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I ran across the frozen tundra eager to get to the relay. The ground shook underfoot as they got closer and closer, overhead I heard the squeal of the TIE fighters as they closed in for yet another attack run. My time was running out I jumped for the relay. It was too late. I was hit by an enemy I didn’t even see – the battle is over. The battle is lost.

This is just a small taster on what I experienced in my 20-some hours in the Battlefront BETA this weekend. But was it more ‘The Empire strikes back’ or ‘The Phantom Menace’?

First things first, this game is absolutely stunning looking. DICE have rightly been singing from the rooftops about their scanning technology, and it has paid off in spades! Everything in this game was scanned from the actual movie props, and this gives the game a level of authenticity (and photo realism) that is unrivalled. The game looks exactly as a Star Wars game should, AT-ATs are huge and throw up snow with every rumbling step, Snowspeeders are battle worn and glide across the level with the grace they deserve. TIE Fighters and X-Wings battle in the sky while Star Destroyers loom dangerously close!

It’s not only the props that look amazing, the set dressings and levels themselves are absolutely astounding in their detail and design. Hoth is, well Hoth, every stone looks solid and the snow actually glistens in the high sun. It all creates the sensation of being on an alien world and does so like it is nothing. The lighting engine is beautiful and allows you resolution-lovers out there to look beyond the drop on console and appreciate the beauty on show here. It really is stunning.

The battles are really intense in Star Wars: Battlefront.

On a technical level, everything was incredibly impressive! Running at 60fps (mostly) and at 900p on PS4 (720p Xbone) the game rarely struggles to throw everything at you and; at times, there is an amazing amount of things happening simultaneously, there are dogfights in the sky, large-scale foot battles with Snowspeeders zooming past, AT-STs laying down suppressing cover with the ominous march of the AT-ATs. I honestly encountered two drops in frame-rate, and these were short-lived and minimal. Finally, we have a game that looks truly next-gen and the future looks very bright indeed!

These technical achievements don’t end with the graphics. However, the sound is just as impressive! The music is well-timed, well used, and although there was an annoying music bug, it never grated as much as previous Star Wars titles have. This was down to it not being used too heavy-handed! Other sound effects were just as impressive. The game used Dolby Atmos technology and on my good headphones, it was an amazing experience. The engine sounds of engines came from the ships (not just everywhere) the blasters all sounded authentic. The AT-ATs footsteps resonated with the weight you’d expect while the light sabre sound filled me with terror! This game was a technical master class, even with a huge amount happening ever element of sound was audible, and it never became a symphony of noise. A full-bodied symphonic experience is the order of the day here.

I bet that it will be a never wrecking moment to face Darth Vader on the battlefield in Star Wars: Battlefront.

On a gameplay level, the game couldn’t hide its ‘Battlefield’ origins it played incredibly similar to its sister title, as impressive as it undoubtedly was, Walker Assault was a reskinned Rush mode, and Drop Zone was domination. The power-up system brought with it a little RNG and unpredictability; you never knew what you would get and while this was exciting, I can see hardcore shooter fans absolutely hating it as it removes any tactical play. Gameplay wise there is nothing really here to drag hardcore Battlefield players away from their modern shooter – the added Star Wars dressing is enough for the rest of us though, it adds a level of freshness and excitement I haven’t had since Battlefield 1942.

The CO-OP mode on Tatooine however, was good fun, and while I don’t think, it will successfully cancel out having no single player – it was a fun diversion for a few goes, even if it was too easy.

While this was a great BETA that successfully highlights the strengths of the game, it also highlighted a number of issues. Firstly, is the level of content the game will have; yes, this was a limited BETA but even so, I fear that it won’t have enough to make up for the lack of a single player game. While the game was fun, it lacked the depth of other shooters, and it reminded me of Titanfall in a way, and I only hope that the content is extremely generous to keep people playing.

The bigger issues were highlighted by Walker Assault mode. Primarily that it was incredibly skewed towards the Empire team making it incredibly easy for them to win, even without teamwork; also the timed nature of the map makes it almost an inevitability. The AT-ATs can take an ungodly amount of damage and because there were no heavy weapons in the BETA (except for a Rocket Launcher powerup) this issue was highlighted more than most. The level seemed almost unfair for the rebels – but it wasn’t impossible for them, if they played as a team…

…which didn’t happen very often. There was a tactic that would make it harder for the Empire to win, yet many rebels were more interested in getting kills than doing objectives, and this wasn’t their fault. The game did NOT make the objectives, particularly clear. My first 2-3 games were learning the map and just what I needed to do – this is an almost unforgivable issue, but time and experience negate it.

Good teamwork is the key to success in “Star Wars: Battlefront”.

Teamwork was made incredibly difficult many more design choices that hamper the games potential as a team game:

1. No voice chat in-game – making strategizing with teammates impossible and teamwork incredibly difficult.
2. The “revamp” of the squad mechanic, now you can only have one partner, which is nothing in 20 vs 20.
3. No side objectives – there is no reason for you to partner up, just go to the one objective (like everyone else) and die. Why not have some squads try to slow down the AT-ATs, or ground some TIE Fighters or hold the base – all at the same time?
4. Random spawn points, which make every life the same as you cannot forward plan your moves.
5. Random power-ups which again, makes forward planning difficult.
6. Scores at end of rounds are based on kills, not objectives – instantly putting more value on a kill.

It wouldn´t be Star Wars without awesome ship battles.

Overall, these design choices mean that there is literally no motivation to work as a team beyond winning the round – this is not the way it should be. Every mode should be unique and cater to a wide variety of skills; right now, Battlefront has Team Deathmatch with different settings and things happening in the background. For a player like me, who prefers to do objectives than padding my KD ratio this is a problem. Just take the fact that the majority of videos on the Internet are about getting “x amount of kills” highlights how deeply these issues change the dynamics of the game.

Overall though I really enjoyed my time on the BETA and am looking forward to the full release in a few weeks, there is a lot of fun to be had here, and I cannot wait to return to the original trilogy universe and get lost again.

It´s going to be a long wait for Star Wars: Battlefront. Nevertheless, until the 17th of November reaches us, may the force be with you!

***Disclaimer***
This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.

Chris Petticrew
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @Mr_Luvva_Luvva