Battlefront 2015

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there's a frog in my snake oil
This is the place you're looking for....

(If you're after shoddy gifs, dubious leaks, and general conspiracy theories in the run up to Battlefront...)

Currently it looks like this...



Which is the modern equivalent of this...



Ergo I rest my case . It's worth getting stupidly overexcited for over the next 4 months

You can find actual video footage of the recent closed Alpha over in this post. Any further juicy stuff will be deposited below
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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here



there's a frog in my snake oil
You seem to be able to vouch for your EA Beta preferences HERE

*EDIT* Dammit, they've removed the Battlefront option

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Blast is a 10v10 Team Deathmatch in 'bespoke' smaller maps: ice caves on Hoth, a 'vertical' Tatooine set up using a Jawa sandcrawler etc

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I do like it when the audio devs get to big up their craft. Ever wondered if a tree creaks on Endor when there's no-one around? They're there, recording air



there's a frog in my snake oil
Well they got the cheesy dialogue in there at least



Would hope the Falcon could be multi-crewed, but looks like it's a 'hero' pickup so unlikely

The transport objectives and scenary/turret dodging might be fun, especially with clouds thrown in. Liking the idea of bonuses being tucked into low 'stunt' flight paths and AI cannon fodder. Air combat alone modes can be a bit dull, so that's all good. Apparently some of the ground stuff is Death Star sections under construction. Nice way to dodge the lack of space battles if so



there's a frog in my snake oil
Just some johnny-come-lately Alpha footage of the 'wave' mode. Still not something I care for, but the Tatooine crags do look great. Audio's low on this vid, but you still get a flavour of how rich the soundscape seems to be.




stevegotlen's Avatar
The Terminator
I never played this high graphic games. Is this good or is it bad?



there's a frog in my snake oil
Is it good/bad that you haven't played games like this? Or this game in particular?

This one isn't actually released yet, so that's fine

On 'AAA' games in general, I think they're getting closer to cinematic fidelity, and the audio has been good for a long while, so they could be of interest to cinephiles. In this case it's just the chance to run around in the pulpy Star Wars world, with the sounds and sights whipping past your head, and actually feeling like you're in that universe, that appeals to me. But there are other nice hat tips out there like the Western locations and story vibe recreated in Red Dead Redemption for example.

That kind of interesting emotional storytelling is normally more the preserve of cheaper indie games though. It's rare to find all the best aspects of computer games (and some of those of film) combined in any one game.

So yeah, it's not bad that you haven't played them, but you might like some of them . It is an expensive hobby though. (I've made a high-end PC just so I can play games like this with all the lovely lighting / shadow effects etc on maximum!)



Registered User
[center]This is the place you're looking for....

(If you're after shoddy gifs, dubious leaks, and general conspiracy theories in the run up to Battlefront...)

Currently it looks like this...

Hm, well even if the graphics aren't state-of-the-art that doesn't totally turn me off.

IMO graphics only have to be "good" up to a certain degree to give the player an immersion feel. The early N64 and Playstation 3D graphics for example are dated and haven't aged well - but once you get to the Ps2 era and beyond, the difference in graphic quality is a lot more marginal.

In other words, there's a huge difference in graphics between the PS and PS2, but a much smaller difference between say, the PS3 and PS4.

So this really doesn't bother me - heck if anything it'll make the game more accessible to players with lower-end PC, who can't afford to chalk out $1,000 on PC upgrades just to play the latest games.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Back to the game gossip... given that vehicles were looking to be power-up only, this is great news



Would have been an absolute shame if you couldn't shoot someone off their speederbike and then zip off in a flanking manoeuvre. Glad they kept this Battlefield-esque aspect

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Also, for a short while only, here's some actual scrubby gameplay from the Fighter Squadron mode...



Flight model still looks zippy but pretty basic, but that's just staying true to the originals . Atmospherically it looks great - literally in the case of the clouds. No pop up that I could see even at those speeds and height changes. The low-lying fruit of the powerups look accessible but no cakewalk. (Just flying low is gonna make you a tempting target as it is).

