Get set to battle Star Wars style

A long time ago, in this very galaxy, in fact, EA actually made some of the best games ever. Unfortunately, they lost their way over the years. However, of late, they seem to be trying again and their latest offering in the form of the much-awaited Star Wars Battlefront might be exactly what the gaming world needs right now.

The recently concluded beta was a massive success to say the least; DICE and EA have recreated what is shaping up to be quite an authentic Star Wars shooter experience, the likes of which I never thought we’d see again. Battlefront brings to life the struggle of the rebels against the might of the empire, quite literally, as it’s almost impossible to win one of the signature game modes; Walker Assault that recreates the Battle of Hoth, which as it stands is way too imbalanced in favour of the empire. However, this is what betas are for and hopefully, it gets addressed before launch.

Coming back to the important stuff, Battlefront’s gameplay is spot on from the pew of laser blasters to the iconic music cues for lightsaber wielding heroes as they force choke the enemy. The game looks drop dead gorgeous, making full use of the Frostbyte 3 engine as explosions are brought to life from crazy thermal imploders and what not.

In addition to Walker Assault, we got a taste of Drop Zone, which had both sides fighting for control over randomly dropped pods over a five-minute game. The map was littered with dozens of paths and vantage points, giving players immense freedom in how they played; however, a lot of folks started spamming blaster pistols that were powerful, fast and had a scope for longer range encounters — something that definitely needs addressing. The third mode available as the coop mission where you take on AI enemies with a buddy or alone, a sort of wave defence that you can play at various difficulty settings, given more maps in the final release I see this being an immensely popular mode for those hungry to get their name on the leaderboards.

The final game will come with eight multiplayer modes ranging from eight to 40 players with a wide variety of gameplay styles and features. Star Wars Battlefront may not be the most in depth shooter on the market, however, it has that crazy fun spark we have been missing for quite a while — that something special that Call of Duty or Battlefield just don’t offer. Trust me, this is the shooter you are looking for.