Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017)

[RunRickyRun]

Anyone playing the Beta?

Despite its flaws, I loved the first game (2015). It did not have a huge amount of content on launch but I really liked the casual arcade feel of the game. A lot of the early balance issues and grenade spam were fixed and I had a blast. Supremacy on Endor was probably the best map I've played in a multiplayer console shooter.

The best thing in the beta is the space combat. I think it's good enough to carry the game and the closest we will get to a dogfighting multiplayer game on console.

I didn't care much for the infantry fighting. There is a huge amount of grenade spam, little choice in weapons available and once defenders figure out that turrets are OP it will become a very frustrating experience. I also am experiencing frame rate drops during hectic action.

The most egregious aspect is the new lootbox system. It's blatantly pay2win with some legendarys offering huge bonuses (40% extra base health on starfighters being the most obvious example)

I suspect they will leave this in until  month or two after launch then nerf the hell out of it. They did a similar thing with the preorder bonus (Han Solo's pistol) in the first game. This is the main reason I wont be buying at launch.

 

[jim]

Enjoyed the beta but I have cancelled my pre order, will pick it up when it is cheaper as I will only play the campaign.

I think I much preferred the multiplayer in the first one, It felt much more forgiving for old fogies like me with shite reactions.

[Daweii]

17 hours ago, RunRickyRun said:

The most egregious aspect is the new lootbox system. It's blatantly pay2win with some legendarys offering huge bonuses (40% extra base health on starfighters being the most obvious example)

You can say that again. The loot crates in this game take egregious to a whole new level.

For those that don't know the whole multiplayer progression system is locked behind loot crates that are doled out at a fixed rate. You will get 150-180 credits per match depending on the match type regardless of how much you contribute. This ultimately means that EA have absolute control over how fast you progress in the multiplayer mode. This of course wouldn't be an issue, but EA have added a premium currency so with real money you skip all of this and money here truly buys power. Now I will break down the many ways these crates will present an issue to those not willing to pay real money in their £50 game.

Firstly, matches can last upwards of 20 minutes so assuming you get the highest amount of credits per match (180) it will take 7 matches to buy one crate (they cost 1,100), which at 20 minutes per match will take 2 hours and 20 minutes. That is quite the slow return on your time spent in the game.

Secondly, crates are how you gain power in this game. In Battlefront 2 there are these things called Starcards which offer a passive or active buff to a class, vehicle or hero. These buffs can be as innocuous as extending the blast radius on grenades, to something as powerful as 100% damage reduction while using Bobba Fett's ability. The issue aside from the slow rate you will get these powerful cards is that there is no visible way to tell what cards players have equipped, at least not until they kill you so there is no real way to combat this aside from trying not to die too much.

Thirdly, there is a currency in the game called Scrap. This currency is used to craft anything you weren't fortunate enough to get from a loot crate which is neat, but the main issue here is that Scrap is so hard to get that you won't see much of it. Scrap is a random chance drop from loot crates where you will have a chance to get 10-20 Scrap from a crate, but it's not guaranteed you will get Scrap. So how long will it take to craft a Weapon with Scrap? Well Weapons cost 600 Scrap so assuming you are the luckiest person on earth and get 20 Scrap from every crate, it will take 30 crates to earn enough to craft a Weapon.

Lastly, your classes only level up when you get a Starcard or upgrade a Starcard. So what this means is power is granted to the players that have the most cards, as at Level 5 and 10 per class you unlock more card slots to equip up to three powerful cards. Yet because everything from a loot crate is random some players may get three Starcards per crate and some may get none, which when you consider they take 2 hours and 20 minutes to get can create a huge gulf in power between players relatively quickly. If you go several hours without getting a decent upgrade and others get decent upgrades on the regular you may find yourself losing because of random chance. 

Now of course lets combine all of this. As I said above there is a premium currency in this game so players can throw real money at EA and skip all of this. So assuming someone does that what kind of advantage could they get? Well the first one is simple, if they are running around with Level 4 Starcards they have absolute power against those without those cards, but as we know the more cards you have for a class the more it levels and the more it levels the more cards you can equip, so this could snowball. On day one there could be people running around with Level 10 classes, with three Level 4 cards equipped granting them untold amounts of power against new players with none of this stuff. Though then there are the Weapons which can be earned from the crates so not only will a player like this have untold power from Starcards, but who knows what kinds of powerful weapons they could be wielding on day one. These players will have the best Starcards, fully levelled classes, the best Weapons and enough Scrap to craft anything they didn't get initially. This game is more pay to win than many actual free to play games recently and it's a £50 game. 

