Do you have fond memories of playing the 2005 version of Star Wars: Battlefront 2? Do you wish with every fiber of your being that it had official online servers again? Well then, good news: your wish just came true, somehow.
On both Steam and GOG, the PC version of the original Battlefront 2 has been updated with 64-player online multiplayer support and crossplay, so that you can battle or just front (if you’re not good at battling but want people to believe you are) with friends on either platform.
While Disney, the game’s current publisher, didn’t say precisely why it decided to do this, odds are good that it’s a promotional thing for Star Wars: Battlefront II, EA’s new-gen Battlefront game that’s coming out next month and having a beta this week. It’s a pretty neat promotional thing, though, given how much people adore the first Battlefront 2, which is regarded by some as the best multiplayer Star Wars ever.
Battlefront 2's return, however, has so far been less a Return of the Jedi triumph and more an Empire Strikes Back series of unfortunate events. As of now, most players are complaining that they can’t actually connect to the new multiplayer servers, likely because they’re swamped. This makes sense given that, in the past 24 hours, the game has jumped from having a few hundred concurrent players to thousands.
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It’s also a bit darkly humorous that Disney decided to resurrect this game ahead of EA’s Battlefront II, seeing as it’s given rise to a renewed chorus of chants about how much more people liked the first two Battlefront games than EA and DICE’s reboot. Here, for instance, is the current top review on the Steam version of Battlefront 2:
Battlefront 2 Pc
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Savage. I thought EA’s first Battlefront was fine, but I’d be hard-pressed to tell you a single memorable moment from my time with it. Also, it got old fast. Hopefully the new one is better! In the meantime, we’ve got the old-old one. If it starts working.
Battlefront is on the brain. There's still months to go before DICE’s Frostbitten reboot of grand-scale Star Wars-fare hits monitors, but the (carefully choreographed) bits seen so far are exciting stirrings of trading hot laser, lightsaber, and explodey death in both familiar and new worlds. Ten years has been quite the wait.
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Beyond jetpacking Rebel rocket troopers and anti-aliased Endor tree bark lies a fleet of expectations. A smooth launch and low bug count wouldn’t hurt, but hey, we’re PC gamers—let’s toss modding support right on top of the pile. While EA thinks about that (”don’t hold your breath,” says my Force-powered 8 ball), 2005’s Battlefront 2 still hosts a small but fiercely dedicated community and a legion of intricate mods. If that’s not enough worthiness for your Steam library, it’s also stupidly cheap as of writing (until May 7) at $3/£2, so picking up the base game is an inexpensive first step. GameSpy is no more, but external lobby programs such as GameRanger and GameMaster keep multiplayer breathing.
If you’re just looking for the grand slam of what Battlefront 2’s mods offer, consider installing the Conversion Pack, its patch, and the unofficial 1.3 game update. That combo provides a sizable content boost to most modes with minimal deviation from stock army-on-army gameplay, but plenty more choices await your consideration in this gallery. As a rule of thumb, keep the 1.3 update installed when configuring mods, as many of them won’t work without it.
In the build-up to Star Wars Battlefront 2‘s release, publisher EA and developer DICE have made some big promises about the game. Not only will this new game be ‘much bigger’ than its predecessor, but it will also include a single-player campaign to go alongside its multiplayer modes.
But can the game’s narrative live up to fans’ hopes for a rich story campaign? And how much do microtransactions and loot boxes impact the game’s multiplayer? Star Wars Battlefront 2 reviews are rolling in now as critics reveal their verdicts on the blockbuster game ahead of its release later this week.
GameSpot (Alessandro Fillari)
While the brisk 4-5 hour campaign features some strong writing and performances from its cast–with some standout levels that show off the visual luster and diversity of locations within the universe–the potential of its Imperial point-of-view soon becomes lost. Falling into some rather predictable twists, the story eventually turns into a familiar by-the-numbers Star Wars adventure, where the good guys and bad guys are clearly defined, and with a lead up to the final act’s confrontation that’s signposted from a mile away.
Score: Review in progress
The Verge (Bryan Bishop)
After burning through the campaign this past weekend, I was pleased to find it is the satisfying solo mode the first game always cried out for. Not only does it highlight many of the best attributes of the new Battlefront, it also comes tantalizingly close to actually being the riveting, standalone Star Wars story the marketing hype has promised — if only that pesky spectre of nostalgia didn’t get in the way.
Score: n/a
US Gamer (Kat Bailey)
The resulting story feels disjointed in the way that it leaps from setpiece to setpiece without any real buildup to the final battle. It keeps some of the core conflicts from getting the screentime they deserve, and it sidelines Versio, who is an interesting character in her own right. I wish that EA Motive would have had the courage to keep the spotlight squarely on Versio for the entire story.
Score: 3.5/5
GamesBeat (Dean Takahashi)
Overall, multiplayer has a much bigger scale, with 14 maps at the outset, from the Battle of Naboo to the fight on Endor. If the single-player mode doesn’t get you excited, you may enjoy all of the variety that multiplayer has to offer. And if you wander around in the big spaces of multiplayer all alone, you’re sure to get killed more quickly.
Score: Review in progress
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Eurogamer (Martin Robinson)
Play a round of Starfighter Assault, an aerial mode that’s been positively emboldened by its adoption of objective-based play and is blissfully free from comparisons with other more grounded multiplayer games, and it’s simply astounding. As players lead merry dances with their perfectly realised A-Wings and Y-Wings and TIEs, it’s hard to think of any toybox as luxurious as this. It’s the stuff of my childhood dreams.
Score: n/a
Trusted Reviews (Brett Phipps)
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is a great game spoiled by a terrible business model. DICE and EA are going to be under a huge amount of pressure not just to tweak, but completely overhaul the metagame or face an even bigger fan backlash than they have already. Underneath the terrible progression system, cheap payouts and more-than-gentle hand in the back towards paying for loot crates is the same excellent core, now across so much more content with the promise of more free maps and heroes to come.
Image de fond en informatique. Score: 3/5
TechRadar (Dom Reseigh-Lincoln)
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Star Wars Battlefront 2 is its own worst enemy. On the one hand, DICE has created one of the most immersive and exciting Star Wars games ever made. It’s pure Star Wars magic, and it’ll make your nostalgia sing with its vibrant authenticity (as well as tickling that need for a slick and robust shooter). But as a vanguard for the growing influence of microtransactions in £50/$60 games, it marrs its own package by tying an already confused levelling system with an over-reliance on purchased loot.
Score: Play It
According to the reviews, Star Wars Battlefront 2‘s story is a solid attempt. It may be predictable and somewhat poorly paced, but protagonist Iden Versio is interesting and if anything, critics seem to want to spend more time with the character rather than less.
The game’s multiplayer, on the other hand, seems to have left many critics with a bad taste in their mouths. The squad-based battles may capture the action of the Star Wars movies perfectly, but the progression system, with its loot boxes and microtransactions, massively hamper the experience.
EA and DICE have tweaked hero unlocks in response to backlash, but several reviews argue that the system must be overhauled entirely in order to better serve players.
As such, Star Wars Battlefront 2 sounds like a good choice for Star Wars fans and those who enjoyed the first game. Those already put off by the game’s business model, though, are unlikely to find any solace.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 releases November 17, 2017 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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