star wars battlefrontFor years we waited for LucasArts to give the go-ahead for the third installment to arguably the most beloved FPS of the sixth generation of consoles (PS2/Xbox/GameCube). For whatever reason, it never came. Then one day, the gods smiled upon us. The day was June 10, 2013, and after years of speculation, EA announced that DICE would be re-launching the series on the next generation of consoles.

I was 11 at the time Battlefront 2 was released, and I’m sure like many, it would inadvertently signal the fondness I would develop for the FPS genre in coming years. While my passion for FPS games may have waned recently, my adoration for the Battlefront series hasn’t. Inherently, that’s where I see the problem.

DICE recently described the task of creating a new Battlefront game as “scary”, and I agree. We constantly reminisce about classic titles such as Crash Bandicoot, Timesplitters and Baldur’s Gate (to name a few) and hope one day to see them rebooted – but if they were, would it taint our treasured memories?

Nostalgia plays a pivotal role when we think back to those glory days when the internet wasn’t king and we actually had to physically play with a friend via split-screen to enjoy co-operative gameplay. I can still clearly recall my friends and I playing Hero Assault in Battlefront 2 and having a blast – and it’s memories like those that’ll cause me (along with millions of others) to go out and buy DICE’s next-gen Battlefront when it’s released in 2015.

In saying that, I’m nervous because if they get it wrong, they’ll have a loyal fan base to answer to. While I don’t think it’s possible to monumentally screw up like Gearbox did with Aliens: Colonial Marines, fans will be clutching to their memories of the original Battlefront games and if it’s not like how they remember, they won’t be happy.

star wars battlefront2

Now that sense of entitlement isn’t necessarily right, but common sense is often thrown out the window when dealing with a series on a scale as large as Star Wars. Sometimes are expectations as gamers are unrealistic, and change can always be difficult to accept. To be fair to DICE, too, they’ve consistently delivered a strong multiplayer outing with their Battlefield series and haven’t been buoyed by the dollar bills and stooped to annual releases.

Sure, the Battlefront name alone is a genuine cash-cow, but should the franchise have been left in the past? Much like an old lover, the reunion doesn’t always pan out the way it does in your imagination. What I’m trying to say, essentially, is that irrespective of DICE’s take on the game, perhaps it should have been left as a distant memory – something we could cherish forever.

At the end of the day, though, we shouldn’t have expectations for DICE’s take on the series based on the one we loved many years ago. There’s a large possibility the game could be underwhelming, while it also might blow everyone’s expectations out of the water. Point is, we’re getting the game we asked for and that should be enough to satisfy you.

4 COMMENTS

    • Ah, yes, another bandwagon EA hater.
      You know, you wouldn’t have a lot of the classic franchises you know and love without EA’s “filthy” financial backing. There’s a lot of early gaming that Electronic Arts is responsible for.
      Why do you feel so strongly? You one of those that feel EA ruined your favorite sports franchise? Don’t like what they did with Bioware’s franchises? Gonna need more than your disdain for a game’s ending to convince me.

  1. ah,yes…another internet know it all that like to put people in neat little groups so that he can dismiss them (only if they disagree with him of course)…actually none of the games i love have been funded by ea…battlefield 1942 is the only game i ever personally enjoyed that was made by them,and it doesn’t even crack my top 20…but as far as that series goes it has been ruined by ea doing their usual pandering in order to decrease difficulty and increase sales,and every person that has seen that evolution in battlefield would agree with me 100%…im not much for sports games anymore(just not my cup of tea i don’t feel they have been ruined)but i did enjoy the nhl and nba live games way back when(16 bit era)…don’t care about any bioware games so not that either…and lastly my goal in life is not to convince you,or anyone else for that matter to view things the way i do,i leave that job for egotistical jackasses such as yourself who get angry at other people opinions,even when that opinion is on a source of entertainment(see:not important)…have a nice day :)

  2. Mikey. I agree that EA at the very least has the potential to screw this up. Battlefront is a beloved franchise to me. Especially the Battlefield series. My first experience with Battlefield was Vietnam. And my god when I was a kid did that game blow my mind. So many people on screen, explosions, death, and despair. It was incredible to me. Since then I’ve watched Battlefield evolve. And I agree BF4 does appear to pander to a faster pace of player i.e. the CoD player. But my favorite BF game of all was Bad Company 2. It was perfect in the multiplayer space. Even the single player was a hell of a lot more enjoyable than any of the previous iterations, and the iterations that followed. What I’m saying is that is a very recent version of BF that hasn’t been screwed up. EA knows how to allocate resources on a big friggin project. And I don’t think DICE wants to be the “GearBox” that screwed up battlefield. Alien, and Aliens is a huge franchise, and a huge universe. Star Wars is on another level entirely. Even in the space of sports games, besides Madden. EA does a pretty tremendous job. Specifically in the modern NHL games. They really are a blast every year to play. They do a great job of dialing in the nuances that bring the fluidity of real hockey to the game every year. I’m not defending them entirely, they’ve certainly screwed up plenty of games. All I’m saying is, I think EA and DICE know that if they screw this one up. There will be hell to pay. This a project that if not successful, the money lost will alter the course of their business tactics. Either way it’ll be interest. I’ll be anxiously waiting to see gameplay footage though, I’ll tell you that.

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