8/10

Reviewed on PC

For a long time, in a galaxy not so far away, Star Wars games that were developed and published under LucasArts Games proved to be the golden age of Star Wars games. More specifically, the games produced in the 2000s.

This was the case for the shooter Star Wars Battlefront 2 from 2005, a game that continues to prove itself to be the gold standard for excellence Battlefront games due to its amazing amount of quality content and gameplay. This classic shows off simple but fun ways to customize your experience in the vast amount of game modes available, innovates the concept of engaging space combat gameplay and so much more.

Have you ever wanted to play out some of the major battles and other events leading up to the infamous Order 66?

Want to hear a story told through a unique perspective?

Then this is a story you will enjoy playing through.

The game draws players in, taking them through some of the major battles in the Star Wars universe and your experiences in these battles are expertly narrated by a clone trooper veteran from the 501st Legion. Some major highlights players will get to experience in the story include a space battle over the Republic planet of Coruscant based on Star Wars movie Revenge of the Sith, eliminating all the Jedi at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and a land battle on the Rebel Alliance planet of Hoth, from the Star Wars movie Empire Strikes Back.

While it is not the most exciting story, due to its formulaic and predictable layout, it is still a better story over Electronic Art’s (EA) Battlefront 2, especially when it came to the marketing behind the stories.

In EA’s Battlefront 2, it promised gamers that they could play out the story’s events from the perspective of the Empire as an elite imperial commander from an imperial special forces squad known as Inferno Squad. In the actual game however, you only got to experience this for less than half the game.

With LucasArt Games’s, Battlefront 2 made its campaign marketing clear that gamers would experience the downfall of the Republic and the rise of the Galactic Empire from the events leading up to Order 66; the game stuck with this selling point for its story, which gave the story a bigger payoff and more reason to play through it.

Gameplay and Content

When it comes to gameplay and content, LucasArt Games’ Battlefront 2 remains unbeatable even though it is a much older game and lacking certain technical capabilities like EA’s version. One of the biggest features that gave the classic Battlefront 2 a major advantage over other shooters in the market was its Galactic Conquest mode.

This mode from the 2005 Battlefront 2 was so innovative and an overall amazing feature because it incorporates real-time strategy with some unique extras to enhance the experience. The new game mode expertly blends it with the core gameplay that the classic Battlefront 2 is so well-known for.

What also made the gameplay from Battlefront 2 such an amazing experience was the easy customization and the various game modes (Hunt, Conquest, Space and Hero Assault, etc.) to be played out. Additionally, the character and vehicle movements are way looser and more fluid than EA’s Battlefront 2, especially when it comes to how characters engage in lightsaber combat. In EA’s version, the lightsaber combat is almost cinematic in terms of graphics and audio design, but the movement can be stiff and even a little restricting at times which can be frustrating if you are trying to fight back or deliver attacks on your opponent.

Naturally, it would not be Star Wars without some great space combat gameplay and the classic Battlefront 2 perfectly captures the formula for this type of gameplay.

While EA also did a great job at creating some space combat gameplay, there is still much to be desired. EA’s Battlefront 2 incorporated some new features and game modes that make it better than the classic Battlefront 2, such as detailed character and class customization and certain game modes like supremacy.

In the end however, it still falls short of what LucasArts Games was able to accomplish with their Battlefront 2 game.

Bottomline

While the classic Battlefront 2 may not have aged as well as some people would expect due to a lack in graphics quality and some modern technical capabilities; what it lacks is made up for in its above average story, it keeps its seat as being the best Battlefront game and remains as the gold standard for how to make great Battlefront games.

Although EA’s Battlefront 2 has improved a lot since its initial release back in Nov. of 2017, it is once again another example of why it is so important to get your game right the first time instead of asking consumers to wait as the game is fixed through daily patches and updates.

Gamers need to make it clear to EA and other gaming companies that attempt to incorporate these shortcuts and other dangerous practices that consumers are not their beta testers. Therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their game is in good enough and in acceptable condition before you sell it to consumers.

In general, any company that wants to create another Battlefront game, should utilize LucasArt Games’ Battlefront 2 as a model for success, improving upon its foundations and not add in unnecessary microtransactions and other restrictions that greatly impact the player’s experience, like what EA did at first with their second Battlefront game.

If a company were to utilize the classic Battlefront 2 formula and the flashy graphics that accompany modern game, gamers could potentially get another genuinely great Battlefront game; a game with the potential to become the new gold standard for excellence for Battlefront games that could compete against other massive, successful shooter games like Halo Battlefield and Call of Duty.