Hearing that Star Wars Battlefront would have an open beta this past weekend produced the same effect of stomach butterflies as seeing the object of your affections. All the trailers and pictures promised such amazing graphics, and DICE are making this, so it has to be good! I’ve enjoyed a vast array of their games, so, yes please, beta me in!
And the graphics were amazing. There are just no words to describe how great this game looks. But not only how well it looks, but how well it sounds! Star Wars games have, remarkably, always been very well cared for, from the assets to the sounds to the history, and in this age of Disney owning the property, I’m happy to see that the attention to the SW detail has not dropped.
But that is all. I do not know what EA were hoping to accomplish with this Beta event, but all it did was just turn me a little cold to it. Here is why:
1) No single mode. Aside from a wave after wave of enemies with the point being, how long can you last, there is no other single player. This will not be just for the beta apparently, as SWB is set to be a heavily online game. No campaign mode for you that have a spotty internet connection, or simply want to take it slow and enjoy a story. As if SW does not have the capability to tell a story…
2) What am I doing here? I do not mean the role-play of it, I mean, me, myself, why am I playing? What is the end achievement for this game? You unlock everything in 2 or 3 hours and then there is nothing showing as especially “hidden” for the beta like some maps are. One is immediately shown that some maps and modes are hidden for the beta, but the character progression, the weapon and skill unlocks are all there and seemingly completely available. Add to this the rumours that further skills and gear will be a paid-for DLC and I’m already feeling hostile
3) Even while levelling up, the content of the fights were limited. Run, shoot, throw a grenade, and pray that the RNG Gods would be good to you to give you a nice powerup. Instead of getting a missile launcher in a game lacking any vehicles whatsoever… There is no variation, the weapons are basically identical (you choose them based on faster shoot rate, but lower damage, so same DPS, ending up in matches that all have the fastest shooting gun as it offers the best chance of shots landing) the skills are just too few and you are just a simple mindless soldier. This may be a design choice to show you how actual wars might be, but is this desirable in a game? DICE have the experience to give us better progression, but did not do so in this game. I have no explanation, but right now every gamer feels exactly the same as anyone else.
4) Spawn point hell. There are no sides, there are no unlockable spawn points. In one mode of the game you are capturing a landed pod. This can land anywhere on the map, so when it lands near one corner, and you are spawned on the other corner, you have to traverse the entire diagonal of the map to get to the action. Fun! Or how about when in Hoth you spawn inside the Rebel base? Only you are not a rebel, but an imperial and you can just shoot the face of everyone else bunkered in the base from behind! Fun! Only not for the ones being shot from behind!
5) Vehicles are a random power up. There is no place that they spawn consistently, and anyone can find anything at any time, but noone know where to go to find it. So if you want to fly to the skies instead of playing a stormtrooper you cannot (on average) consistently do that. You have to run around the map ignoring stuff going on (like other objectives) while looking for that one powerup that will allow you to call for reinforcements which will pop you up in the sky. Be aware though that from the moment you press the button, until the moment you are in the sky, someone can shoot you and you loose the power up. Also, while you are flying for the first few four or five seconds, you have no control over your flight, so an enemy player CAN and WILL shoot you, if they get the chance, and you die and you loose the ability. Fun!
6) Being Darth Vader is fun. So is being Luke. Unless you spawn badly and it happens to be around 5 or so people, then they ALL target you and you die horribly. A hero this is not. These heroes also lack in abilities because AGAIN they are limited in their abilities to just three. I assume this is to facilitate the controller of the consoles, or I DO NOT CARE WHY, the end result is that the heroes just do three things, and they could be so much more!
7) No squad mechanics of whatever type. Talk about an online focused game that has no consideration for squad play…
SWB Beta shows us a beautiful game, a greatly sounding game, but one with no substance or future. I hope it’s only because it is the Beta!