Battlefront II - EA and DICE versus the Dark Side

Hmm let’s check Metacritic and see…

Yep that seems about right.

I’d actually argue 73 is very solid considering how many reviewers were hating the shit out of the loot crates such that they couldn’t talk about anything else, like, is the game actually good? And it is, if a bit grindy-to-level-20 but then welcome to any battlefield game.

Just launched a multiplayer game… fucking Naboo/Theed right off the bat. Also, MVP stats for that match, the 5 player “victory poses”? Every single one of them was a Wookie.

There you have it.

I also think hoth is pretty much unwinnable as the Empire. Of course then my team gets brutally raped, like 30+ kills for top 5 players on the other team and ours was max 12. aaaannd raped in the next round as well. and the next one. Guess I’m quitting that “server”, though I have no real choice. Man it is super bad tonight. Nobody playing objectives worth a damn. I guess because it’s release day and all the new people are out in force?

WAIT! I get it now! The only way you lose tickets as the empire on the first stage of Hoth is when the two walkers take damage! Oh my god! No wonder that part was so hard when the idiots on my team were not doing squat to grab the rocket launchers and/or use the speeder vehicle leg attacks! This also explains the near-impossibility of actually destroying two walkers, as a gameplay function. I kept wondering why anyone would bother attacking the walkers at all, it’s way too hard anyway, we’re never gonna accomplish that… just whittle down the enemy soldier tickets prior to next stage instead seemed like a more sensible strategy.

This explains sooo much.

Oh geez is this also true of the other “attack the giant vehicle to start” stages? I realized you can win by blowing the giant vehicles up early, but I had no idea the subsequent ticket count for the next stage was only set by the amount of vehicle damage. Holy crap. Mind blown.🤯

I thought I was going to get Versio for completing the campaign, but no - just the credits to unlock her. So why not put them towards a classic character instead hey?! So who to unlock first? :)

For anyone else who finished the campaign, who was Iden and Dell’s daughter I wonder? Is there a chance it’s Rey…? Possibly something they’ll build on in the 3 new missions next month?

I unlocked Vader so far at the loss of not opening 3-4 crates, I’ll never get to play him in the 20v20 mode as I never earn enough credits in a round, and if I do its usually by the last 2 minutes and he is taken… But I will use him as much as possible in Heroes vs Villains.

73 is pretty disappointing for a flagship game that is a sequel to one of their biggest hits based on the hottest license. They were shooting for 85, at least.

For comparison Battlefield 1 is an 89.

I’m enjoying it but I slogged all over the Endor moon and didn’t get to shoot one damn Ewok. And here I thought I was playing the bad guy side.

I joined up without the Elite bonuses and it’s been great so far. Really love the starship combat too. I don’t earn enough points for the big heroes though.

I shot at some where the level first starts. They’re really high up in the cliffs and trees looking down at you. But when I tried shooting them, they backed off.

Please tell me you can at least bag some Gungans…

Campaign occurs during/after the events of Return of the Jedi, so no Gungans, I wouldn’t think.

Gungans are still around then aren’t they? There is a campaign mission on Naboo, and Gungans are mentioned but yeah, none to be seen there…

And even if they were, by that time you’re predictably not playing on the side of the imperials so any baggings on the sly would likely be frowned upon.

I think you were right in the specifics of what you said. but Iger absolutely cares about bad press. I imagine the conversation was more like “People are writing bad things about our property because of what you are doing. So fucking stop it.”

Yeah, you need to read about Harlan Ellison and his first day working at Disney.

Yeah, you know you’ve gone too far when Disney is telling you to hit the brakes.

You’d think a mission where you’re ordered to massacre jar-jars would be an obvious winner. I can’t figure out why none of these games have done it yet. Full-on voiced, “Meesa sorry, pleesa don’ta kill meesa wife and childrens!” Then you set their house on fire and shoot them when they run out.

In a similar vein, I would welcome a Wolfenstein-style alternate history Star Wars game where you kill Jake Lloyd as a child. Like, he’s talking to that floating slave-master guy all with his stupid bowl haircut and you walk up behind him and push him into a kiln and shut the hatch. And then everybody’s upset and you’re all like A) he was just a slave, here’s 1200 galactic credits so you can fuck right off and B) he was gonna turn into a sith lord, you’ll thank me in 15 years!

Really, child murder as a gameplay mechanic is fresh and new and I think people would really be revitalized by more games including that.

PC gamer review 63/100:

Logged in this morning and didn’t get a daily crate. How does that work? Based on their time, not mine or something?

I’m terrible at this, I guess. 12 hours of Galactic Assault and I’ve managed enough points to get out a hero once. And then Yoda got one shot in the face by a vanguard shotgun-thingy.

Not really that fun. At least it’s pretty.

Whyyy doesn’t this forum have a like button, it is a crime, a capital crime I tell you!

The gameplay in Battlefront is highly HIGHLY asymmetric. I think that is what people are reacting to when they “feel” it is pay to win and everyone has better cards than they do. This is kinda by design, the people getting tons of kills are all whoring the heroes and upgrade classes. And vehicles! I saw a guy get like 50 kills on Hoth just by carefully running an at-st around just outside the two hangar bay capture points. Jedi is a tank and will easily, easily take out 2-3 people as long as you get close enough. A whole lot more if you are careful, know the abilities of your hero and use them right. Ditto for the bruiser and rocket classes.

Do you really want to play a Star Wars game where Darth Vader is a pushover? Or where an at-at or at-st is not something to be feared?

I think what people see as pay2win and unfairness is in fact, one of the most asymmetric multiplayer games I’ve ever played. Honestly I would not put Evolve far under this in terms of wildly disparate power levels built into the game, and that is one giant monster versus 4 hunters.