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Star Wars Battlefront II |BETA| Execute Pre-Order 66

i do wish for there to be an announcement when a Hero has joined. and for a better way to know if someone is still a hero. itd be great if you could spend your points to join a queue for the hero spot
 
lol, well at least the lowest common denominator is happy right? I am glad you got the p2w microtransaction, low content, casualfield you wanted. When the servers are drying up in a couple months I better not see you cry about how the game has no depth like the first one!

wheres the lack of content?
 

Raide

Member
i do wish for there to be an announcement when a Hero has joined. and for a better way to know if someone is still a hero. itd be great if you could spend your points to join a queue for the hero spot

Well, I heard my droid officer shout something about an unknown ally joining but a real callous would be nice, just so the team can coordinate and support.
 
I noticed it in Arcade mode after playing a couple of times to get a feel for the different classes/weapons. Of course it shouldn't exist but we know why, they want to gate progression. So people go and spam the arcade modes for their "daily limit" which I think is ~1k-1.5k and then are left with whatever they get from MP. This wouldn't be an issue of course if lootboxes didn't exist where you not only are hoping for X or Y ability but also "craft materials" to upgrade them if your luck is crap.

Fucking lootboxes man...

I mean, the last game didn't have loot boxes and there was plenty to spend credits on, yet its offline modes only gave credits on first completion, let alone multiple times a day.
 
i do wish for there to be an announcement when a Hero has joined. and for a better way to know if someone is still a hero. itd be great if you could spend your points to join a queue for the hero spot
+1

We should hear a snippet of that characters theme music. Definitely needs to feel like a bigger deal than it currently does.
 

Kyoufu

Member
i do wish for there to be an announcement when a Hero has joined. and for a better way to know if someone is still a hero. itd be great if you could spend your points to join a queue for the hero spot

There is an announcement when a hero joins.

The limit on heroes is pretty anti-fun though.
 
i do wish for there to be an announcement when a Hero has joined. and for a better way to know if someone is still a hero. itd be great if you could spend your points to join a queue for the hero spot

The new system is leagues better than the old token pick up. But there are still issues with this one and I feel like you're going to end up having 2-3 people per match, at the end when it's important for everyone to participate sitting in the menu because they're spamming the button hovering over the hero they want to use because they've saved up the points and someone else is using them at the moment, waiting for them to die so they can have a turn.
 

FN-2187

Member
They shouldn’t even implement toggles for CA and the vigenette effect, it should be removed entirely and we should be issued a formal apology from the artists who implemented it.

Agreed.

It is pretty repugnant and I feel bad for the artists who spent countless hours painstakingly recreating the Star Wars universe only for a stupid filter to be turned on that makes everything look blurry and completely un-Star Warsy. All of the films are shot very cleanly and the game should be the same way.

Game is fun though, and I continue to be baffled by the extreme hate some people have for EA's reboot of the series. I could see not loving the first game or this beta, but the comments about this being "trash" and "awful" are laughable.
 

Bahlor

Member
Am I the only one having problems with the game at the moment? Since 3-4 rounds I don't see any end game statistics anymore... mvp etc comes up but it's empty. I dont get any credits and I can't select any cards and all classes are lvl 0. My collection still has everything, except that after every restart of the game... I see all cards as "new" again.
 

adj_noun

Member
The new system is leagues better than the old token pick up. But there are still issues with this one and I feel like you're going to end up having 2-3 people per match, at the end when it's important for everyone to participate sitting in the menu because they're spamming the button hovering over the hero they want to use because they've saved up the points and someone else is using them at the moment, waiting for them to die so they can have a turn.

I've certainly never done that!

...

>_>

Did someone explain it in the thread?

It's mostly just playing the objectives and having a decent percentage flying bombers so you can off the objectives quickly.
 