I would personally advise anyone wanting this to buy it second hand so EA don't get a penny from you. I personally hate the second hand market as the publisher doesn't get money from the second hand sale, but here I don't think EA deserve our money and personally I fear it sets a precedent for them to keep doing this if they get our money. So I get it this game has a story that is canon in the Star Wars Universe and I understand Star Wars fans are having wet dreams over this game in anticipation, but I would hold off either to get it cheaper or second hand as EA don't deserve our money if this is what they plan to do. 

[villa4europe]

is it battlefield 1 set in the star wars universe?

the difference between battlefield 1 and battlefront is shocking on EA's behalf

[Stevo985]

Thought the first one was quite shit, to be honest.

Will take somethign special for me to pick this up.

[PieFacE]

Tempted to buy this on the One x as I'm expecting it to look great. 

Though, the loot box thing is an absolute joke. Kinda don't want to give them my money.

[Dodgyknees]

EA are gangsters and scum

[lapal_fan]

It's times like this I really feel for DICE.

They are, without doubt my favourite developer.  I've spent thousands of hours on Battlefield Bad Company 1/2 & Battlefield 3, 4 & 1 - as well as buying Battlefront (although I waited).  

They produce (imo) absolutely stunning looking games, they mostly perform well (although BF3 had serious issues because of the "new" ps3 generation, and BF4 had a few, smaller issues on launch) and the sound team are absolutely the best in their field.  The amount of detail they add is jaw-dropping (check out Defend the House on Youtube for detailing in BF games). 

But the problem for DICE is EA.  They are put under so much pressure, with such tight time constraints, games that need another 3-4 months development or BETA testing are just given out and patched afterwards, when really, they lose a lot of player base within those erroneous initial months.  

EA also make them put in these stupid mico-transactions or "premium" versions of the game and once DLC comes out, the player base is divided and after 2 months the DLC servers are empty.  And with the amount of detail that goes into those maps (they are often the best maps, by far) you're wondering WHY they don't just make them free for everyone after 6 months (currently, premium is £40 within year 1, £25 on year 2 and then "free" in year 3 (by which time another title has come out)). 

I know that there are large costs now to make games, but you can't charge people £50 for a game (which has snuck up from £40 when PS3 was about) and then say "£40 for premium" or "£5 minimum for cards/boxes/crates" etc which so obviously affect the fine balancing of the game.  It's wrong.  It's StarWars, you could make characters and sell them for £2-3 each and thousands would by them if it's their favourite species or whatever.. Different coloured light sabers or something - just not game balancing things. 

[Stevo985]

13 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

you could make characters and sell them for £2-3 each and thousands would by them if it's their favourite species or whatever.. Different coloured light sabers or something - just not game balancing things. 

This is it for me.

I don't mind microtransactions for stuff that is purely cosmetic. Or for games that are free to play (like mobile games).

But to charge people 50 odd quid for a game and then expect them to fork out more money or be left behind is a disgrace.
A full price game should be fully playable, and you should be able to be on a level playing field with everyone without having to spend money.

[StefanAVFC]

15 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

EA also make them put in these stupid mico-transactions or "premium" versions of the game and once DLC comes out, the player base is divided and after 2 months the DLC servers are empty.  And with the amount of detail that goes into those maps (they are often the best maps, by far) you're wondering WHY they don't just make them free for everyone after 6 months (currently, premium is £40 within year 1, £25 on year 2 and then "free" in year 3 (by which time another title has come out)). 

I know that there are large costs now to make games, but you can't charge people £50 for a game (which has snuck up from £40 when PS3 was about) and then say "£40 for premium" or "£5 minimum for cards/boxes/crates" etc which so obviously affect the fine balancing of the game.  It's wrong.  It's StarWars, you could make characters and sell them for £2-3 each and thousands would by them if it's their favourite species or whatever.. Different coloured light sabers or something - just not game balancing things. 

