Star Wars Battlefront II Multiplayer Review | Broken Joysticks

Battlefront II had the potential to be one of the greatest Star Wars games ever, to sit alongside greats like 2003's Knights of the Old Republic.Unfortunately, EA messed it up entirely with pay to win shenanigans and random loot boxes.

[GamesMaster1982]

Well deserved score, if not a little generous for this piece of shit.

[Alexander1Nevermind]

Well said. I played the Beta twice and couldn't agree more.

[DemonChicken]

+1

Kind of sad that EA is still using metacritic for bonuses in regards to their devs. The mechanics for the lootboxes and micro transactions does affect the game so should be reflected in the score.

Not sure if this would happen, but if every review slammed the game for the lootboxes and micro transactions tactics making it a low score maybe then EA will wake up?

I mean considering every game is EA game is going towards the GaaS model then I would expect every other EA game employing a similar tactic as BF2 to receive the same score.

[morganfell]

Lay the smack down B3Z:

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[DrumBeat]

Agreed. It was a clunky borefest, with fuzzy, dithered image quality. Can't understand the appeal.

[morganfell]

@Demon, EA may be doing worse than that. Check this out:

https://mobile.twitter.com/...

According to this guy, EA intentionally gave reviewers different code with different hero costs than what is in the final game.

[Pintheshadows]

I played one game in the beta, and then went back to BF1. It felt shallow.

[DrumBeat]

You played it twice? How did you make it to the second play?

[notachance]

I normally don't give a shit about lootboxes, especially the cosmetic-only lootboxes..

but locking progression behind a RNG-based lootboxes? that's fucked up EA
and that's not all, they even make a fucking star-card which give players clear advantage in the game, guess where can you get it?

what is this pay-to-win shit doing in a $60 game? what the fuck??

[Pintheshadows]

Yeah, I can just about deal with cosmetics as they are easily avoidable. This though, this is far more insidious.

[morganfell]

This is in many ways like the first major appearances of DLC. Companies went the wrong direction and through their actions gamers have to show them what is and is not acceptable. DLC was going to happen. Gamers merely had the chance to adjust how it was implemented. Same with loot boxes. They are going to happen. No amount of protesting will completely stop them. Paid loot boxes that affect the Multiplayer game have been here already for years - look at HALO 5. But gamers can affect how they are implemented.

[fiveby9]

@morganfell I am not so sure loot boxes have to happen at all. I have not bought and will not buy, Forza 7, Shadow of War, AC Origins, and will not buy SW BF2. Sure it's tempting to get drawn in by the shiny new penny with each game release, but if you can weather the initial release bandwagon, I find that I can easily not regret purchasing the game at all. That's clearly was EA hope to do is draw people in with pretty graphics and suck you into their ecosystem. Just say no to MT systems as they are a scourge.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Umm Overwatch, Forza, Shadow of War. I don't understand why ppl select Battlefront to spew their venom every two years while others inject their games with bs as well.

[morganfell]

@Tyler,

Shadow of War's loot boxes are in the Single Player and you really don't have to grind in the game to get anywhere meaning you really don't need to buy them. They truly were unobtrusive.

But Multiplayer with Pay to Win that is an entirely different matter. However I do understand your concern. Loot boxes that are pay to win have been in HALO 5 for 2 years and no one seemed to care.

[UnHoly_One]

Shadow of War's lootboxes are completely irrelevant to gameplay progression.

You don't need them, there is never any incentive to buy them, they might as well not exist. Unless you are trying to speed run the game or something, I'm not sure how they would even help you.

And somebody mentioned AC Origins? Since when does it have lootboxes? I know it has some kind of time saver useless crap you can buy with real money, but again, who would do that and why? It's just a way to pay to avoid actually playing the game. I know there is a vendor in the game that sells a random item box, but that is for in-game currency. And there is never a reason to buy those anyway.

So far, all of this stuff to me is just shortcuts for people that don't want to play the game.

I agree it has no place in multiplayer, but AC Origins and Shadow of War are fine, you'd never even know it was a thing if you didn't read all the doom and gloom on the internet first.

[conanlifts]

Even without pay to win the multiplayer game was terrible. I used the sniper rifle in the beta, aimed at an enemy from a huge distance and clipped their chest instead of head. The player turned around and from the same huge distance killed me in one shot with a standard blaster. This sort of thing was not uncommon, the mechanics and balancing was terrible.

