Star Wars: Battlefront 2
LACKING IN THE MIDICHLORIANS DEPARTMENT... $79 | PC, PS4, XO | www.ea.com
IF THE CAMPAIGN’S story were better and the progression system not so irritating, we might have really liked Battlefront 2. Battle Points are earned and spent midmatch to spawn as X-wings, AT-STs, jump troopers, wookiees and all sorts of other Star Wars combatants, including heroes and villains like Yoda, Rey and Kylo Ren. Your primary goal in any multiplayer mode is not your team’s objective, it’s earning those points so you can do some real damage.
Most of your time will be spent as a regular trooper, though, and the basic shooting is really more fun in the campaign, where the focus is all on spectacle (because it definitely wasn’t on the story). There, most enemies are weak enough to kill in one headshot, while in multiplayer, shields can take a beating, making most kills feel incidental. And the map design, though beautiful, can make for some dull battles. In the confined spaces, most maps eventually push both teams into a room to defend, such as the Mos Eisley Cantina — it’s a lot of reckless charges and grenade spamming.
The worst thing about the Battle Points grind is that everyone wants to spawn as Rey, or in Poe Dameron’s X-Wing, so everyone prioritises earning points over teamwork. DICE makes an effort to solve this: when playing near your squadmates, you earn you double Battle Points. There are Credits, a non-cash currency you earn by playing matches and achieving milestones. Credits can unlock loot boxes which contain randomised awards, including Star Cards — a largely dull way to upgrade your classes, ships, ground vehicles and heroes.
Outside all that progression nonsense, the 4–5hr campaign is a pretty good time. Its snappy levels run through all the best Star Wars moments: piloting TIE fighters, exchanging blaster fire down too-white corridors, force pushing Stormtroopers... The dialogue can be funny and clever, but the larger story is erratic. Plus, there’s little opportunity for exploring those beautiful locations. There’s also a singleplayer Arcade mode, and Heroes vs Villains, which is a mess of superpowers but fun enough.