Shame he didn't try the interior view. I've heard it's harder to use but pretty atmospheric in there. (Sparks flying off the dash etc).



there's a frog in my snake oil
A Reddit user has kindly dumped the client code from the Alpha on us.

I can't make head or tail of it of course, but I can read folder names. Behold, my own personal exclusive for you... Battlefront will include...

Droid Mouse!



Oh yes, that settles it. It's going to be good

I should really stop truffling for information now. It's out in November darn it.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Hm, well even if the graphics aren't state-of-the-art that doesn't totally turn me off.

IMO graphics only have to be "good" up to a certain degree to give the player an immersion feel. The early N64 and Playstation 3D graphics for example are dated and haven't aged well - but once you get to the Ps2 era and beyond, the difference in graphic quality is a lot more marginal.

In other words, there's a huge difference in graphics between the PS and PS2, but a much smaller difference between say, the PS3 and PS4.

So this really doesn't bother me - heck if anything it'll make the game more accessible to players with lower-end PC, who can't afford to chalk out $1,000 on PC upgrades just to play the latest games.
Oo, missed this!

The graphics are actually looking pretty damn shiny for an Alpha. The shoddiness there is purely down to the multiple compressions (I ripped it from a 720p YT vid, and then both the Gif site & the hosting site further compressed it). The original vid, with all the sound blaring, is actually pretty stunning even at 720p. I just particularly loved that freeform moment when he hears the AT-ST, then turns to see it with the Cruiser & sunlight behind. And the fact that it then gets totalled . (It also helped that he'd filmed that round HUDless).

But yeah, in terms of accessibility, people seemed to be playing it fine even below minimum spec, and that spec should lower nearer release as it is.

The brass tacks are, it's how it plays that's really important. But given the escapism potential of this one, I'm glad the the graphics seem like they're gonna be hitting semi 'realism' on Ultra

*EDIT* Full disclosure, I've gone to town on a big graphics card for this and a few other games

*EDIT2*

Just stumbled on a bit of Alpha footage that survived the cull. 720p again, but not looking too shoddy. Might as well stick it here in case it survives...




there's a frog in my snake oil
Woo, Beta coming early October

The same modes as the Alpha: AT-AT assault carnage on Hoth, the wave mode bot-fest on Tatooine, plus some new mode called Drop Zone.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
I like the idea of how they are handling this beta, granted I don't have a grasp for how common open betas are. This will definitely get dld, granted there is nothing more to an EA account, short of supplying an email. Good job on their part, this may introduce me to a game I will buy, before the glorious months of Feb and Mar.



This may be the closest thing to ever having a "practical" collector's edition. I realize that I don't need stuff like this and it ends up being clutter, but it doesn't lessen my yearning for it. My b-i-l on the other hand, can gladly serve me out of his one day in the future.



there's a frog in my snake oil
February came early, Beta preload is ready

(And some scallywags have early-access keys...)


^^'Cinematics' filmed in live servers^^

*EDIT* Soooo many fake access keys on the Reddits. Oh the humanity.



there's a frog in my snake oil
Damn you late shift... Beta is live...



The more I see the less hyped I am about the gameplay, and available modes, but I'm still itching to get in the middle of the sights and sounds.

I quite like the assessment on Polygon that it almost has a retro PS2 sensibility. I think that's probably the way to appreciate it - not as a dumbed down Battlefield, but as fancy-looking exercise in power-ups and simple pew-pew



there's a frog in my snake oil


If any PCers stop by here... controller is fully supported, if you're feeling foolhardy . I found 10% sensitivity got me used to it, then upped to 25% (need that turning speed). I'm still frequently inaccurate, but that seems entirely fitting



Seems really sweetly optimised. My GTX 970 and crappy CPU are hitting around 70/80fps with everything auto-set to High.

The Polygon assessment seems pretty apt so far. Slap it in 3rd person (There's no accuracy loss, and you get a better field of view) and just scurry about the place like it was an old isometric shooter . With the bonus that the 7.1 surroundy-sound and Star Wars sparkle look great



there's a frog in my snake oil
Beta Impressions: I've been spawned in the middle of a Jedi duel, killed by every form of plasma and hot-metal known to the future, and spent a considerable amount of time hating this game. But here's where I'm at now...

