New Star Wars shooter recreates action to match movie’s thrills

By: Ben Boezinger

Have you ever dreamed of blasting rebel scum off the face of Endor, or destroying AT-AT walkers to smithereens on the cold snowy surface of Hoth. Your wish has been granted with, in my opinion, the most anticipated shooter of the 2015 year, and the best game. Besides, of course, Fallout. If you like a fantasy game that strikes back, then this is your game.

The thing I liked most in the game has to definitely be the fact that it looked and felt like the movies. The fact that all the main characters in the movie both look and talk like the ones in the game is kind of mind blowing to me. Running around maps as Luke and hearing the familiar sounds of a saber striking, or having a laser bullet ricochet off the green glowing sword.

I also loved the fact that you can play as the games the movie series most critical characters. You can waddle around and stress lightning on the enemy as Emperor Palpatine or fly around while shooting flames and rockets out your wrist.  You can also take to the skies in both rebel and imperial ships. You can jet around the map while simultaneously blowing up enemies both in air and on the ground.

This can prove as an advantage in strategical modes like walker assault. The T-47 airspeeder featured in the original screenplays can easily win the rebels the match with its ability to trip up the walker after successfully circling it. As for the Imperial side, you can take to easily controllable AT-STs and scour the map taking out rebels with force. You can also control the destructive AT-ATs. Although it’s only for a short time, if you are in the right area and know what you are doing, you can provide some heavy damage for your team, which can provide the most fun moments in the game.

Probably one of the only things that’s wrong with the game is the lack of modes. I have found through playing the general lack of game modes is a small problem. Don’t get me wrong. There is a plentiful amount, but most of them kinda suck. There’s really good ones that are my personal favorite like “heroes v villains” and “walker assault” and also “drop zone.” The high-paced action in “drop zone” makes for a run and gun assault, while “heroes vs. villains” and “walker assault” results in a more strategic and a long-range attack base. As for modes like droid run and supremacy, they let you down in terms of excitement, but still I think that the modes that are fun make up for the lack thereof.

The mechanics of the game like shooting and movement may take some time to get used to, but after I did I realized they might be the best in any shooter. There really is an art to shooting at a distance in this game, though. Depending on the weapon, you have to aim ahead of the target. With guns equipped with a better range, or burst rifles, you don’t have to aim ahead by a whole lot. But with pistols and assault rifles, the difference between the target has to be larger.

The movement in the game is a lot better than some of the other games that have been released lately. When you reach a certain level, you are able to purchase a jet pack, which provides quick and easy maneuvers around the map. I have also found that it can prove useful when getting out of tricky situations. If you have low health and are getting shot at, you can easily get out by jet packing out. It’s A) harder to hit such a fast moving target, and B) you can get to a safer area and resume fighting without a death on your KD.

Star Wars Battlefront was one of the year’s most anticipated shooters, and it delivered. Although the game modes are lacking and some of the controls might take some getting used to, the authenticity of the game more than makes up for that, and, in the end, that’s all that really matters in a Star Wars game.