[Pintheshadows]

Same problem as the first one. I just think the actual gunplay in both of them is impotent. It doesn't feel good to play at all. And you could say it is because they are all energy weapons but even so.

[Xerneas]

Its way too generous it deserves no more than a 1. A full priced P2W game? Just buzz out of here.

[xfiles2099]

Well It is a good thing No one cares what this joke of an Article says or gives two shits about your Opinion People will decide for themselves

[IamTylerDurden1]

Yet ppl raved about Forza and Shadow of War..

[IamTylerDurden1]

This "review" was based on an EA Origin trial and only several hrs of gameplay that did not include any of the campaign. It's an irresponsible review and no gaming journalist should publish a review based on such a sparse sample of game. As well, this damning review is based almost entirely on his disdain for the loot boxes as he fully admits the visuals and minute to minute gameplay are top notch. GaaS/MTs is a terrible new trend, but BF2 isn't the first offender and if BF2 gets shredded in reviews for being greedy then so should the other games that recently released with abhorrent dlc. Shadow of War and Forza got glowing reviews yet they included some very egregious MTs. AC Origins isn't exempt either, yet these games get good feels and great scores. It's very selective criticism by the gaming community.

[UnHoly_One]

Shadow of War and AC Origins are single player games, and they only thing you can do by buying stuff in those games is speed up your own progression, essentially you're paying to not play the whole game.

This game is multiplayer, and the people that spend money will have a definite advantage over the people that don't. Hence people calling it "Pay to Win".

That is why people are being harder on this game. In this game the MT's hurt everyone, in SoW and AC:O they don't affect you at all unless you want to buy them.

[Last_Boss]

This is exactly why all the future DLC is free!!! 😉

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I say 1/10 for me.

[DeadSilence]

Not looking good.

[-Foxtrot]

Is it so hard to just take the old Battlefront 2 game...add new maps, characters and the like then release it.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

I find it extremely odd that Dice won't just make "Battlefield Star Wars". People want classes similar to those of Battlefield and Pandemic Battlefront, Dice goes and adds classes that have no synergy. People want more vehicles and teamplay. Dice makes vehicles cards. The studio pushes for the game to have no teamplay, no resource management and no map control, things that people very vocally want.

[-Foxtrot]

To me it's not a game about star cards and load outs. The old games had a perfect set up, you started with the crappiest Stormtrooper or Rebel and the more you played/killed you'd unlock points to unlock the next class. The matches lasted enough for you to have unlocked all the classes and even got a chance to play as the hero/villain.

I loved working up to the jetpack one as I felt like I had earned it.

All the unlocks should have been cosmetic. Skins, change looks/materials of weapons, display pictures and the like. Hell if it came to the rebels we should have been allowed to carefully crafted/mold each one into who we wanted.

[Pintheshadows]

You know what made me play only one game of Battlefront 2 in the beta? The god awful squad system. Horrible stuff that makes the game feel staccato. In BF1 at least you have some sense of the unfolding battle as you can see the map. This though just felt like I was starting a new game every time I spawned. You're dead right Sciurus.

[Jinger]

@Foxtrot

You know this game is similar to what you just described, right? The more you play the objective, the more you kill and such the more points you get and then you can use those points to play as the jetpack trooper or a hero/villain etc.

[1060FX8300]

Still overrated

[zb1ftw777]

I hope this piece of garbage fails miserably.

It had the potential to be a great great game.

The engine is very good. The graphics sound and atmosphere perfect. The smoothness of gameplay perfect.

EA greed got involved though and turned this into a piece of shit.

[glenn1979]

hahahahaha

[Relientk77]

Damn and the game gets slaughtered

[XxINFERNUSxX]

Incoming BF II single player, on a torrent site near you LOL. It will be cracked in time, maybe sooner than later being this is a high profile game.

[Bigpappy]

I haven't played it yet so I will take this as a warning. I am still waiting for my X to arrive on Tuesday. I like to judge for myself. Sorry for not joining the celebration of failure based on a review and some random gamers on N4G. But if I followed the flock, I would have not played games like Ryse and Fallout 4, plus many others that weren't like very much here.

[LiamKreptic]

Nothing like supporting the hive mind EA has created for you...oh and Activision...and almost every producer company willing to take your idiocy for profit...this shit needs to die

[Bigpappy]

Good look on your crusade my friend. I just play games that are fun to me. Not serious enough for me to get into the politics.

You can leave your membership card on my door step. If I feel to join the cause, I will surely look you up for further details on how we proceed.

