XBOX REVIEW | STAR WARS: Battlefront Classic Collection

“Fight in some epic iconic battles from across the STAR WARS Galaxy”

Having played both the original Star Wars Battlefront games many years ago on the original Xbox, I was very keen to jump into this collection to see if the gameplay still holds up and also to see how it looks and runs on the Xbox Series X. This is not a remaster but a port of the original with enhanced textures and now running in 4K ULTRA HD and 60 FPS. I really had a good blast playing through the single-player campaigns that are available in the first and second Star Wars Battlefront games. Unfortunately, every time I have tried to play online, there have only been a few servers available and no other Xbox players playing. So if you want to play online, you are only playing against 64 bots. There is also no cross-platform play available, which is a shame.

Things I liked!

• Gameplay | Instant action that you can jump into at any time. I mostly played offline as I found it much more fun and enjoyable. Whether you just have a few minutes spare or a few hours, Battlefront Classic Collection has lots of enjoyable arcade action. The first Star Wars Battlefront game has two campaigns in single-player: the Clone Wars campaign and Galactic Civil War campaign. While quite fun to play, these only took me a few hours to complete. The objectives in these campaigns, across a variation of missions, are to kill 200 enemies before they kill 200 of yours. Star Wars Battlefront 2, you have the Rise of the Empire campaign, which is around 8 hours long depending on difficulty. Thankfully, the sequel has much more variation with its missions while still all revolving around various stories from the Star Wars universe. I enjoyed playing as some of my favourite characters, such as Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, Boba Fett, and many more. Each character has their own unique ability, which is fun to use.

• Sound | As you would probably expect from any Star Wars game, the music is truly spectacular. Here, you have all the classic music from the Star Wars movies, all recorded with a full Orchestra, and it does sound really good – from menu music to when you are fighting in battle. The sound effects are also top-notch as you fire your plasma rifle, you hear the iconic ‘pew pew’. And then you have the sound effects of the lightsabers, I mostly heard these whistling through the air just before one of the jedi killed me.
  
  
• Replay Value | Star Wars Battlefront collection has tons of replay value. You can play any of the 17 maps available on the first Battlefront game and 28 maps in Battlefront 2. If you have a friend over, you can also play in split-screen mode, which I found ran really well with no issues.

Neither good nor bad

• Controls | The controls do feel outdated at times, but they become easy to grasp after playing for a few hours. In  Battlefront 1, there is no run or sprint button, which can be frustrating when moving around at a slow pace. However, in Battlefront 2, you have the ability to run, which is especially helpful when you respawn far away from your intended location. Additionally, there are some accessibility options such as auto target and aim assist that you can toggle on or off. Furthermore, you can seamlessly switch between first-person and third-person perspectives with the push of a button, a feature I found quite useful in specific situations.

• Graphics | The visuals in  Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2 both exhibit much better resolution and textures, and both run very smoothly. The character models all look impressive. However, the backgrounds in the levels vary. Some feature very blurry water effects, while others, such as stars and planets, appear more refined. The cutscenes before each level during the campaigns also have their ups and downs. Some seem directly lifted from the original Star Wars Battlefront games, while others consist of short clips from the original movies. Personally, I appreciated the latter. I never encountered any game-breaking bugs, but at times when standing next to a wall or solid object, I could see through it.

Things I disliked!

• Checkpoints | Some of the checkpoints in both Battlefront 1 and 2 were very frustrating. When you respawn, you often find yourself far away from where you need to be on the map, resulting in a good five minutes spent trying to get back to your intended location.

• Online | It’s extremely disappointing that there aren’t enough online players to fill a complete 64-player match. Despite spending several hours playing online, I constantly find myself surrounded by 63 bots. The reason behind this scarcity of human players remains unclear, but it appears that not enough people have purchased the Star Wars Battlefront collection or that players have simply stopped playing early on.
  
  
• Space Battles |  I genuinely did not enjoy the space battle missions in Star Wars Battlefront 2. The controls felt awkward and clunky. Moreover, these missions often felt unbalanced, with everything seemingly working against you. At any moment, my ship could be destroyed, catching me off guard. Fortunately, for these missions, there is an option to skip the space battles part of the mission.

How long did I play the review before publishing? 16 hours
How long to beat the story? 12 hours +
How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 20/45
How long to achieve 1000G | 30 hours +
You’ll love this game if you like these | Battlefield V and Star Wars: Squadrons