Sephzilla

Member
i do wish for there to be an announcement when a Hero has joined. and for a better way to know if someone is still a hero. itd be great if you could spend your points to join a queue for the hero spot

Yeah a more clear callout for a hero joining would be good. I'm not sure about a hero queue though since that might clog up things a little
 

Klocker

Member
Post play impressions from PS4 and PC:

Generally I actually prefer playing with a controller. The more arcadey style of this game just makes a better fit with one, compared to Battlefield. If I pick this up on the PC I'll have to really play around with the key bindings to get something comfortable. Without having a selection of weapons to scroll through via the mouse, and instead using power ups, it becomes a lot more key intensive.

Third person seems to be the far superior perspective to play in. I kept trying with 1st person, and will switch to it on occasion, but the wider viewing angle, peeking around corners without exposing yourself fully, etc. Part of this might be fixed with an FOV slider for first person.

Space combat is so much better this time around. It took me a few goes to get to grips with it, but I feel much more in control of the aircraft, the responsiveness has vastly improved, I can manually roll my spacecraft, and aiming is easier for me.

Visuals? On both accounts they're okay. PS4 obviously suffers from having much weaker hardware, but even the PC has dissapointing amounts of pop-in, which I presume will be corrected for the final release. On the PC in particular, it would be nice to turn off some of the visual clutter (Naboo must be infested with pidgeons and doves, and they really need some road sweepers to sort the leaves out). Overall this bit is somewhat harder to judge, as I don't know how old this build is, and how much both versions will improve between this and the final build (and even how many more settings we will receive).

Gameplay: there's a definite push by DICE to make this a deeper game than the first: proper class systems which broadly do feel different and not overlapping, inclusion of power-ups and heroes via battle points rather than floating orbs, the gun play feels better, with the weapons seeming less 'samey' than previously. In fact it felt more intuitive as to how and when to use powerups too. I felt like in Galactic conquest I knew more of what I was actually meant to be doing. There's a better feel of being rewarded for participating as well as PTFO. The Naboo map has actually had a lot of close battles within the throne room too, and raely has it felt like a walk in the park for either side.

With the maps, vehicles, heroes, and modes we know that are coming, and free DLC for all, I've not got the same concerns as Battlefront (2015) (and I'm saying this as someone who bought the complete edition for £20, I still felt it was light on depth and content). Overall it currently feels like a big step up, and retains that feeling of my nostalgia for Star Wars, and I certainly keep firing the beta up to play more of it.

However, a lot of the improvements do feel half baked. I don't know whether this is because they want the game to reach a slightly more casual market, or a lack of consideration as to the impact of complexity to the longevity of the game. For instance I get dumped into a squad solely for the point of spawning, get told to stick with them for extra points. But there aren't any major incentives to even consider it when I'm playing:

Currently I can't, or haven't seen how to:
See who I'm squadded up with
Choose/create a squad
Have a squad leader
Spawn in on a squad member to limit walking time and keep up tempo on the enemy
Offer ammo (or in this case cool downs)
Offer healing/revives
Pilot/repair spacecraft together (the Clone ship on rails on Naboo, why can't three of us rip things up inside it?)
Get leadership rewards for directing my squad
Spot enemies for squadmates, only my team via binocs etc.

It's baffling that a more rigid squad system isn't in the game, given that DICE literally has the framework to take and adapt in Battlefield.

I kind of wish every trooper had sidearms to jump to when their gun overheats, but I suppose its about keeping an eye on that bar, and also it would mess with perks.

Whilst when I started on the Beta it felt like I was getting shot from all sides and dying constantly, those concerns have gone as I've learned the maps and the flow of gameplay. The TTK is arguably a little too short, and the visual clutter doesn't help picking out, but I think there's also two other reasons why this feeling exists. One is that the Naboo map is essentially a long wide corridor, so it can be quite easy to find yourself going from a quiet spot to the middle of the action in seconds without quite realising it. Secondly, compared to say Battlefield One, the sound design is different with the weapons. There I'm very careful about given my position away either via sound or muzzle flash, but in the beta, they're less apparent, and less likely to send a load of players hunting you down in the same fashion. Thus it can be harder to tell where you've been shot from initially, but also you as the player are more likely to take some sneaky but risky shots when flanking an enemy, as it's less likely to have dire consequences compared to Battlefield One.
great assessment thx, feel the same, will continue to give it a try before canceling
 

sloppyjoe_gamer

Gold Member
Thinking about this more, this beta build just has to be old or missing some graphic effects or something. Playing on a PS4 Pro, and if someone were to put a screen from this beta next to a screen from Battlefront 1 (specifically the endor level), the differences are astounding. This just doesnt look right at all.