Right now, all I want to do is try the games to see if it is any good. If it is I will finish it. M$ has a refund policy.

[glenn1979]

Angry joe is right on this game and on call of duty ww2 is just garbage , i did play ww2 only the 1st and second level and i just can played anymore you can see the gameplay pattern from a mile away same thing over and over again nothing new just wash rinse and repeat

[notachance]

trust me man this is beyond warning, they literally locked up the progression behind RNG-based lootboxes.

it's different from the recent shadow of war or forza, you literally need to open lootboxes to progress here, and they shamelessly make it so you have to open tons of them, and by playing normal you need about 2-3 hours to open just 1. all the criticism isn't about whether the game's good or bad or even about the MT inclusion itself, they did something blatantly unacceptable.

it's fucked up

[cfc83]

I had quite a few lootboxes after 6 hours, and i'm not good at the game. There's also a daily log in box, so you don't have to play for hours to get one box as you say.

[cfc83]

If you don't care about the loot box 'controversy', it's a game you'll enjoy i think. It's alot better than SWBF1, which didn't even have a campaign. The explosions etc look great on base xb1, so i'm sure they will be fabulous on your new system. It's a very good game. Alot of Ryse haters didn't have an xbox, and alot of Fallout haters were first in que to buy the game.

[EatCrow]

Its the loot crate pay to win progression system that people are against here. As a gamer not just in N4G but anywhere else as well, you'd be happy at this games failure.

Its designed to screw gamers. Why should gamers pay for that?

[VerminSC]

It’s sad because DICE is an amazing developer but EA is essentially forcing them to ruin their games with this shit.

[gangsta_red]

Wow, harsh business.

[PhoenixUp]

It’s a trap!

[Imalwaysright]

Lies, lies and more lies! MTs/lootboxes in full priced games are just for cosmetic itens. There is no way that this consumer friendly industry known for the lovely broken games released at launch, incomplete full priced games, shutting down servers so that we buy sequels, false advertisement etc etc will design games around MTs/lootboxes. No! Publishers would never allow MTs/lootboxes to affect gameplay even when *sniff sniff we all know that devs that work in their studios have their poor families starving. Poor kids.

[Dante101]

anything EA Puts out will be trash I stopped buying EA games after Battlefield.

[Gardenia]

Clickbait at it's finest

[Father__Merrin]

You don't have to pay anything to enjoy the game. It's all optional ie loot boxes that are paid,

[Elda]

Absolutely! I have several games that I'm playing that have MTs & loot boxes & not once I ever spent cash for them to enjoy the game.MTs & loot boxes can be paid nada.

[FITSniper]

Yes it's optional. But if you don't pay, you'll be waiting a LONG time to get certain things.

[Artemidorus]

Finally people being honest.

Boycott this EA nazi themed game.

[FITSniper]

Yeah the pay to win stuff sucks but I don't think an issue with a video game compares to a totalitarian regime that killed millions of Jews, dissidents, and others for being who they were.

Get off CNN for a few minutes for god's sake.

[Artemidorus]

It's a company that will do anything to get what they want and it is evil in it's approach.

The fact you mention that rubbish CNN says alot about you.

[leeeroythe3rd]

I hate that I rarely if ever buy multiplayer games until it drops to reasonable price to be behind so far that the game isn't fun

[ShawnardAgain]

Wtf the games fun as shit and one of the most visually impressive pc games I've played! If you aren't good enough to win loot boxes as fast as you'd like then play something else. This shit is getting ridiculous.

[CorndogBurglar]

"If you aren't good enough"? Aren't loot boxes awarded whether you win or lose? Nothing is rewarded based on your skill in this game. Or am I wrong?

[ShawnardAgain]

There is an in game currency. The better you do the more you can get. There is also an in game currency that you can purchase with real money that allows you to buy the exact same loot boxes. I think a lot of people are frustrated with the amount of time it takes in order to get the loot boxes.

[Pintheshadows]

As far as I am aware you get the same amount currency for completing a match regardless of how well you do Shawnard.

[DanteVFenris666]

Or you could just play better fps without that shit.... Wolfenstein 2 just released for example

[masterfox]

sounds about right.

[Skrrt]

Looks like a great game still. Even the reviewer said it was perfect in all categories for multiplayer? Oh I forgot, literally any random could've written this review and posted it to get attention.

[Elda]

I'm buying for the campaign only.

[affrogamer]

wait and get it used from Gamestop, beat it in less than 7 days and return it for full refund

[Cyro]

It will be free on Origin or EA Access soon after just like the first game.

