Star Wars Battlefront: Battlefield 4 re-skin, or stunning EA reboot?

Star Wars Battlefront is more than just a simple Battlefield 4 mod

HAVING played Star Wars Battlefront multiplayer on PC in 20v20 matches for the Galactic Empire, I can now look to judge whether This is indeed a brilliant reboot or just a simple Battlefield 4 re-skin.

 

My game started with the class system setup. There were four different guns on offer, all with different ranges, fire rate and damage stats. There were also additional special ability options such as the jet pack or shield.

The battle started on the side of a mountain on Hoth. The planet looks marvellous and was reminiscent of The Empire Strikes Back. I was easily able to switch between 3rd person and 1st person mode, deciding that 1st was the best for me personally.

Once we managed to get onto the main battlefield, the scale of the map and the trench warfare fighting felt realistic and challenging.

Our main goal was to eliminate the team and stop their relay beacons. We pushed through taking out the rebels as we went.

The controllers were great, although this particular game will probably be better on PC than console as the boost you get with using a mouse when shooting faraway targets is impressive.

 

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At one point, six of us pushed into a base carved inside the side of the mountain to stop a beacon. Just like in the film. This was the best part of the game. Not only did the gameplay switch from long distance shooting to a closer up corridor shooter reminiscent of Call Of Duty, but the feeling of exploring with my teammates felt like it mimicked exactly how the Stormtroopers must have felt on Hoth.

This is mainly due to no-one playing this before and will lose that magic a few months after release but that first moment of wonder was great, exploring snowy corridors and shooting rebel guards.

The transition between the base and the battlefield is when the sound excels. There is a clear difference in the echoing the shots make along with the sound of X-Wings and TIE fighters flying over when inside or out.

Back on the Battlefield there are special bonuses scattered throughout the map. These enable you to control, for the Galactic Empire, TIE Fighters, AT-AT and AT-ST. It was with the AT-AT that I racked up most of my kills. I could easily wipe out large groups of rebels with the heavy lasers and some sort of mass bombing gun.

I eliminated ten players that were guarding a beacon using their shield abilities. Their annihilation allowed my team to jump over the trenches and attack.

Controlling the AT-ST is faster but not as powerful. Every time I controlled this I was taken out quite quickly due to my reckless approach.

Players do have a fair amount of health and I found it took a fair few shots to take them down. Longer if they use the shield ability, which I was doing frequently. Guns are not reloaded but instead need to be cooled down, so your finger doesn't need to be near the reload button the whole time.

Overall, the game is quite simply stunning. I have played all of the big games at gamescom this year and some great indie titles. This was the best game I played.

This is not a quickly mocked up licensed game. A clear amount of time and love has been put into it and the Alpha build shows. I doubt that this game will be the same as Battlefield Hardline and I think it could quickly crush our expectations.