Game Picks: A sneak peek at ‘Star Wars Battlefront’
An advance look at ‘Star Wars Battlefront,’ released Nov. 17
Late autumn is the busy season in the video game industry, as developers and publishers rush to get their titles out in time for holiday shopping. “Star Wars Battlefront” is one of this season’s biggest titles, scheduled to descend from orbit on Nov. 17.
I got a chance to monkey around with the early access and public beta releases last week, and as such I have some advance reports from the front.
“Battlefront” is designed from the ground up to be a high-octane multiplayer shooter, with teams of up to 20 players to a side gunning it out in iconic Star Wars locales. Depending on mode and mission, you might find yourself in the barren deserts of Tatooine, the arboreal jungles of Endor or the icy tundra of Hoth.
The bad news first: Gamers hoping for single-player action may want to think twice before opening their wallets in November. There’s no campaign mode in “Battlefront” and single-player features are limited to a few one-off missions. In the beta release, only one of these missions was available – a simple survival scenario in which you fend off waves of Imperial stormtroopers on the dusty steppes of Tatooine.
Online multiplayer is where it’s at with “Battlefront” and the beta showcases one of the series’ perennially popular scenarios – the legendary Battle of Hoth. You can play on either the Imperial team or the Rebel team, though be aware that the Rebels, as usual, are hopelessly outgunned.
Based on the opening battle scenes from “The Empire Strikes Back” – arguably the best part of the original trilogy’s best movie – the “Walker Assault” environment is straight-up gorgeous. As those giant lumbering AT-ATs close in on the power generators, Rebel soldiers and Imperial snowtroopers battle it out in a winter wonderland of ice shelves and snowy trenches. Meanwhile, TIE fighters, snow speeders and Y-Wings scream through the air overhead.
The action is non-stop and thrilling, with textures and details running smoothly in the crowded 20v20 mode. Fight long enough and well enough, and you’ll eventually be able to pilot those AT-ATs and aerial fighters, or even play as Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker.
“Battlefront” offers first- or third-player perspective, and if the beta is any indication, the game will be a solid option for these long winter nights ahead. Playing on PlayStation 4, I found myself enjoying the tactical combat challenges and the beautifully detailed environments.
I’m generally not a huge fans of frenetic shooters like this – I prefer lightsaber fights – but there’s something about using laser blasters on Imperial Stormtroopers that never gets old. As a wise man once instructed us: “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.”
“Star Wars Battlefront” (rated T) will be available November 17 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
‘Grow Home’
For a kinder, gentler gaming option, consider the delightful downloadable game “Grow Home” – available now at the Playstation Store or via Steam for PC. An open-world platformer, the game incorporates some movement and exploration systems that we’ve never seen before.
You play as BUD (Botanical Utility Droid), a childlike humanoid robot tasked with terraforming a new planet by growing massive “Star Plants.” These giant beanstalks must be scaled using BUD’s left and right hands, each individually controlled by trigger buttons or key combinations. As you direct the plant’s growth skyward, the organic matter oxygenates the atmosphere, readying the planet for human colonization.
It seems simple enough, and it is, but what makes the game so much fun are the floaty physics and loosey-goosey gravity at play in BUD’s largely vertical environment. Once you get the hang (heh) of the hand-over-hand climbing, “Grow Home” becomes a unique platforming challenge. You can drift between surfaces using parachute-shaped flowers and glider-shaped leaves, or bounce to higher levels on organic protuberances that act like trampolines.
The polygonal graphics bring a retro gaming appeal, but everything is delivered with the clean aesthetic of a Pixar movie. BUD moves around like a mechanical toddler and momentum often plays havoc with his loose-limbed architecture. It’s a lot of fun just moving around this virtual world, sort of like learning to walk again on a low-gravity planet.
“Grow Home” (rated E-10) is now available on Windows and PlayStation 4.
This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Game Picks: A sneak peek at ‘Star Wars Battlefront’."