I've played through Horizon ZD and other games on the same 4K set and configurations that look spectacular. This beta just looks so washed out to me.
 
The new system is leagues better than the old token pick up. But there are still issues with this one and I feel like you're going to end up having 2-3 people per match, at the end when it's important for everyone to participate sitting in the menu because they're spamming the button hovering over the hero they want to use because they've saved up the points and someone else is using them at the moment, waiting for them to die so they can have a turn.

yeah thats definitely going to be a problem. if someones a hero i usually just play and wait till they die and hopefully i get killed so i can pick. if not i just go with the jet trooper
 
Are all the people saying the graphics look bad playing on console? The first Battlefront doesn't look so hot either on them, especially on the Xbone. This game looks incredible, noticeably better than the previous entry and Battlefield 1 on PC with Ultra settings.

Remember you're playing a beta, the final product will most certainly look and perform better than what we're testing now. And I don't believe the beta even has Pro support so to judge its looks on either console at this stage is moot..


Aside from the CA, the game certainly doesn't look worse than the first. It very clearly looks better than BF1 (both of them). And even knocking the game for having the CA and the vignette filter is entirely down to player preference, not an outright fact that the graphics are worse (granted, 99% of the community seems to agree they do not like these filters).

As for the performance, I mean, we are playing a beta. It being a Frostbite game, I fully expect it to run great at release or sometime afterwards. It could also just be your rig not playing well with it. I've got everything on Ultra, TAA, and Resolution Scale at 150% and my FPS on Theed averages near 150 and I'm getting around 180 on the Fondor space map. Takodana however runs pretty bad sometimes. I've seen it dip to 90fps and it occasionally stutters. But considering how great Endor and Argonne Forest run in their respective games, I'm sure these performance issues will get ironed out.


I'm saying my performance is way better in Battlefront 2 on ultra,but it's not nearly as impressive as Battlefield 1. Was wondering if things were downgraded between the two games.
 
So far I do prefer BF2015's gunplay. Could have to do with how blaster bolts looked, they are noticeably thinner in BFII. Loved how it looked in the first, so a bit of a shame that they changed this.

On the one hand I embrace the recoil (and to a lesser extent the spread), but not so much a fan of the ADS benefits. I loved how I could strafe and roll in BF2015 to outgun multiple people, made it feel akin to something like Halo, whereas the gunplay in BFII is a lot slower and more tactical in comparison.
 
^Yes. Looks like I took too long looking for images.
_________

I figured out what I was feeling.

The blasters feel more like guns than, well, blasters. The bolts look and act more like bullets than blaster bolts. It's harder to kill people because it's harder to see where your shots are going. I really don't like this.

2015 game
rendition1.img.jpg
 
One more thing I've noticed: very often I'll almost finish an opponent off, they run out of sight, and a team mate gets the killing stroke (or sometimes I've directly seen a team mate jump in whilst my weapon overheated etc), and yet I'll get the kill.

I presume this is not a bug, and a feature to help more casual players stick with the game. I've always just got kill assist points in Battlefield in that scenario.

Loot boxes. I still feel like I don't fully understand the ins and outs of this system to give a full critique, but I'll just say this: a lot here will just see this as the lesser of two evils (the other evil being map packs, which I agree do split the online community up, it's just less of an issue on multi-million selling titles like this one), because in theory all items can be earned in game (assuming enough time in-game to harvest enough space bucks to buy more crates, and having pot luck to get the item you're after) making them an optional purchase.

