Aspyr Media’s remastered set does little to keep the first two Battlefront games suitable for today’s audiences.
Jordan Ramée
on April 2, 2024 at 12:35PM PDT
On many weekend afternoon, I used to play the first two Battlefront games back in 2004 and 2005, my friends and I invested numerous hours into recreating battles from the Star Wars films, and theorizing why General Grievous in the video game was much stronger than his movie rendition. Indeed, much of my affection for Star Wars is rooted in the first two Battlefront games. But that doesn’t mean the dated mechanics and unbalanced tug-of-war games of the past hold up today. Aspyr Media hasn’t addressed these issues in Battlefront Classic Collection, a package of the two games, leaving them appearing as artifacts from a bygone era that aren’t worth playing in their current condition.
Pandemic Studios’ Battlefront and Battlefront 2 (not to be confused with EA DICE’s 2015 Battlefront and 2017 Battlefront 2) are both shooting games that focus on the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War periods in Star Wars, where you step into the shoes of ordinary soldiers participating in the conflicts. Mechanically, the two games have similar gameplay, although Battlefront 2 adds space battles, playable heroes (like Yoda and Darth Vader from the Star Wars films), and a more narrative-oriented campaign that ties into Revenge of the Sith.
Every army employs four regular soldier types. There’s the standard infantryman with an assault rifle, the sniper for long-range attacks, the beefy demolitionist with a rocket launcher, and the support soldier adept at short-range combat and vehicle repair. In addition, each army has unique special units such as the Republic Clone Army’s Jet Trooper with a jetpack, or the CIS’s rolling Droideka. While the main units are broadly similar across the board, the specialist troops lend an individualistic feel to each army. This design choice is effective, facilitating an easy game learning curve while preventing monotony.
The package comes with six post-launch content maps from both games (one from Battlefront and five from Battlefront 2), plus two playable heroes from Battlefront 2 who were previously exclusive to Xbox-only DLC (Kit Fisto and Asajj Ventress). Along with these additions, some gameplay modifications have also been incorporated. For example, Hero Assault, a Battlefront 2 mode where all playable Star Wars heroes take on the villains, was only playable on the Tatooine map in Battlefront 2 but is now accessible on all terrestrial maps in the Battlefront Collection. Additionally, cross-gen multiplayer support has been added to increase the player limit to 32v32 in each match. Unfortunately, cross-play is not supported.
While these improvements are commendable signs of effort to enhance and modernize the original Battlefront games, it only highlights the unchanged aspects that expose the dated gameplay of Battlefront and Battlefront 2. As such, the Battlefront Collection occupies an odd niche where it isn’t quite an effective remaster or a pristine preservation of the classics.
Despite these qualms, it’s apparent that the original games’ once groundbreaking console shooter gameplay has understandably lost its sheen over two decades. Battlefront 2 fares better due to the improvements it made over the first Battlefront’s mechanics in 2005— soldiers can sprint, the aesthetic details have been sharpened for easier target identification from a distance, and maps are more expansive, leading to more dispersed conflicts. Above all, Battlefront 2 boasts a more engaging campaign. Whether or not it’s part of the official Star Wars canon is immaterial to its intrigue. Witnessing the journey of the 501st Legion from the Clone Wars to becoming Vader’s Fist during the Galactic Civil War offers a unique perspective on the Star Wars saga. The chilling narration by actor Temuera Morrison as the troopers march into the Jedi Temple to carry out Order 66 remains a standout moment in Star Wars storytelling, even two decades later.
Believe it or not, even though the narrative arc remains captivating, the gameplay itself leaves a lot to be desired. You’ll find yourself managing slow, imprecise movements and being pushed towards soldiers equipped with automatic weapons, while other classes only play a marginal role. And since victory is dependent on reducing your enemy’s numbers as quickly as possible, it’s evident that using an assault rifle or minigun is the most advantageous. Using other weapons like a sniper rifle or pistol becomes an afterthought.
Another point of contention is the unequal nature of both offline and online battles. More often than not, once a team secures an initial lead, it’s basically game over. While the objective is to capture command posts in a tug-of-war style combat, the game usually ends up heavily skewed towards the team which holds the majority of the posts. This results in a one-sided battle and a predictably monotonic outcome, especially since a losing team can only spawn from their captured posts. Occasionally, you will see a hero character turn the tides of the battle, as seen in Battlefront 2, but these instances are far and few between.
In terms of the moment-to-moment experience, it can be underwhelming. You may find yourself relying heavily on an auto-aim feature because of imprecise firearms. Yet even then, there is a sense of hollow achievement. With victory arriving somewhat mysteriously, you end up feeling less a part of the win, and more a bystander to fortuitous circumstances.
Last but not least, space battles, especially in Battlefront 2, fail to cut the mustard. Apart from initial excitement stemming from the prospect of engaging in starship battles and sabotaging enemy systems from within, you’ll soon realize that the gameplay becomes repetitive, with no substantial variation between different space maps. Coupled with flawed maneuverability of the starships, the overall experience is more frustrating than thrilling.
The most significant disadvantage of the Battlefront Classic Collection is that we’ve had more Star Wars video games since its launch, all of which surpassed what Battlefront and Battlefront 2 offered. EA DICE’s two Battlefront games feature improved shooting mechanics that value accuracy, alongside vast battlefields that avoid one side from swiftly cornering and annihilating the other. In 2020, Squadron’s air combats vividly progress from Battlefront 2’s space battles, boasting more intuitive controls and a wider array of map variations. Surely, Battlefront Collection merges these components, but not in a robust enough fashion to present a more captivating experience than what’s already available.
Ultimately, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is a letdown. There is ambiguity surrounding whether it aims to be a remastered package or a collection preserving two crucial games from the Star Wars epoch, but regrettably, it falls short in both cases. It neither precisely depicts what Battlefront and Battlefront 2 were, nor does it make substantial tweaks to update these twenty-years-old games to the contemporary gaming atmosphere. The result is a collection that lacks enjoyment and is better off being skipped.
