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Emoknights's avatar
Emoknights
5 years ago

I'm grateful for Battlefront II, however...

Let me start with this: I'm a big Star Wars fan. I was brought up on the VHS tapes of the OT movies, and I loved the original STAR WARS: Battlefront and STAR WARS: Battlefront 2 games. They were amazingly fun, I felt like I could replay them endlessly, and they felt like a good union between Star Wars and a massive multiplayer shooter. Needless to say, I was disappointed with the first STAR WARS: Battlefront back in 2015. From it lacking a single player campaign (which was a precedent set by both previous games) to just a lack of content in general, and I was foolish enough at the time to pay full price for the game and the DLC. To the game's credit, the one aspect I feel like they did get right was that the visual aspects were beautiful and it made the game feel more immersive. The game did get better as time went on, but it had still left a sour taste in my mouth with it's bad first impression. Which brings me to Battlefront II.

I did not want to pre-order BF2 when it was announced; even though I love everything Star Wars, I was very hesitant after BF1 to pre-order the second. I definitely made the right call and felt vindicated when the news broke about EA's ridiculous greed and disregard for their player base with endless micro-transactions and a progression system tied to loot-boxes, all in the name of feeling "a sense of pride and accomplishment". I hated the idea that the game was an afterthought and that the only focus was on making the most amount of money they could. It pained me to miss out on a new Star Wars game, but I could not in good conscience buy the game at launch with the state it was in.

As time when on, I kept an eye on things and looked into news about the game. It seemed like they were making attempts to better the game and change into something resembling a "good" game. With Episode IX coming out this last year, they put the game on a great sale and I paid something like $10, and for $10 it was definitely worth it. I poured lots of hours into the game and was very much enjoying it. I was happy that I had a new Star Wars game to play and that the multiplayer content was decent (I never played the single player because the story just didn't interest me). However, I felt like anyone who paid more than $10 for this game got robbed, because for being a AAA game with a $60 price tag, STAR WARS: Battlefront II is not even close to that level of quality. With the bad server connections and game latency, to the embarrassing number of bugs that plague this game, not to mention the look and feel of the game is almost opposite of it's predecessor. The first game felt smooth and cinematic. This game plays like and looks like any other multiplayer shooter, it just has a Star Wars skin. When game does have cinematic scenes, they do look good, but it does little to help the game's poor overall quality.

If the game was continuing to receive developer support, my attitude and opinion would be different, but as it is, I cannot play this game anymore. The in-game community is toxic -- plain and simple. And I will confess that I have succumbed to the toxicity myself purely out of frustration with this game's lack of intuitive gameplay (namely saber combat in HvV). The bugs that riddle this game render it almost unplayable as every bug is unpredictable and some are game breaking to the point that all you can do is leave the match you're playing. Or worse, the bugs seem to effect you but not other players. Matches of Supremacy can be completely ruined by 2 or 3 decent players cheesing the entire time or the game can be ruined by spawn camping and both of those are even worse in HvV. Hackers can cheat with impunity because the game isn't receiving support anymore and if there is a reporting system it's either way more difficult than it should be to find, or it's so convoluted that people don't bother filing a report. What's the point if nothing will be done about it?

I'm grateful that I got a chance to play this game and that I was fortunate enough to join at a time when the game was starting to hit a good stride. It was worth waiting for and as a Star Wars fan I was pleased to play it. However, any time I play this game now, I don't enjoy it. It's not fun anymore, it's just frustrating. It's far, far away from even being considered a decent game now. I think making the game available on Steam (along with all the other EA titles) was EA's last effort at injecting some life in the game, but it's too little too late. 

The game has run it's course for me, and the only thing I can do at this point is to hope for a 3rd game (a good one preferably).

5 Replies

  • Commander_Ney0's avatar
    Commander_Ney0
    5 years ago

    I have basically had your situation. This game had so much potential. But EA cruelly ended support while the game had so much to add on(Ahsoka, something that wasn’t the Ewok, more Starfighter stuff), and left the game broken with ridiculous meta and bugs(Death Troopers, Claw Rush, Darth Vader, [somehow] helicopter Grievous, Anakin’s Retribution DR, and Boba Fett being concussed by his own rocket[thanks to @RogueZeroRendar for exposing that]). Even though I love this game, it’s hard to, with horrible testing and other problems. 

  • soapy_catuses's avatar
    soapy_catuses
    5 years ago

    I was always the guy who had has honor and not uses ultra cheap tactics. Yes gg is a annoyance but I am more worried about balancing and the community being either 4 max stacks or new players who abuse bugs or something cheap like that 

  • Wickett42's avatar
    Wickett42
    5 years ago
    @Commander_Ney0 The Ewoks were absolutely necessary.

    Plus I can't help but notice, that you stated you really wanted a campaign and basically ripped the BF 2015 for not having one but as soon as BF2 came out with a campaign you never played it cause it didn't interest you. I'm not denying the game is a crapfest sometimes but I'm getting a little tired of people translating personal dislikes to poor objective quality. This game isn't as bed as you make it out to be and something tells me you didn't spend the time to get better at the game. Either way, I understand where you're coming from and your post is very well worded but maybe just take a break from it for awhile.
  • Emoknights's avatar
    Emoknights
    5 years ago

    @Wickett42 I am aware that my comment about having a single player campaign is contradictory. I should expressed myself more clearly. I expected BF 2015 to have a single player campaign and when I learned that it didn't I was disappointed. Knowing that EA & DICE made that gaff in the first game, I expected them to make one for BF 2. When I heard they had and they announced the campaign story, my reaction was "Meh, that seems alright. I might play it at least to say I've completed it". I did start it, at least, however I stopped playing it shortly after starting because I found it to be really boring. Perhaps I will pick up where I left off sometime and finish the campaign, I just wasn't interested in the campaign they released.

    I will also admit that my description of the game is a dismal one because I have experienced games that felt fair and competitive. The best matches are the ones that feel fair and competitive, win or lose. @Commander_Ney0 said it best in that this game had so much potential. When that potential shines in a match, be it Supremacy or HvV, this game is amazing and it has absolutely come a long way since it's launch days (I only know what I have seen from various YouTubers that have described their launch experiences). Like I said, I am grateful for this game because it does appeal to that Star Wars fan in me who likes playing these massive multiplayer games. However, my personal game experience is that I don't enjoy playing it anymore for the reasons I provided. My criticisms may not be objective towards the game and they may exaggerate the (depreciating) quality of the game (because I don't think we disagree on the current quality being less than optimal), I simply wanted to post about my experience of playing the game.

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