Star Wars Battlefront 1 (Original from back in the day) versus new Battlefronts

Battlefront 1 > Battlefront 2

It felt more like the Battlefield Star Wars clone that the game was originally supposed to be.

I love the new games too, but I REALLY miss picking one era and sticking to it. Also, Galactic Conquest where you fought over individual planets was incredible and needs to be brought back in some way.

If anyone has played Battlefield 1, their Operations gametype is pretty much your template for how Galactic Conquest can work and work well in 2018.

 

Any way to crush that Rebel scum. I would have loved to have seen that in the films. Imagine wave after wave of Wampas advancing on the Rebel Base being given support by Imperial Walkers. The Imperials were there to liberate the occupied Wampa homeworld.

Yes I think "Freedom to have fun" in your own way is important. Rails are not really the way to do that. Also in BF (2004) you could choose your own strategy to capture all command posts/vanquish the enemy. The maps felt large, the battle epic and more troops at once. Honestly, this in 2018 graphics should be Battlefront 3.

 

I'm sure they'll boost the troop counts for the next BF game; considering it's more than likely going to show up for the next-gen consoles. I know what you mean about objectives. More often than not I find myself going out of the boundaries of where I'm supposed to be with my team, and then the countdown starts before I'm killed off and respawned. I could be wrong, but the only "boundaries" I remember in the early 2000 games were where you literally couldn't move your character anymore. Maybe a high wall or a cliff, for instance.

 

Yes the map felt more expansive. And the high unit count (I think it was something like 35 of each faction present, and then when your reinforcement count went down to 50, everyone released in one burst), made it feel like an epic battle, rather than just localised small skirmishes.

It would be great to revert to that to really make this feel like a large "Battle" just like Star Wars battles. This wasn't really meant to be about Jason Bourne taking out small waves of bad guys. It was meant to be a regular soldier and a team taking on another army. I also liked the previous unit classes, and no restrictions on becoming a Droideka, Jet Trooper, Dark Trooper etc at any point in the game on the original.

Indeed, it's nice to be able to have your own strategy and by not having a set path and unlocking areas of a map upon objectives, it allows for pretty much a unique different battle every time. That's what made them fun!

I think you're right, the battle map had a background/visual with the old school 2004 graphics. And it was a pretty large map to be fair (take the original Geonosis for instance). When you hit the boundary, there would either be this artificial wall yes (e.g. on Endor, you couldn't walk further than that), or else it would be funny. Either the Imperials commander would issue a communication stating "Deserters will be shot", or the there would be a "Return to the Battefield warning", and if you continued to deviate, you would be terminated. Sometimes that was how I killed the Jedi, by using a tank or wrist rockets to push them "off" the map.

I think the new game obviously has a wonderful graphical visual element on the map and its surroundings. But limits you to explore and fight across it. And too few units on the map at once. Do they actually have the command post structure any more. It seems to be immersive in its visuals, and sounds, no question. But less immersive in its gameplay. Also offline modes seemed better in the originals (not everyone has access to fast internet and sometimes coop local play is what is wanted).

 

The original. I still play it to this day but after a couple of months BF2 is collecting dust next to BF1 which was also pretty quickly shelved. If either of the new games had more to offer in terms of single-player combat then they wouldn't turn into the most expensive coasters I've ever purchased. And I'd probably enjoy the online play more if it weren't for the fact that both have had one of the dumber player bases I've ever encountered. I'll get into some fun games but they usually end quickly because either my teammates or the other team are just running around trying to get kills instead of playing the objective so the game ends within the first 1-2 rounds. I thought setting up the games that way was a good idea at first, because it would encourage playing the objective if you wanted the game to actually last. That plus the fact that BF2 was less concerned with stats. But it's the same.

 

Both Bespin maps, both Yavin 4 maps, both Rhen Var maps, Kashyyk Docks, Dune Sea, etc were all fun in the first game.

 

One thing I remember about the Bespin maps on the original games was how easy it was to jump on board a fighter and shoot at enemy ground troops. Because the entire map was in the sky, there wasn't much room to scatter around without falling off.

 

I need to pilot an AT-TE like yesterday.

 

And you could launch Mace Windu off the map as a Super Battle Droid. That was so much fun

 

I actually enjoyed the silly nature of the Heroes in the original Battlefront. They roamed through the map like some sort of mini-terminators, killing everything in their path and you could only stop them in cheesy ways. It made them appear truly unstopable, so you learned to respect - if not fear - them. On the flip-side, it felt awesome to do as you describe and throw them off a cliff with a well-timed rocket to their feet.