Of course that presumes that they are the only two choices to create a post launch revenue stream for the publisher- loot boxes or map packs (and some cheeky companies use both...even Battlefield does this). There will be other options, it's just that they haven't been invented yet/become common place, and in this case, EA knows its a safe choice to use a loot crate system if paid map packs are not going to be a thing anymore (people will buy them in droves, and the system is well known from many other titles), as it requires limited innovation and risk for them as a company, just slap Star Wars items in each crate.

I can't help but agree with Jim Sterling: the loot crate system as concept is gambling, and does rely on the so-called whales to buy oodles of crates (and as he pointed out, its an unregulated market which let's face it, will be seen and utilised by children). You are able to earn everything in game sure, but how long will I have to wait for a particular card/emote/powerup/etc? I could be lucky enough to open up something fantastic day 1, or it could be dozens or hundreds of hours of gameplay to recieve it. That itself incentivises people to start buying crates to just speed up this dull process. Some of these cards will doubtless have fantastic effects in-game, that will really help out, further incentivising cracking crates to get them. It would be mitigated ever so slightly if we find out that unwanted cards etc can be cashed in at a decent rate, that a trading system exists between players for cards of the same rarity, and that items could be purchased directly with space bucks (I think this was announced right?). Even Battlefield only keeps skins and optional melee weapons behind its crate system IIRC. By gaining free map packs, I'm not so how 'costly' the loot crate system will be to my enjoyment of the game, because gameplay effects and mechanics are locked behind it.
As said I'll hold my full judgement until I've seen the final system, but this being EA, and a 2017 game, currently I'd rather just pay for a set of DLC maps.
 

Klocker

Member
maybe it's just the maps but the choke points and ttk are ridiculous, occasionally I can get a flow to the game but most often you are just spawn, kill, die, repeat.


capture the cargo mode going AWOL, sucks as well as there was some strategy to that and some time to do things besides become cannon fodder.
 

timewyrm

Member
maybe it's just the maps but the choke points and ttk are ridiculous, occasionally I can get a flow to the game but most often you are just spawn, kill, die, repeat.


capture the cargo mode going AWOL, sucks as well as there was some strategy to that and some time to do things besides become cannon fodder.


But there is a similar mode in strike where you have to capture the artifact from Maz's castle or fort or whatever.
 

Klocker

Member
[/B]

But there is a similar mode in strike where you have to capture the artifact from Maz's castle or fort or whatever.

capture the cargo was basically capture the flag, is it like that? where it goes back and forth and you both are trying to capture return artifacts at same time?
 
So far I do prefer BF2015's gunplay. Could have to do with how blaster bolts looked, they are noticeably thinner in BFII. Loved how it looked in the first, so a bit of a shame that they changed this.

On the one hand I embrace the recoil (and to a lesser extent the spread), but not so much a fan of the ADS benefits. I loved how I could strafe and roll in BF2015 to outgun multiple people, made it feel akin to something like Halo, whereas the gunplay in BFII is a lot slower and more tactical in comparison.

yeah me too. i think they are thicker in the movies too. you don't really see them that well in bf2 on pc.
 
^Yes. Looks like I took too long looking for images.
_________

I figured out what I was feeling.

The blasters feel more like guns than, well, blasters. The bolts look and act more like bullets than blaster bolts. It's harder to kill people because it's harder to see where your shots are going. I really don't like this.

2015 game

"The blasters feel more like guns than, well, blasters."

Well said, this is exactly what I feel as well. We need more lasers.
 

Voidwolf

Member
One more thing I've noticed: very often I'll almost finish an opponent off, they run out of sight, and a team mate gets the killing stroke (or sometimes I've directly seen a team mate jump in whilst my weapon overheated etc), and yet I'll get the kill.

I presume this is not a bug, and a feature to help more casual players stick with the game. I've always just got kill assist points in Battlefield in that scenario.
If you look closely you'll see it says "Assist" under the big "ELIMINATED Playername" that flashes. Definitely copying what other games have been doing in order to make players feel like they're contributing. Kinda like in Battlefield games that say "Assist counts as kill", although I assume that's only when you do the majority of the damage.
 
