Star Wars: Battlefront - Reception

Reception

Upon its release, Star Wars: Battlefront received generally favorable reviews from the media. It currently holds aggregate scores at Metacritic of 76/100, 82/100, and 80/100 for the PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox versions, respectively. Fellow aggregate website GameRankings reports similar scores of 77.94% for the PC, 82.66% for the PlayStation 2, and 80.46% for the Xbox version. Review scores varied from a 50% approval rating to a 94% approval across the three platforms.

GameSpot Editor Bob Colayco praised the gameplay in general, which he compared favorably with Battlefield 1942. He gave high marks to the versatility of playing modes, such as vehicle control and foot battle. The GameSpot team also praised the PC version for its extensive online play. Ivan Sulic of IGN praised the graphics, sound, general Star Wars setting, and online mode, but was very critical of both the AI and the single-player mode. "This is a multiplayer-centric third and first-person shooter, means players who opt to stick to single player will have something to do, but won't be thrilled enough to desire extended play." He cited three major issues with the game's single player element: its easy difficulty, its lack of cohesion, and poor AI teammates and enemies. Of the AI, Sulic stated "Everyone is an idiot. The game appears to use a sort of context sensitive AI, meaning bots in the right positions will do stuff (like use turrets and vehicles and lay down cover fire), but those not immediately engaged in combat will idly stand around helping themselves to an endless breather."

GameSpy's Will Tuttle and Sal Accardo also praised the graphics and online mode, but they too criticized the single player campaign. "Historical Campaign gets very confusing because you frequently switch sides from battle to battle", stated Tuttle. He added that it felt like the game's campaign was "tacked on to allow people without PS2 online to have fun." 1UP.com Andrew Pfister followed suit, also praising the graphics. "Visually, Battlefront is exceptional. Never before have the Star Wars battles been so well recreated and detailed". He criticized the game's AI, however. He felt that it was too easy to defeat them, and that they often did not follow commands issued by the player. As with other reviewers, Pfister felt the single player mode was the weak point of the game, citing the PlayStation 2 version specifically for players without online access. Overall, he felt the problems with the game were outweighed by its qualities. "Battlefront manages to stand tall as a great game that does the best job we've yet seen of playing out the battles of the Star Wars movies."