Some of the greatest Star Wars video games ever created are included in the new bundle, and they are all now widely accessible with multiplayer support on all contemporary platforms. My all-time favorite game is Star Wars: Battlefront II, so I was thrilled to hear about its release at the Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase in February. Having these two Battlefront games packed together on a device like the Nintendo Switch is satisfying since it makes it simple to play competitively or in local co-op and I can take them with me wherever I go.
Unfortunately, Aspyr, the developer, has a dismal history of remasters, and this is no exception. Players’ pleasure of online play was ruined by several server failures at launch, while other little faults made games difficult. Fortunately, there is a better method to play Star Wars: Battlefront II if you have a PC or Xbox. Nevertheless, I still think that more people should play the game.
An eclectic assortment
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection’s poor online play is the primary cause of its largely unfavorable Steam review status. For a short while, there were only three servers to choose from—a absurdly small number for a release this much anticipated. Once in, a lot of participants also had trouble with their connections, which made a lot of these games all but useless.
We had serious problems with our network infrastructure at launch. Very high ping times, matchmaking mistakes, crashes, and servers not showing up in the browser were the outcome, according to a note that appeared on Aspyr’s support page soon after the release of this collection. We have been addressing these problems and boosting network stability since launch, and we will keep up our efforts until our network architecture is established to stop further disruptions.
Those early problems have been fixed a few days after the release, albeit the platform you use to access the internet may affect how you experience it. People’s anger with the online experience led them to identify issues with other aspects of the game, such as the inability to flip controllers, badly remastered and missing cutscenes, the two-player local play restriction, and more. Due to its high price of $35, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is difficult to recommend until it receives significant patching and a reduction.
However, this does not imply that the collecting is in vain. It’s good that the two Battlefront games are now included in a single launcher and can be played on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation for the first time. When it works, I’ve liked experiencing online multiplayer in this game for the first time. The essence of both shooters is still quite alluring. It’s remarkable for an older game to have such a strong online revitalization; I just wish Aspyr had taken greater use of this chance.
Playing Star Wars Battlefront 2 is still enjoyable
All of this should not deter you from playing Star Wars: Battlefront II in particular; it’s my all-time favorite game. The Battlefront games are, in my opinion, the best Star Wars sandboxes available. They provide a wide variety of Star Wars environments for combat, along with an abundance of Republic, CIS, Rebel, and Empire forces to choose from. It provided me with all the playsets and action figures I needed as a child to go bonkers and make up as many Star Wars tales as I wanted.
The game seems more sandboxy with modes like Galactic Conquest, a galaxy-spanning competitive campaign, and Instant Action, which allows players to plan their own sequence of matches offline. Growing up, I played these modes with my brother for hundreds of hours, and based on the outcomes of each battle, we developed our own Star Wars characters and storylines. There is nothing like the space fights in Star Wars: Battlefront II.
If you want something more linear, you may also find the Rise of the Empire campaign to be very compelling. With a remarkable performance by Temuera Morrison, it narrates the 501st Legion’s history from the Clone Wars to the Hoth invasion. It touches on subjects that the series wouldn’t fully explore until The Bad Batch, such as the Clones’ ideas of betraying the Jedi and Kamino’s demise. It also provides a more complex interpretation of how Order 66 really transpired, implying that some members were sadly unable to prevent the impending treachery despite knowing it was about to happen.
Even if Star Wars: Battlefront II’s shooting is a little archaic in comparison to more recent games, the game’s overall strength makes up for it. I find Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection to be an essential game for fans of shooter games, thus it’s unfortunate that it’s not a fantastic product. Thankfully, whether you’re using Steam or Xbox, you still have alternative choices.
Other ways to enjoy these timeless masterpieces
The two Star Wars: Battlefront games cost $10 apiece on Steam, and even though they need some adjusting to make everything to function properly on contemporary technology, the work is well worth it. The titles are backward compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S for an even more seamless experience. Xbox users may purchase them for $10 as well, but if you still have the original disk, you can play the game for free. Just insert it into your system.
Thanks to Microsoft’s FPS Boost function, both versions of Star Wars: Battlefront can play at 120 Hz and have a better resolution than the original. They even include some remaster-like bells and whistles. Neither game supports online multiplayer, but considering all the problems the Classic Collection is currently having with it, that’s not a bad thing.
I still believe that’s the best method to play my all-time favorite game, Star Wars: Battlefront II, and I still periodically slip my original disc into my Xbox Series X system to play a few battles. I would advise choosing the Steam and Xbox editions of the original Battlefront games over Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection for the time being, even if gamers of the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PS5 are not able to play the games in any other manner. It is still worthwhile to play these Star Wars games, so don’t let a subpar remake deter you.
2XKO: gameplay, trailers, release window, and further information