 

Your post is excellent. Made even more so by your avatar of Palpatine. I was laughing for a good few minutes at the thought of the Emperor wearing sunglasses and summoning his Minister for Gaming and commenting haha.

Yes I think the new games (especially BF 2017) are visually out of this world. Honestly incredible. But it's so sad they take out so much OFFLINE gameplay. It's unreal. And I don't understand why in 2017 we have to have vehicles on rails. When BF 1 in 2004 was so AWESOME. Free for all. Offline gameplay. Many many many MORE TROOPS on the map at once.

Yes I think I get what you mean about the player bases. I'm not sure I like that replacing the old command post system. To be honest, just remaking the original game with 2018 graphics, you would have one winner of a game.

I think the problem with objective only based gaming, and too much rails and strict outcome control, is that you ruin the feeling of IMMERSION. The player doesn't have the freedom to decide how they want to win the battle. Where they will go.

Take the old game, take any vehicle (friend or foe) that is empty. JUMP IN AND JUMP OUT whenever you want. You could play the original and have a different battle on the same map almost every time. It was that good!

Yes I concur! Dune Sea, forcing Luke Skywalker into the Sarlaac Pit was funny haha. I felt more immersed on those old maps and with the old AI and troop counts. I liked Bespin too, (trapping the enemy in the Carbon freezing chamber and putting them under siege was funny). Not to mention yes, Bespin, Kasykk island last stands again the Rebel scum and the wookies. GEONOSIS baby, my word so much fun flying gunships or attacking the Forward Command Centre.

If they would just make that game with 2018 graphics, that would be epic.

Yes the Bespin Platforms map was epic. You could take a gunship and attack troops on the platforms. Of course you had to counter those dreaded canons in the inside of the main base though! And I remember the dread of seeing the Jedi/Sith hero charging at you. Basically it was, haha, the enemy will never break our line.... Oh no, Run!! Unless you were the droids, I used to wrist rocket the Force out of Windu, haha. Same with Kamino.

On the Old Hot, in 2004, without rails, I used to take our AT-AT walkers on the mountains making us impervious to attempted toe cable attacks by that Rebel scum. I basically had two AT-AT command posts and the firepower of the entire Empire to blast the Rebels as they emerged from the icy base. PARKED RIGHT OUTSIDE ECHO BASE haha. The Rebel snow speeders used to crash into the mountain in their vain attempt to fly around me.

THIS. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster. The wrist rocket was the weapon of a Super Battle Droid. Before the dark times....Before the Rebel Scum.

I used to do that too! Wrist rocketed Mace Windu off Kamino, Bespin, into the Sarlaac Pit. Of course he would come back. One other thing I liked was with any hero, e.g. Luke, when the unit count dropped to I think around 30, you could all surround him Order 66 style, and keep firing. Literally "FOCUS YOUR FIRE ON ... ON THE JEDI!" and eventually he would fall to blaster fire. Ah the satisfaction.

Of course, holding out against Rebel scum and Wookie sympathisers in the Kashykk Village building was scary. I remember three troopers and myself were down to a reinforcement count of 1 versus 41 rebels (not to mention countless mistaken natives). We fought them off down to just 3 and Victory was imminent.... then my incompetent Imperial Pilot fired his grenade launcher, missing the window completely, and one thermal detonator landed between us as I was reloading. Game over. I'm sure now that he must have been working for the Rebels.

One thing I loved was high unit counts and IMMERSION. But you're so right. The Heroes were honestly like the Terminators. There was an immediate sense of DREAD upon seeing them. Especially if the battle was close. I mean you'd feel great as a droideka, up until the point you see Windu coming down the corridor (I could almost imagine Samuel L Jackson screaming swear words and running at his enemy).

Skywalker was also a pain in the Empire's efforts to suppress this pointless and insignificant Rebellion. I did enjoy forcing him into both the Sarlaac Pit and the Carbon freezing chamber. Of course he spawned again, but still. It was pretty funny though, when the unit count dropped to around 30 I think, then they became vunerable. I would literally say, "Everyone, FOCUS YOU FIRE ON... ON THE JEDI" and he'd deflect up to a point, and then he'd be TERMINATED. Once I had to use wrist rocket and mines to hold off Windu and Dooku respectively on Bespin and Kashykk. There was a hilarious moment on Bespin City, where I somehow wrist rocketed Windu onto one of the side buildings, where he didn't die, but couldn't jump the gap back to the main map. He was forced to OBSERVE as his troopers were defeated by the good guys (the droid army) haha.

