Star Wars and EA’s Attempt to Save Battlefront 2

2005 was an amazing year for Star Wars fans. They got to see the release of classic Star Wars games like Clone Commando, Lego Star Wars and a game so good they had to make it twice. Battlefront 2 originally was released in 2005 by Pandemic studios. Then about 12 years later EA works on a new Battlefront 2 with their Frostbite engine.

The new release was really exciting for old fans of the series. Galactic Conquest, a game mode that allows the player to conquer the Star Wars galaxy much like a game of Risk was speculated to be yet again a staple in the series. EA had a lot to live up to with their release and with their previous Battlefront game that garnered mixed reviews for being unfinished. Having few maps and a lot of dlc (downloadable content). EA had to prove they learned from their previous mistakes. EA announced that they weren’t going to do dlc and instead go for a loot box system. Making the extra content free made some fans happy and others mad when they heard about the loot boxes. What no one saw coming was that EA was going to possibly be charged for an international crime. If you don’t know, loot boxes have been very questionable ever since their inception. The controversy stems from loot boxes being closely tied to gambling and the fostering of gambling addiction for kids.

It was a really rough start for EA’s Battlefront 2 as they tried to rework their game. To no longer have loot boxes under the threat of international law and the Disney company not liking the bad pr. Although as the years passed, EA was able to fix most of the problems with the game. EA stopped applying updates to the game, making it fair to see how both games stack up.

First let’s talk controls and the feeling of character movement. Both games have similar controls both using the ‘B’ button to roll (xbox controls). Both have sprint activate through a click of the left stick and have the right trigger used for shooting. The differences are a bit more important though. In Battlefront 2 by Pandemic, they had the player have a stamina bar which can be used for jumping, sprinting and rolling. This allowed the player to think strategically on when and how they should move. Rolling in the game was used to help dodge lightsaber attacks and gave a bigger chance for soldier units to beat the hero or villain they were fighting. In EA’s Battlefront 2 they gave every basic solider unit two rolls and took away the stamina bar altogether for those units. These restrictions made the combat between solider units and the hero/villain characters a bit harder. As Pandemics Battlefront 2 allowed the player to roll up to four times.

The next biggest change in the gameplay was with the heroes/villain characters. In Pandemic’s Battlefront 2 they made each hero/villain character have a time limit with a light saber symbol. The time limit played as a health bar, the more they got shot the less time they could stay on the battlefront. Although if the hero/villain character killed anyone it would give them more time. This offered an easier ability to murder a powerful sith or jedi. In EA’s Battlefront 2 they have a health bar that can regenerate a certain amount giving into some players to camp with the hero/villain character. While playing the hero/villain characters that have light sabers EA also made it where any move of the light saber moves your character forward. This locked the players into a stiff system of combat.

The game modes of both games reflect what each game tried harder to be. Pandemic’s Battlefront 2 went into the game modes with an emphasis on player decision. Let the player decide how to earn the win. What I mean by this is Pandemic gave no restrictions in the map on what objective you would have to take over first. Instead, you could just decide to take a different part of the map in their command post game mode. EA went for an emphasis on their pretty visuals and trying to make the game feel like you were in the movies. They did a phenomenal job at making it feel like you, the player are on set. Even though EA made it feel more like you are in Star Wars. Pandemic made the player feel more in control of their gameplay experience through more balanced fighting mechanics with more to explore.

Overall, they have their own play styles but what makes a great game is its longevity, it’s replay ability. EA’s Battlefront 2 is reliant on servers for more than 80% of it’s gameplay which means when EA loses licensing or shuts down the servers most of the game will not be capable to play. EA fumbled from the start when getting into that international scandal which resulted in harder development with less money being generated from finishing the game. This is why I will always say that Pandemic’s Battlefront 2 will always be superior.