'Star Wars Battlefront II' early game reviews: Held back by microtransactions and short single player campaign
The highly-anticipated video game, "Star Wars Battlefront II" is just around the corner to the excitement of "Star Wars" fans of the space opera themed universe. Given the hype that surrounds the game, it is not at all surprising that the developers, EA and Dice, have allowed other video game critics a chance to pre-review the game. It is important to note that full reviews have not been released yet, but so far, critics have been pointing out some key negative points.
In a report by Gamespot, the best news that fans may have received about "Star Wars Battlefront II" so far is that all future downloadable content (DLC) will be given away for free to those who have purchased the base game, which to the annoyance of players, simply was not the case in the previous instalment. However, EA seems to have made up for this by bombarding the game with microtransactions, which is something that critics are not very pleased about.
These microtransactions come in the form of loot crates, which have in them randomly generated in-game features and items. This is normally acceptable amongst avid video game players, as long as a particular game does not require players to make these purchases in order to progress in the game. Tech Radar has stated in their review that "microtransactions are a fundamental part of the game's progression system," which is a red flag for most players.
On a more positive note, the developers have been able to successfully create one of the best "Star Wars" games in a while. Compared to the first title, "Star Wars Battlefront II" offers more content for the single player mode, as well as a better online multiplayer set-up. On top of that, the game has amped up the quality of its graphics — making full use of the Frosbite engine, offering players with a healthy variety of scenery with its numerous maps.
The game's single player story has an estimated play-through of about four hours, as reported by The Week. Compared to other conventional triple-A games, four hours is quite short, and may leave fans wanting more single player experience. This could easily be compensated by way of DLC, but the story so far is described to be "lacking" and "full of plot holes."
"Star Wars Battlefront II" is scheduled for release on Nov. 17.
