Star Wars Battlefront

If you were expecting an adventure about heroes and redemption, great characters and an interesting plot, this probably is not the droid you are looking for. But while Battlefront misses the opportunity to be a great single player experience, it fulfills in authenticity and immersion. It's one of the most powerful Star Wars experiences, one that will give you great memories for a long long time.

Battlefront is more arcade-y than we’ve come to expect from modern day shooters, but the glorious Star Wars magic makes up for its lack of depth. The game is extremely polished, runs as smooth as Hoth’s snowy surface and will warm the hearts of every Star Wars fan out there. However, Battlefront won’t convert you to the light side if you’re not already a fan of Lucas’ space opera.

Is Star Wars Battlefront the first-person shooter that’ll carry me into the early parts of 2016? Probably not. But I’m definitely enjoying the time I’ve spent with it so far, and I’ll be curious to see what the inevitable DLC brings outside of the upcoming Battle for Jakku map.

Some may argue that DICE's Star Wars Battlefront lacks longevity to stay the course on the market, or that more could've been done with it. But the developer went through a massive undertaking to not only reinvent the franchise, but also reassure gamers that this would hardly be another Battlefield blunder. It's great to report that both goals have been completed with flying colors, and, as a result, Star Wars Battlefront is an engaging multiplayer experience that will certainly make your holidays.

As a playable Star Wars version, Battlefront has no rivals. But as a game, there's not enough content to entertain players for months.

There is no book or game that makes a better homage to the franchise than DICE's Star Wars Battlefront. Perhaps not the most complete shooter game, but it is one of the best Star Wars games ever made.

A brilliant Star Wars experience, but with limited life-span and little depth. [Christmas 2015, p.76]

It's not the most complex shooter, but it's the ideal pick-up-and-play experience for Star Wars fans. Stunning environments, solid shooting and immersive sound design mask the shortcomings. [Jan 2016, p.82]

Basically, Battlefront is like the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi. It’s as visually impressive as it is, well, kinda barebones. That said, it is not to be underestimated. Diehard Star Wars fans should still stay on target, because it has the potential to set your world on fire. [January 2015, p69]

Few video games capture their world with the authenticity of Battlefront. The visuals are to be expected in this gaming era: Endor needs to be filled with lush greeneries and Tatooine must feel arid and lifeless...But Battlefront meets those expectations and then shatters them.

DICE delivers a powerful Star Wars experience, even if the game's lack of depth and disappointing modes keep it from reaching the stratospheric heights of the movies.

Star Wars: Battlefront is a simplified online shooter for a broad audience that delivers on its promise of Star Wars battle fantasies.

Overall, is STAR WARS Battlefront worth your time and hard-earned cash in the run up to Christmas? As a STAR WARS fan, definitely.

As Star Wars fever builds ahead of The Force Awakens, Battlefront's brand of accessible multiplayer mayhem is definitely going to make a lot of people happy this Christmas. Sure, it could do with a campaign and sometimes it's a bit too shallow for its own good, but Battlefront is also one of the most authentic Star Wars experiences you can have outside of kissing your sister - "for luck" - and scrapping with your dad.

Fans, rejoice! Star Wars Battlefront might not be the most in-depth shooter, but its certainly the best Star Wars game in years.

Aside from awkward performances and a poor original score, Battlefront is a master class in aesthetic authenticity. Beyond a few essential modes built for casual competition, however, Battlefront is unfocused, relying on excess game types to compensate for an absent single-player campaign.

By stripping out the story and making the whole affair a leaner grab bag, DICE is pitching an immaculately visualized arcade-casual experience. And yet it harbors harder-core perks, if you’re a completist.

When it comes to graphics, it’s amazing and perfectly captures the Star Wars universe. When it comes to gameplay... well, it’s definitely a fun and accessible shooter, just don’t expect something too technical or perfectly balanced. DICE obviously wanted to make an intuitive FPS that anyone can play, veterans of the genre are not the main target here. Accept that, and you’ll definitely enjoy the experience quite a bit.

Battlefront succeeds in delivering the most spectacular Star Wars experience ever seen in a video game. The Dark Side is represented here by a strong shortage of content and shallow gunplay.

