A Preview of 'Star Wars: Battlefront II'

Written by Zeke Perez Jr.

In a galaxy far, far away…but not so far in the future! Just four weeks from today, we can hop into the expansive universe that is Star Wars: Battlefront II. The game releases on November 17th for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The follow-up to the 2015 game, Battlefront II looks to be a more well-rounded and complete game, featuring new modes and gameplay. Here are some of my impressions, both good and not so good, after trying out the beta.
 
Single-Player Campaign
The biggest addition to the game is the Campaign Mode, something that many felt Star Wars: Battlefront was sorely missing. Trailers for the single-player story mode look incredible. Visuals, cut scenes, and voice acting are all top-notch. The story itself looks really good too. You play as Iden Versio, a leader of an Imperial special forces unit called the Inferno Squad. From the looks of it, the in-game story is crafted to be a nice addition to existing Star Wars lore. A tie-in novel, titled Inferno Squad, was released in July. The novel picks up immediately after the events of Rogue One, so if the Campaign Mode story mirrors the book, you can expect to play in that era of the Star Wars universe.
 
Game Modes  
Aside from the single-player campaign, not much is new as far as game modes go. Strike, Blast, Starfighter Assault, Galactic Assault, Heroes vs. Villains, and Arcade Mode fill out the list of multiplayer modes available. That being said, multiplayer wasn’t really the problem with Battlefront. While they could get stale over time, Battlefront II has added new maps and characters, as well as new systems for playing, which should keep things fresh.

Character Classes
Another key addition is that of character classes. Rather than hopping into the online-multiplayer world as an all-purpose character, you now choose which class you want to be in before the match starts (and you can switch between classes before respawning throughout the match). Assault, heavy, officers, and specialists are all up for grabs, each with their own styles, weapons, and upgrades. I found myself drifting towards heavy and assault, but I enjoyed my time playing as each. This move really adds variety to the experience, especially as you get sucked into playing a stretch of back-to-back games.
 
Heroes, Villains, and Vehicles
Heroes, villains, vehicles, and other power-ups are now more fairly allocated during gameplay. In Battlefront you could take control of a hero or a ship by finding and activating tokens throughout the map. In Battlefront II, you earn points for kills, assists, and other objectives, and you redeem those in-match points to respawn as a hero or villain, or to take control of a vehicle. I found this to be a much more effective way of divvying up the really good perks. 

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Visuals and Other Intangibles
As always, the game looks stunning. The maps, characters, ships, and surroundings are detailed and well-crafted. This is one game series that is as visually stunning in play through as it is in any cut scenes or trailers. It’s still a shooter that feels smooth to play, too.
 
Crates, Star Cards, and Microtransactions  
The biggest concern I had about the Battlefront II beta was the implementation of crates and in-game currency. As soon as I began playing, I noticed I had a few unopened crates. Each came with three items, which could include Star Cards (player and ship development items), weapons, emotes, celebrations, and other items to upgrade your characters.
 
As mentioned, I had a few starter packs, and I noticed there were daily crates, crates earned through performance and use of specific characters or modes, and crates available for purchase. For the beta, all purchases were made with currency earned in-game, but knowing EA and some of its freemium features in other games, I worried that real cash would become a factor upon release. Fortunately, I wasn’t alone. It seems many had this concern and EA has acknowledged the criticisms that came with the beta. We’ll see if they make any changes before the game rolls out.
 
Thoughts and Pre-Order Information
I truly enjoyed my time playing the Battlefront II beta and I’m very excited for the full game to release in a month. I think the pay-to-play aspect of it could be a bummer if it continues into the full release, but I hope it won’t hamper things too much. The story in Campaign Mode looks immersive and well-written and the mode itself should fill the void that existed in the first game. All in all, if you love Star Wars, it should be a blast!
 
If you’re interested in checking out Star Wars: Battlefront II, pre-ordering will get you The Last Jedi Heroes Pack, which comes with Kylo Ren and Rey outfits, access to hero and starfighter Star Cards, and instant access to The Last Jedi Millennium Falcon. You can choose between the Standard and Deluxe Edition, with the latter coming with four character class upgrade packs and the aforementioned bonuses without pre-ordering. Both editions release for all systems on November 17th. Just four weeks to go! May the Force be with you. 

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