[XxSPIDEYxX]

So according to the review...the online is incredible in every way, but loot boxes ruin the experience. I get that it's cool to throw stones at EA, but it would be nice if reviewers gave this treatment to other big games with lootboxes/pay to win.

Uncharted 4 literally uses the same method, reviewers didn't mention it, Call of Duty has been pay to win for awhile now, and reviewers are having to much fun to care. I guess at the end of the day reviews don't matter, sales do, and these lootbox games will unfortunately continue to make millions.

[81BX]

True.

[moegooner88]

Keyword is implementation.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Keyword Uncharted isn't pay to win

[XxSPIDEYxX]

Uncharted 4 is pay to win and it follows the same free DLC guideline as Battlefront 2. Powerful Mysticals and weapons are unlocked either through random lootboxes, or just outright buying them with real money. It's been like this for awhile now.

[TheEroica]

The game is out?

[bigmalky]

Dear Disney,

Please give Star Wars to a decent, customer-friendly publisher that does not prey on stupid people's wallets.

Be a part of the solution, not the problem.

Kind regards,

The gamers who still have braincells.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Sorry, EA has an exclusive Star Wars license until 2023.

[bigmalky]

Unless they do something to put the Star Wars name to shame. Like cancelling a huge single player game that could have been amazing, or maybe releasing a game that gets kids gambling.

That would never happen though...

I'm sure the contract can be ripped up if EA don't deliver.

[-Foxtrot]

My issue is they've let them have it and also anything they do is canon to the timeline. The story I wanted to see on screen, a film which tells you what happened between 6 and 7 will not happen because they'll have to tip top around Battlefront II.

I wanted to see like a Rogue One spiritual successor, even though some said it wasn't needed I loved how Rogue One took a plot hole of A New Hope and created a film around it using some story elements from the expanded Universe which they make non canon. They need something like it between 6 and 7 which shows the rise of the First Order and how the Empire changed. Maybe like Rogue One in reverse which would end it on another downer...no matter what they did, the First Order still overcame the Rebels and was born.

[bigmalky]

I would love to see a movie about the bounty hunters quest to find Solo after Empire, leading up to Jedi.

Shadows of the Empire did a really good job, but stupidly, it's not canon anymore.

[Mikelarry]

Lol watch how IGN gives it a 9.5 out of 10

[Omnislashver36]

oh god

[BenjaMan64]

I'll wait for other reviews. I remember a "reviewer" who outright lied about everything in Shadow of War being blocked behind paywalls (I even got the Platinum Trophy without having to spend a single extra dollar) and claiming that other players could kill your orcs and wreck your fortress, ruining your game, while you're not playing... something that can never occur, as your online fortress is separate from your single player fortress.

[Toby_1981]

All the third party games have been mediocre at best this year. Only third party games I liked was Evil Within 2 and Assassin Creed Origins.

[Perjoss]

I'm not on board with EA Battlefront at all but I can't agree with your comment. Nioh, Nier, Wolfenstein and Divinity 2 have all been really well received this year.

[notachance]

lol what? I put 400 hours in Nioh, play through Persona 5 twice, and platinumed Nier
not to mention the supreme quality of Divinity 2

[Toby_1981]

Those are third party exclusives. I'm talking about third-party multiplatform games

[Perjoss]

Makes me feel even better about skipping this one

[Sgt_Slaughter]

The people that respond to our legitimate criticisms about loot crates/microtransactions with "Well don't buy them then." are the root of the damn problem. It's your demographic that EA and other companies are trying to aim for. The ones that won't raise issue with shady business practices and ignore but still buy their games every year.

[badboyz09]

Expected EA is TRASH!!!

[captainexplosion]

Based on what I have played I'm not sure if I would even give it a 4/10, and I expected it to be good. The best mode in the original was imo Heroes vs Villains, and now the mode is trash. It went from fun and strategic to team deathmatch that doesn't really work with just heroes. On top of that the MP is really confusing. I wasn't sure how to attach star cards or whatever

[Gamist2dot0]

Guess the online community will fall flat in no time like BFront.

[stefd75]

I'm still looking forward to it, I just want to have fun. I had fun in the last game, I am having fun in COD WW2 and I hope this will be the same.

[Natsuluk]

RIP star wars. Thank you EA.

[Luvofdegames]

Hopefully this games multiplayer flops which should help EA rethink twice before trying to implement this PTW bull in the next battlefield game.