Star Wars Battlefront is a casual fan’s dream come true. That’s not a bad thing, because what’s here is fun, but it’s something you have to consider if you’re looking for a more fulfilling title.

A beautiful recreation of Star Wars, and a solid if simple shooter. This is a game you'll love intensely albeit for a short space of time.

It might not be the perfect game for hardcore multiplayer veterans, but it's the perfect experience for every Star Wars fan out there. Where the balancing, variety and finesse of the main competitors lack, there's plenty of game modes to have fun with, and the pure spectacle of the furious battles is just stunning.

As a multiplayer game, Star Wars Battlefront works really well, making it simpler to get into than the grittier Battlefield series.

The game takes current generation consoles to a new level with visuals, even setting some graphical benchmarks for online play, but it drags it down in sustainable substance that is required to keep a game going beyond a two month mark of the release.

It’s an extremely polished and tight shooter that offers an unparalleled experience in the Star Wars universe. For 10 hours, you’ll be thrilled. Beyond that, you’re going to run out of things to do. But those 10 hours are a blast.

With the new film of the space opera saga finally on the big screen and the release of Battlefront's new sequel, both after a decade overdue, it is definitely the best time to be a Star Wars fan. The game itself is a dream-come-true for fans, and the Star Wars spectacle is strong in this one. However, if it is depth and longevity you seek... this is not the game you are looking for.

Star Wars Battlefront is an excellent Star Wars simulator and an audiovisual marvel. Sadly the shallow and oversimplified gameplay and lack of content hurt the overall package.

Those who enjoyed the original trilogy will be thrilled to see an AT-AT downed by Rebel snowspeeders or Darth Vader appearing on the horizon with lightsaber ignited. Those more interested in a meaty multiplayer shooter may want to look elsewhere.

Star Wars: Battlefront has great potential, but its lack of content certainly lowers the experience. Fans might forgive this but we know that at least for now the game is still just a demo.

Despite a good technical side, Star Wars Battlefront suffers from quite a number of balancing issues, where for instance AtAt's are quite too tough on Hoth. Let's hope a patch comes out to correct those issues.

At risk of repeating other reviews, Battlefront has the form of a Star Wars game that feels like it’s still in the making. Whether from time constraints or by design, every ostensible grandeur and moment of fantasy it does so well to impress can be experienced with a day off. Its glamour and gloss only makes more regretful how little there is. After a ten-year hiatus, Battlefront is only a figment of what it wanted to be.

At the very least, it’s a great experience for the “Star Wars” faithful, and the solid and accessible control cements a production with far-reaching appeal. That appeal may not reach to the core group of gamers that are bound to complain about the lack of depth, customization and overall gameplay innovation, but they’re not the intended demographic. The good certainly outweighs the bad, regardless of your “hardcore” level or personal preferences, but such factors will have a big impact on your enjoyment.

Star Wars Battlefront offers a lot of cool moments, gives you that warm fuzzy Star Wars feeling and is pure perfection when it comes to visuals and sound effects. However, the fact that there is not much depth to it, nor a lot of content, makes Battlefront a smaller game than we were hoping for.

A solid multiplayer shooter that ticks all those nostalgic boxes for fans of the original trilogy. The graphics and audio design are excellent throughout and the net code has performed without fault. However, the lack of a proper offline mode and small number of multiplayer maps is frustrating given the opportunistic Season Pass content on the horizon.

Star Wars Battlefront nails bringing home the original trilogy in a new and interesting way, but fails to substantiate the splendor in a meaningful way. A fun nostalgia trip that might barely tide you over until the new film, but not much longer.

Star Wars Battlefront is a good Star Wars game, but an average multiplayer shooter. If you have any love for a galaxy far, far away, you'll get a real kick out of the taking part in its fun, large scale battles, and your reverence for the source material may even be enough to keep you coming back despite its shortcomings. If, on the other hand, you're after the next big shooter to keep you occupied longer term, the limited weaponry and simplified customisation mean that this isn't the game that you're looking for.