I totally agree that you learned to respect, and fear the heroes. It was a more civilised game for a more civilised age. Before the dark times. Before the lack of respect for gameplay. Remake this game with 2018 graphics, (the graphics in BF 2017 were phenomenal), add Iden Versio to that, and you got a great game. I think the AI on the original was also phenomenal. You truly felt like one of the guys. A soldier amongst many. A strategy was required to either win with your army, or go it alone. But the AI never focussed on just taking you out. You got a varied battle each and every time. And freedom to play how you want (e.g. jump into and out of vehicles). I used to love trying to take on the TERMINATORS just in the hope that they would succumb to blaster fire Order 66 style. What amazed me was them virtually taking all rocket, blaster and missile fire from everyone at once. It was like trying to kill Superman!

 

I hated playing as the Republic in the first game.
The Droideka's were overpowered in that game.
The Clone Commander or whoever had the machine gun type weapon in the second game was much more fun to work with.

 

The Droideka was overpowered if it was your enemy. Play as it, and it was epic. But somehow when you were a droideka, your shield was faulty and dissipated fast haha. I think the first game was better than second, as I liked that you could pick whoever at any time. I didn't like the restrictions in the second game. And they made the Droideka overly bad. As in it became pointless to be one, because it was slow and nowhere near as powerful as the films. There was balance in the original Battlefront. E.g. the droideka was NOT good on non flat surfaces. It was completely vulnerable when travelling. And couldn't drive vehicles or command other troopers.

Yes I didn't mind the Republic, but I hated the Rebel scum haha. The gunships made the Republic cool as did the true to movie voiceovers. The Empire or Droids were epic. Although the incompetence of the troopers to hold command posts to the Rebel scum was irritating. I hated that Rebel pilot with a passion and would occasionally forget the battle merely to seek revenge for his impossible long distance shot killing us with a short range weapon.

In the second game, yes I loved that Clone Commander weapon. I wish though they didn't have restrictions of earning certain units. And I didn't feel the movement was smoother. You could run, but too much rolling and no prone. Also fewer unit counts. And for some reason, they kept the original Clone voice for the narrative, but didn't have it in the actual game mode, making me feel less immersed. But they ruined the Droids in the second game. Wrist rockets became nothing. And orbital strikes were gone.

Immersion wise, the AI in the second focussed too much on killing the human player. I remember instances, where friendlies right in front of the enemy were ignored, whilst they aimed some short range weapon at me standing miles away. It was like the AI chose to just hunt down the officer of the army, and forget fighting the battle.

I forgot, ORBITAL STRIKES IN BF 1 were incredible. Kashykk Islands. Get the Rebels/Republic down to just one command post in the village, and fire the Star Destroyer on my command...

 

I just remembered another awesome aspect of the original Battlefront - the narrator of the tutorials:



There's something overly dramatic about his voice that always makes me think of an imperial officer.

 

That was cool. Don't remember the ability to use the Death star to wipe out a planet. But it's been years since I've played GC.

 

That video bringing back the memories!

The Republic had the best base bonus though, you could just totally flip a planet to your control.

There needs to be some version of this in BF2017. Something like operations from Battlefield 1 mixed with the planetary bonuses.

 

Haha I forgot that one! Yes those tutorials were legendary. I mean they are a whole new post in themselves! "Capturing command posts is your primary objective." I love the Imperial voiceover, so good.

Yes the Empire bonus wiped the planet from existence lol.

Memories right!

Yes I like the fact you could take over the planet. Especially since it helped with stalemates. I remember the struggle to take Bespin, or Yavin for instance. Yavin was a tough fight, I remember having to hold out in the Temple against an onslaught.

I wish they made BF3 more like BF (2004) with great graphics. Epic game. Yes, a conquest mode and orbital strikes please!

 

I concur. I think the original Battlefront just got that essence of Immersion right. And total freedom to play how you want, achieve the win how you want. Vehicles on maps at your pleasure. Large army. Varied classes available to ANY player. A sense of grandeur and scale. FUN!

Make that game with 2018 graphics and then my friend, you have a great game!

 

Honestly, that was a game in itself!

I once managed somehow to launch him onto the edge of the map where he couldn't get back, but only watch. I actually said in Palpatine's voice, "From here, you will witness the end of your clone army... and the end of your insignificant Republic!"