[GamerAllTheWay]

Did anyone notice this line?

"This review is based on several hours of play time with the 10-hour “Origin Trial”, which is too my knowledge the final retail code that players will experience on November 17th."

So, this person is reviewing a 10 hour trial version of the game without any further access to its single-player campaign? Can this be taken as a credible review? For me, I don't think so. The reviewer line "is too my knowledge the final retail code" - this can be factual, but it also points to a mere clickbait review to get views.

I would rather wait for other credible sources (not IGN, GameSpot, Gameinformer, etc.) like AJS, ACG, Jim Sterling, and the other journalists who aren't afraid of getting blacklisted and giving out their honest opinion.

EDIT:
Furthermore, this is at the beginning of the article: "Electronic Arts acknowledged Broken Joysticks’ request for a review copy of Star Wars: Battlefront II but did not provide the site with a review code in time for publication." - I sense a great disturbance of saltiness right here.

[Emme]

I am only playing a few hours per week, I dont care about lootboxes.

[Many-hat5]

So as long as you are OK. F**k the rest of gamers and the industry. Okay, well that's fine, I guess.

[Emme]

I get the feeling that some people just overhype this stuff. Get a life. Dont do MT, spend the time levling up, whatever. So many games to choose from.

[C-H-E-F]

Oh wow, it's that bad? I thought this one was supposed to be better than the first one lawd, i'm glad i never watched star wars because i would've been suckered to buy this lOl.

[Pancit_Canton]

I give this game 💩/10

[Criti-Choco]

Im not here to defend the practice of loot boxes, but giving a 4.0 to a game just because you dont like loot boxes is an even worst practice. The game is good, loot boxes, while you can pay to get stuff, it doesnt really ruin the games balance as it takes time to obtain most of the high end stuff anyway. I played my 10 hours and I got a decent amount of stuff with out spending a dime, simple don't like it? don't support it by buying them. Only thing im not so hot on is that direct x 12 is not "totally supported" its a questionable setting. Should also be said, story was pretty good from what the trial provided but we will see more after tomorrow I suppose.

I'm just not all so thrilled about people jumping on hate bandwagons, business practices change, and sometimes suck, but that doesn't and shouldn't serve as a punishment from what the devs work on. DICE does good work, you cannot blame them on what EA corporate wants to do with it.

[Many-hat5]

I know it's not a major site, but I still give credit to them for speaking out. They risk the wrath of EA, and petty retaliations for speaking the truth,but I support them for their courage. Well done.

[Many-hat5]

Really good to see gamers across all platforms uniting to protect our pastime. If I could, I would give you all a +1 for speaking out. Applause to all of you.

[Officialxandr]

So EA wants to focus primarily on multiplayer to penny, nickel, & dime us through microtransactions.

[Indigon]

If only Gamespot and IGN would have any balls to give this game its deserved low score.

[Amyellevivv]

Too much boxes 1/10 IGN

[LrryLegend]

Well hey guys can ask a serious question? Since they gave out the season pass for the first battlefront on the ps store about a month ago, is that worth putting my time into? I suck at PvP but I love Star Wars of course like most of you do. Thanks for any advice.

[FPS_D3TH]

Hope it tanks like the last one. This pay to win crap needs to never exist in paid games. Piss off and learn your lesson EA. You’re gonna have to come up with better consumer practices than this crap

[MetroidFREAK21]

So glad I canceled my preorder

[andrewsquall]

Well then that is essentially the whole game. A 2 hour DICE campaign is hardly going to bring that score up by much.

[Retard]

"...be prepared for one of the worst psychological waiting torture tests to be found in a video game..."

Literally made me lol.

[windblowsagain]

BF4 is a much better game then both BF1 AND Battlefront 1&2.

Graphics are decent and all that, but it's lost the fun of older games, plus the laser weapons just feel too powerful no matter how far away they are. Feel like a sheep being herded the way the game wants you to go.

Every MP games does not need to be and EPIC battle in tiny little spaces.

[IamTylerDurden1]

I love how everyone suddenly is outraged by Battlefront having loot boxes but all the other games that just released with their egregious MTs get a pass...

I love how videogame snobs select specific games and companies to hate on and it becomes "the cool thing". Ppl are outraged by EA implementing GaaS meanwhile there are companies like Microsoft and Ubisoft restructuring to implement GaaS as their model going forward.

[Jinger]

Been playing it on EA Access for a bit. Almost rank 10 and have been loving it.