Yep, Rocket League and Overwatch are brilliant for this.

Pay2Win in a AAA title is an absolute joke.

[Dodgyknees]

I'll wait 6 months for this

[wazzap24]

I don't think the full game is going to be as heavily PTW as the Beta made it seem.

I've read a few tweets and stuff from people within EA/Dice, saying the Beta progression system was severely limited and the final version will be different. 

By the sounds of it, the very best stuff will only be unlocked via gameplay and you can only use upgrades on your guns if you have reached the required level. People (like me), who are prepared to PTW, will still gain an early advantage, but I don't think it'll be as bad as first feared. 

There's a decent article on it here;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/news/star-wars-battlefront-2s-powerful-items-wont-appear-loot-boxes/

Quote

The full system for the loot boxes in Star Wars Battlefront 2 is a series of 6 points.

There are many things you can earn in the game, including weapons, attachments, credits, Star Cards, Emotes, Outfits and Victory Poses.

As a balance goal, we’re working towards having the most powerful items in the game only earnable via in-game achievements.

Crates will include a mix of of Star Cards, Outfits, Emotes or Victory Poses.

Players earn crates by completing challenges and other gameplay milestones, or by purchasing them with in-game credits or Crystals, our premium currency.

If you get a duplicate Star Card in a crate, you will get crafting parts which you can then use to help upgrade the Star Card of your choice.

And lastly, you have to earn the right to be able to upgrade Star Cards and unlock most Weapons. You can only upgrade or unlock them if you have reached a high enough rank, which is determined by playing the game.

I haven't played any other game other than SW Battlefront (bar a few hours of Metal Gear Solid) since it came out 2 years ago and I still play it now. I must have sunk 750 hours+ in. I've never managed to get good at an online shooter, but I just kept grinding on this because I loved it and now I'm half decent. 

I'm a bit gutted that they've pretty much completely changed the whole feel and mechanics of the game. I know they've gone back to the original format in terms of classes and stuff, which is great and I don't mind the in-game credit/reward system for special characters/Heroes, but they've completely changed the feel of the weapons, aim, recoil etc etc. It felt a lot harder. 

[lapal_fan]

12 hours ago, wazzap24 said:

I don't think the full game is going to be as heavily PTW as the Beta made it seem.

I've read a few tweets and stuff from people within EA/Dice, saying the Beta progression system was severely limited and the final version will be different. 

By the sounds of it, the very best stuff will only be unlocked via gameplay and you can only use upgrades on your guns if you have reached the required level. People (like me), who are prepared to PTW, will still gain an early advantage, but I don't think it'll be as bad as first feared. 

There's a decent article on it here;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/news/star-wars-battlefront-2s-powerful-items-wont-appear-loot-boxes/

I haven't played any other game other than SW Battlefront (bar a few hours of Metal Gear Solid) since it came out 2 years ago and I still play it now. I must have sunk 750 hours+ in. I've never managed to get good at an online shooter, but I just kept grinding on this because I loved it and now I'm half decent. 

I'm a bit gutted that they've pretty much completely changed the whole feel and mechanics of the game. I know they've gone back to the original format in terms of classes and stuff, which is great and I don't mind the in-game credit/reward system for special characters/Heroes, but they've completely changed the feel of the weapons, aim, recoil etc etc. It felt a lot harder. 

It's good it's 'harder'.  The problem with the last one was that there was 1 class that fits all - that's not how it should work really. The hero pick ups being placed was silly, they should be earned.  The best players used to know how to get to them quicker anyway, so now at least everyone has a chance of earning the points required to be a hero.  

Classes are good because it breaks up the game play more.  It becomes rock-paper-scissors which makes the game better and forces you to play differently with each class.  

It felt like a more grown up game than the first.  

The first was ok, but after 100 hours you'd done it all really.  This will give the game longevity. 

[wazzap24]

7 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

It's good it's 'harder'.  The problem with the last one was that there was 1 class that fits all - that's not how it should work really. The hero pick ups being placed was silly, they should be earned.  The best players used to know how to get to them quicker anyway, so now at least everyone has a chance of earning the points required to be a hero.  

