Review: Star Wars Battlefront

Tis the season for Star Wars! Between the new movie coming up and the recent release of Star Wars Battlefront, fans of the franchise have a lot to be excited about. And one thing is for sure: Star Wars Battlefront is sure to put you in the Star Wars spirit.

First, a disclaimer: I've only played the original Star Wars Battlefront once. In high school, one of my friends brought his PlayStation 2 to school one afternoon, and we snuck into the deserted band room and played Battlefront on the TV for about 20 minutes. That's all the experience I have with any of the original Battlefront games, so this review doesn't compare the old and new Battlefront games. Sorry, life is rough.

Anyway, I spent way too much time watching trailers for the new Battlefront game when they first came out. Having really missed out on the originals, I was excited to finally (after 20+ years of waiting) live out my dream of destroying Imperial forces. I purchased the Deluxe Edition of Battlefront, because it was only $10 more and I was willing to pay a little extra for a fuller experience.

All of my free time since then has been nothing but Star Wars Battlefront.

Don't get me wrong, I love playing video games. Growing up as an only child, video games were my way of interacting with the world (since I didn't have siblings to interact with). That said, few video games have captured my attention and utter infatuation as much as Star Wars Battlefront.

The graphics are AMAZING. My fiance is really fed up over the number of times I've said this, but it's true. Every map I've played is gorgeous. Even after 25+ combined hours of playtime, I'm still astounded by how clear and sharp and realistic everything looks. The gameplay is smooth, and the different modes of multiplayer allow players of all sorts to find something they really like.

However, there are a few things I would have liked to have been a bit different. Firstly, the melee mechanic is pretty tough to use. Having played a lot of Call of Duty and Halo games, I was used to being able to melee players from close range. In Battlefront, you can really only melee players who are almost literally an elbow's length away. While this does add realism (and cut down on melee kills, which often feel like cheap shots), it definitely takes getting used to.

There's also the notable lack of space battles that occur. Even though I try to avoid video games that center around operating vehicles of any sort (except Mario Kart, of course), I was really disappointed to find out that none of the spacecraft battles would happen in actual outer space, but rather in the atmosphere of certain planets. There's also a notable lack of any single-player game beyond some light "training" modes, which seem more like an in-depth tutorial than actual playtime.

Overall though, I highly recommend this game. Even after playing the same multiplayer mode (Blast) for over 25 combined hours, I still want to do nothing else with my free time. You WILL get sucked into this game! Fans of first-person shooter games, Star Wars, and the original Battlefront games are sure to get their money's worth. Is it the best game ever?

To me, it is.