Rebel Yells:
  • Jump-packs! It has friggin jump-packs, and they're great . Just a really fun tool for emergency escapes, map exploration and surprise deadly greetings. Turning flight into fight by pulling off a mid-air kill makes you feel particularly badass.

  • Looks and sounds pretty damn phenomenal, and is often cinematic with it. (It's the Michel Bay end of cinema, but it's still a cool to scamper about in, and DICE's brand of emergent chaos feels fitting here). So many familiar sounds for fans everywhere, and the evocation of being a Rebel/Empire grunt is impressive, even on lore planets like Sullust.




  • The AT-STs are excellent. Really well realised, stalking over terrain, semi-terrifying, but ultimately vulnerable. Playing in one is fun, but taking one down as a Rebel with a well-timed Ion grenade to the cabin is hugely satisfying

  • Co-operation rewarded. My K/D stats are truly beyond woeful, but I was clawing my way into the top half on team-play alone - often getting a jaunty hat-tip at the end for playing the objectives.

  • Pick-ups and Cards work well. Never knowing what you're getting from the weapon pick-ups makes for some fluid gameplay, changing your current objective on the hoof. 'Oo I could just point this autogun down that channel or, no, let's fight to the Uplink and provide cover' etc. The cards allow for some nice builds, from a part-time sniper to an anti-vehicle & installations specialist. Simple but effective.

Empirical Observations:

  • Death Simulator. The first few hours of this are horrible. Until you unlock some of the more defensive and strategic kit you live as a near-permanent red mist. And that doesn't actually slow down much after that. Playing the 'Walker Assault' mode alone would be hellish. It's not unknown to spawn-die three times in a row (admittedly in vaguely amusing ways: 'Oh, AT-AT barrage! Oh, where's that bleeping coming fr..? Oh. Hello Darth!' )

  • If you didn't like the Battlefield series..., or the Battlefront one for that matter, you won't like this. Or at least, the offline Wave modes may be all it delivers for you, on current evidence. If you can persevere in the face of regular insta-death, learn the map's potential hidey-holes and loops, and just have fun with the toys and small victories, then it could still be for you

  • A bit austere... Maybe it's just the Hoth map, and the consta-death, but this cycle of warfare just can't have the fuzzy feel of the movies, and that feels at odds with the verisimilitude of the trappings. The humour isn't really there in the auto-dialogue you can prompt, or the Hero dialogue, and that feels like a missed opportunity. (DICE's slightly leaden running model also makes it feel a bit weighty where it should be touch more cartoony).


I'm tentatively happy with my pre-order. I still can't wait to play the Endor maps, and to see if the rest of the Tatooine maps are as gorram pretty. I don't think it's going to be a classic all told, the gameplay loops & modes feel too familiar ultimately, but it's certainly the most stellar recreation of the trilogy's visuals to date



there's a frog in my snake oil
Oh god, actually this probably sums up Walker Assault better than anything I could write...




there's a frog in my snake oil
Ok, nowwww I get it...



I've done my time in the trenches, I've suffered through my insta-kill marathon, and now I'm out the other side. Where I laugh when I get taken out yet again, because at least I appreciate the skill

One tip has helped massively though: Don't aim down sights unless for long range. There's no penalty to hip-firing, and no benefit to sights beyond zoom. This game is all about keeping fluid, and kinda harks back to older styles in that sense. (And it's definitely improved my temperament now I'm not losing every damn 1 vs 1 )

I could chat on about how the flight model is actually totally fine and combines well the wider battle, how the Hoth balance is intriguing overall (and often comes down to the last seconds), how there are loads of new tricks on display every round, how the anti-shield and anti-vehicle ion stuff is an intriguing but risky strand to pursue, how there's teamwork to be had if you want it, and individual loads to be made with the cards. But the Beta's nigh over, and it's time for bed.

Overall, it's actually turned out to be a lot of fun



there's a frog in my snake oil
This is exactly the type of silliness a good DICE game should deliver