Haha to be honest, those videos alone were golden. Something about that Imperial officer speaking that immersed you into the Star Wars universe. The "loathsome" Rebels etc. So epic and civilised.

It was dramatic and made you feel like fighting for the Empire and that you could take on the Rebellion all by yourself!

 

Original Battlefronts are now backward compatible on Xbox One.

You have done well.

 

I would've liked it if they made these new Battlefront's similar to Pandemic's games but with more depth. If you've ever seen the alpha footage of Free Radical's Battlefront 3, Dice could've taken the ideas they had and put their own spin on the series but what we got instead feels like a bunch of overpriced demos, seriously Battlefront 2017 has a quarter of Clone Wars content (only two heroes and no droidekas?) compared to classic Battlefront 2, there's so much material they could've worked with thanks to TCW and older Expanded Universe stories. The rebooted Battlefront series had the potential to be something great but sadly there's not enough content for me to justify a $60 purchase for each entry so it's easy to say I won't be buying the next game.

 

Yes I now what you mean. I think had they just called this "Star Wars Battlefield" they could have done what they did. But they used the Battlefront name and it isn't really following the Battlefront definition of what that game is about. It's a shame, because the graphics are phenomenal. Had they reskinned the old Battlefront and then added new modes, that would have been cool.

I would say I think the original Battlefront 1 (versus Battlefront 2) is the true classic. I think BF2 was rushed. The gameplay and ground maps are better on 1 imo. The rebooted series had so much promise. It's a shame, because I agree, for the price you pay, you don't get the offline content you get with the old games! I mean I played both BF1 and BF2 the other day and was playing new battles every time and trying to win lol.

Agreed on Clone Wars content. I also prefer (especially in BF original number one) how it felt more like you had the authentic film voices. For the Clone Wars era. I am not really up for the cartoon voices. It feels less immersive. And I think had they kept the BF 2017 single player story to what was shown in the trailer (an Imperial perspective) it would have done better also versus the inexplicable story they showed which defied all the marketing and hopes that I am sure many had for such a campaign.

No droidekas is inexcusable. I prefer the original game where there was no unlocking. You could be any class of troop at any time. Jump in and out of ANY vehicle at any time. Have aerial vehicles on ground maps. Etc. What an epic game. "Capturing command posts," galactic conquest, instant action. Those were the days. Just redo that game with great graphics and add new modes, then you can charge $/£/Rep. Credit 60 or more.

I did see the concept for BF3, and it seemed interesting with combined space and land mode. I feel like had the space battles been upped to 2017 quality graphics, and say you had the ability to board and capture enemy capital ships and use them in your fleet, that would be cool. E.g. have the equivalent of land command posts on a capital ship to capture it and use it. That would make it a massive battle with stakes.

Honestly I wonder why they have constrained the actual game content of the new games so much. It's a shame. Graphically they are good, but that is to be expected. What is sad is the trend of gameplay being reduced. Especially offline content. Dangerous and disturbing this is!

Interestingly, if you play on the Xbox One, you can play the originals which get serious upscaling and I must say they look good! Whilst the far far away horizon might look a bit old (but it is still clearer), the character models and graphics within the immediate surrounding looks good in virtual 4K!

 

What everyone liked about classic Battlefront back in the day were it's similarities to Battlefield and had Dice used their newer games as templates for Battlefront's reboot along with implementing substantial differences to make it feel unique from Battlefield, it would've been well worth playing. Remember the levolution events from Battlefield 4? We could've had similar mechanics like maybe forest fires on Endor, sandstorms on Tatooine that impair your vision, buildings on Coruscant crumble over soldiers as enemy ships from space engage in bombardment, heck, why not have a Star Destroyer crash in the middle of a map and have the opposing teams fight through the wreckage. I knew Dice wasn't going to make the Battlefront 3 that got cancelled but what I didn't expect was the lack of content.

 

Yes I mean I really wish we saw the graphical wondrous environment of the Dice game with the original Battlefront mechanics.

The reduced offline content especially is rather odd. You would have thought that they would at least have the original modes that the older games had. I also preferred the higher unit count and an era before perks and not being able to field any class at any time (without points). Somehow in the old games (which still look good when upscaled with backwards compatibility), you felt so immersed in the battle. One of the many.

Yes Coruscant, I want that too! I feel like the original 2004 game still has that real feeling of being inside Star Wars. If you did that game and then added the new game modes (in addition to the original modes) for offline play, upped the graphics to 2018 and added more maps and then space battles, that's the perfect game.