just go on a rampage as any Hero/Villain.
-Very few (if any) bugs.
-Can switch between first and third person view.

Cons:
-Small amount of Singleplayer content.
-Only 6 heroes.
-Some balance issues in multiplayer.
-Character customization not very deep.
-No Clone Wars.
-No Space Battles.
-Wish there was more vehicles.
-The coin-collecting aspect of Battles mode.

(Note: I originally wrote this for Amazon.)

[Ginev]

I said before that i wont buy it and for me will be only videos on youtube.However before release i watched alot of early gameplays from famous youtubers and for moment i change my mind to buy the game however when i saw that the auto aim is still in the game that thing simply ruined my day.So...i still wont buy it,but thats only my opinion.Overall its a fun game but only on ground.The air combat is boring for me to be honest.Slave 1 and the Falcon have wayyy too much health than its needed.Dice should had made them like a bonus for the battle instead they give them alot of health and now they are flying fortresses and you can play with them to the end of the game if you are skilled pilot leaving the rest of the team watching and watching for hero powerup.Also one youtuber mention easy way how to kill the Falcon with the Slave 1.

Like the youtuber said if you play with the falcon and against you is Slave 1 you simply activate your shield abbility and ram into Slave 1.He will die but you will survive and still you gonna get kill points which in my opinion ruins the epicness of the battles.I heard alot of people doing it...so yeah thats the main problem for me in the game

[Unit 33]

A lot of the Youtuber detractors and bad reviews seem to say the same things, focussing on the lack of an SP campaign or server browser (which were never advertised to be included).

The smaller bugs such as hero vehicles health etc are all things that will probably be patched... and I would suggest they're not reasons to avoid game.