"The blasters feel more like guns than, well, blasters."

Well said, this is exactly what I feel as well. We need more lasers.
I feel like I am watching an enemy's healthbar to see if I am landing my shots. In the last game I could see my bolts hit and see a reaction in their character model. Much cleaner and more visceral.
 

Rygar 8 Bit

Jaguar 64-bit
^Yes. Looks like I took too long looking for images.
_________

I figured out what I was feeling.

The blasters feel more like guns than, well, blasters. The bolts look and act more like bullets than blaster bolts. It's harder to kill people because it's harder to see where your shots are going. I really don't like this.

2015 game

i do like the way they feel in this game just you cant see when you are getting shot or tell where your bolts are going but other wise i love what they have done with the combat
 

timewyrm

Member
capture the cargo was basically capture the flag, is it like that? where it goes back and forth and you both are trying to capture return artifacts at same time?

One artifact. One team defends and the other tries to capture. If the person that gets it is killed then it stays where it is. If a defender gets it (I can't remember how long for) then the artifact resets to its original location.
 
I feel like I am watching an enemy's healthbar to see if I am landing my shots. In the last game I could see my bolts hit and see a reaction in their character model. Much cleaner and more visceral.

You're right, that's exactly it.

You should at the very least be able to tell by looking at your reticle if you're connecting hits, but I, without noticing until you mentioned it, am doing the same thing. Looking at the health bar.
 

Sephzilla

Member
Yeah i love the gunplay in this game but the actual blasts could be a little easier to see/follow. Part of me wonders if the map we're playing is part of the problem
 
If you look closely you'll see it says "Assist" under the big "ELIMINATED Playername" that flashes. Definitely copying what other games have been doing in order to make players feel like they're contributing. Kinda like in Battlefield games that say "Assist counts as kill", although I assume that's only when you do the majority of the damage.

I need to get my eyes tested! Now you've pointed it out, it's like the text is font size 48 on Word!
 
I was sometimes having a hard time seeing where the targeting reticule actually is because it kinda blends unto the background. I mean, it's obviously in the centre of the screen but still. I kinda have a hard time seeing what's going on in this game but in the first game I didn't have this problem.

Edit: They really should put more music in this game.
 
Playing more something feels off about the gunplay. It doesn't feel as fun or rewarding as it did in the 2015 game. It feels like a weird middle ground between the former and Battlefield 1. The FOV is too small for third person, blaster bolts are too small and not visible enough, and TTK is too fast.

I had a better time with the Resistance and Droid default Assault blasters, but the Clones suck. I'll probably get used to these changes, but it's just sad that they felt the need to change it so radically from the 2015 game because too many people didn't understand that's it's an arcade shooter and not a more serious one like Battlefield.

Yea, it certainly feels stiffer, I agree about the experience too, FOV feels limited, you don't feel like you have lasers firing all around you as you can't really see them and honestly I think the sound isn't even close to the first game. Not really sure what's going on here. I figured they would extensively be re using assets
 

Nemic77

Member
Edit: They really should put more music in this game.

This. Boggles my mind how they waste the John Williams soundtracks.

The Jedi Knight series is a perfect example of what to do with the source material. They mixed the tracks from the movies and they sound amazing, playing constantly - no dull moments.

I'll end up playing my custom SW playlist in the back again, like I did in Battlefront 1.

Also, want to echo my dislike for the laser bolts and awful chromatic aberration / vignetting.
 

Voidwolf

Member
They need to improve the default weapon for the Assault classes, the spread on them is terrible and there's little reason to choose Assault over Heavy with the way it currently is. The F-11D the First Order uses is the only one that feels halfway decent, and it's probably a combination of the scope it has and the fact that the sound of it helps make it feel like it packs a punch. The DC-15A the clones use and the E-5 on the droids both feel like pea shooters. And I know the thin laser bolts are also to blame.
 
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