Classes are good because it breaks up the game play more.  It becomes rock-paper-scissors which makes the game better and forces you to play differently with each class.  

It felt like a more grown up game than the first.  

The first was ok, but after 100 hours you'd done it all really.  This will give the game longevity. 

Yeah see I disagree a bit there. The only real problem with the last/current game was content (or the lack of it).

No campaign, limited game modes and the absolute travesty that was the DLC/season pass, which comletely divided the base and left you scrabbling for a game on the DLC. 

They could have improved all this, without changing the 'pick up and play' gameplay element. It gave casuals like me a chance against the 'quick scope, 360 no scope' kids coming over from COD and the like. 

Even though players always find ways to exploit a game, the pick ups and array of star cards gave noobs a chance against the pros, which separated from other online shooters. 

I agree on the Hero pick ups, although again it will just see the better players exploit the new system, get the hero first then, camp for the remainder or keep darting off for a health re-gen. 

i think they could have left the pick ups in for random things like a thermal imploder, rocket launcher etc, so again weaker players get half a chance. 

In the current game, the 'better players' all use jump packs, bacta bomb and personal shields (I don't see that as good, it just means you are nigh on impossible to kill), but little old me can still rock an ion grenade, pop their bubble and get the kill. 

I'm looking forward to it and I'll no doubt grind the arse off it until I'm decent, but it feels as though they have completely pandered to the hardcore community at the expense of players who enjoyed the 'arcade feel'. A half way house would have been nice, that's all. 

Edited October 20, 2017 by wazzap24

[LakotaDakota]

10 hour trial now on ea access for those with an xbox.

can play 3 single player campaign missions and full multiplayer

[Tayls]

On the Xbox website they have a draw thing you can enter into. Did it yesterday and got a code to DL battlefront 2 when it’s out. Think there are daily prizes to be won over next couple of days as well. (You need to enter, name, address and number each time you enter). 

[LakotaDakota]

17 hours ago, Tayls said:

On the Xbox website they have a draw thing you can enter into. Did it yesterday and got a code to DL battlefront 2 when it’s out. Think there are daily prizes to be won over next couple of days as well. (You need to enter, name, address and number each time you enter). 

 

here is the link for anyone that wants to use it, just scroll down a bit to see enter to win

https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/star-wars-battlefront-II

Win the Ultimate Intergalactic Bundle and more!

The fate of the galaxy is in your hands! Xbox is giving away 2500 1-month EA Access subscriptions plus the chance to win a digital copy of STAR WARS Battlefront II during the Xbox Ultimate Intergalactic Sweepstakes. You could instantly win daily prizes plus enter and you could be one of 10 people to win the Ultimate Intergalactic Xbox One game console bundle for both you and a friend. Enter every day to boost your odds of being one of the winners.

*This Promotion is not in any way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with Electronic Arts Inc., Disney, Lucasfilm, or Warner Brothers.

 

[PieFacE]

On 08/11/2017 at 18:49, LakotaDakota said:

10 hour trial now on ea access for those with an xbox.

can play 3 single player campaign missions and full multiplayer

Any ideas if the 10hour trial is X enhanced?

 

FYI: It is

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/59809/battlefront-ii-runs-great-xbox-one-better-rx-vega/index.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=tweaktown

Looks very good when compared to a top-end PC. 

Edited November 10, 2017 by PieFacE

[LakotaDakota]

It is good but weirdly even feels a bit more bare-bones than the previous game.

13 mission campaign which will take 6 hours or so to blast through & Only 5 multiplayer modes compared to the originals 10 modes, only one of which is on the larger maps & has any real length to it

There is an arcade mode for offline multiplayer and a series of challenges like the previous games training/survival missions but then that is about it

They desperately need to get some of the longer multi-stage multiplayer modes like extraction & supremacy introduced.

Not sure i like the way the new hero system works as it favours the better players all the time. In the old game you could just grab a randomly spawning hero token even if you were useless but this time you need to "buy" them with points earned in the match you are in. The better players will rack up enough points quickly to use the heroes which will then just make them even stronger but the cannon fodder types will never/rarely get enough points to play as some of the heroes

[LakotaDakota]

Below is the content they are adding for free for the rest of this year

Edited November 10, 2017 by LakotaDakota