Star Wars Battlefront may not offer unlimited entertainment for years to come or the best environment for fiercely competitive gamers, but there’s no denying that it does a brilliant job of giving Star Wars fans a chance to walk around and live in the iconic universe.

An artistic triumph, Star Wars Battlefront poses a difficult question: Do features make a game? If they do, this one’s got problems. Stand Battlefront next to most other multiplayer-oriented shooters and you’ll find it lacking in variety and depth. But none of those other shooters let me blast Slave-1 out of the sky from the Millennium Falcon, or take out an AT-ST with a well-timed thermal pod, or block ten laser blasts and force push a stormtrooper into a pool of lava.

The best way to describe Star Wars Battlefront, I feel, is to call it what it is – a good game that was deliberately designed to not be a great one...I wanted to rate it higher than this. Way higher.

If nothing else, Star Wars Battlefront is an exercise in pure spectacle, laid out in all of its neon glory.

The Star Wars Battlefront name is holding strong, but if this is set to reboot the franchise, they could have packed a little more meat on its bones.

Star Wars Battlefront is a good game, as it's a fun multiplayer experience that's really faithful to the movies, but it lacks a little bit of punch and variety.

Right now, it’s bigger than life, feels good while you're enjoying it, but is somewhat disappointingly hollow.

It’s quite possibly the most authentic Star Wars shooter ever made thanks to some amazing visual production values, but with shallow action and very little ambition to do more than necessary. Just like the films.

Yes, so this is an obvious money grab. But at times, you just can’t help it. Humming all-too-familiar John Williams’ themes and flying an X-Wing and blasting TIE Fighters out of the sky is as fun as ever.

A game that provides some much needed Star Wars nostalgia on the cusp of the franchise’s latest theatrical release. Unfortunately that’s all this game provides, with the exception of a few high points in the beautiful visuals and the Walker Assault multiplayer offering. Ultimately, it doesn’t capitalize on the phenomenal infrastructure DICE created – weapons, vehicles, planets, landscapes, and the resurrection of everyone's favorite cast of characters is all lost without any sense of direction.

Battlefront can be a lot of fun within a few specific modes. Unfortunately, those moments are only a small portion of the overall experience. While I have no doubt that the game will improve with updates and DLC, what is here in the base game leaves a lot to be desired.

A dazzling audiovisual spectacle with a solid, highly accessible set of mechanics for a wider audience to enjoy. The problem is, this blockbuster is shallow and soulless beneath its sparkly veneer, and that detracts from much of the good it does.

Dice offers a game that honors the epic movie series, especially in visuals. The sound effects are spot-on as well, but both can't make up for the shallow gameplay and repetitiveness that comes with Battlefront.

Once the Jedi Mind Trick of nostalgia and Star Wars love wears off, you'll realize there are plenty of better multiplayer shooters out there that aren't as far, far away.

If you’re looking to capture that feeling of playing in a beautifully-realized Star Wars sandbox, albeit one lacking variety and depth, EA DICE nails it. If you’re looking for a shooter stacked with substance, engrossing character progression, and endlessly addictive gameplay to sink your teeth into for the months ahead, Star Wars Battlefront misses the mark.

Spectacular production values help to make this game enjoyable in the early going, but it soon enough shows that it is painfully lacking in terms of maps and depth in its current form. [Issue#265, p.72]

Battlefront offers everything my childhood experience of Star Wars did not. For all its polish, it brand-name polish, it lacks that creative energy found in building battles from faded toys and dumb ideas. Battlefront imposes limits and gates on an expansive universe, reigning in instead of expanding the possible ways to become part of that world. As such, the game remains mercenary in its goal of selling an experience solely on those feelings we have about that galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars Battlefront is fun, but it doesn’t take long for that fun to be reduced to monotony.

The only truly game-changing ability I encountered is a jump pack that comes available early on and greatly enhances your ability to quickly move around the battlefield and dodge enemy fire. Beyond that there’s just not much driving us to keep growing our avatars.

Just like a certain big budget Activision sci-fi shooter, Battlefront is simply the opening skirmish in an ever-expanding galactic conflict. Star Wars fans: it is your Destiny.

Slick production values, solid controls, and tons of fan service can't make up for mediocre progression and a lack of content.