As the Star Wars Battlefront Beta comes to a close tomorrow, I have to say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing it over the weekend. So here are my thoughts to the beta and what needs to be improved in time for the full release next month.
Star Wars Battlefront offers a first and third-person perspective, but at times it often felt pushed towards 3rd person due to the viewpoint of each player. For instance, you may be hidden behind a rock in first person view where you think you are safe, only to find that in the third-person camera your arm is sticking out of cover. It’s a common thing that happens when you combine two viewpoints to choose from, which is why I think Battlefront is better suited as a third person title.
In terms of maps, they Walker Assault felt very biased towards the Imperial, as destroying the walkers takes a long time and you’ll need team mates who are capable of playing and taking them down using the cables to wrap around them. Instead, most of my team mates seemed to kamikaze into them, blowing themselves up and doing very little damage. Another issue I had with the two maps offered were spawn points. They seem very randomised as times and sometimes I was spawning directly into enemy fire without doing a partner spawn. Which brings me onto another point about partner spawning. I get that Battlefield has squad spawns, but partner spawns in Battlefront more often than not lead to an instant death. There’s rarely a moment in Battlefront where you’re not in firefight with someone.
One of the most visible bugs in the game though has to be animations, from Darth Vader’s glitch cape to dead bodies floating in mid-air. Okay, it is a beta, but with only a month to go until release almost, a lot of polishing needs to be completed. It wouldn’t surprise me if there is a slight delay in the release date just to get this right, which may disappoint a lot of fans, especially with Christmas fast approaching.
In terms of balancing, the game in terms of guns felt fairly balanced, although the sniper rifle felt a tad bit overpowered when you can shoot someone in the leg and then instantly switch back to your blast rifle and finish them off in one hit. It’s a classical two-piece moment and I think it makes the sniper rifle rather unrewarding if you’re going for headshots, as most people will just use this method of killing you instead. The shield power-up also needs a longer cool-down time and the duration could also be shortened, as players can spawn, put it on and make it to the middle of the map without it wearing off, which obviously makes mowing down enemies a lot easier.
These are just a few of the issues I’ve encountered, as there are many more, but I consider these to be the main things to address before launch. Star Wars Battlefront has a great sense of nostalgia about it and I’m sure many of you will join me in looking forward to its release next month on November 17th.