Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron Review

[Bot-IGN]

Article Comments for [link=http://psp.ign.com/articles/104/1043335p1.html]Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron Review[/link]
by Jeff Haynes

Summary: When Star Wars: Battlefront was released five years ago, it revolutionized the way that players looked at the Star Wars universe by being placed directly in the boots of footsoldiers of the Republic and Rebel Alliance. Since then, LucasArts has been trying to recapture that magic with the franchise, expanding to new battlefields fleshing out the action with story driven missions, but frequently falling short of its target. The latest installment, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron, misses even further, with an incredibly repetitive sequence of story missions and a ton of technical and control issues that aren't appealing in the slightest. [link=http://psp.ign.com/articles/104/1043335p1.html]Read Full Article[/link]

 

[1_Blue_Pixel]

A bit harsh of a review. I do agree that Elite Squadron could be more polished... still the core gameplay idea of fighting on the ground, air & space is a good one and makes this game worth playing. The Battlefront modes Instant Action & Galactic Conquest are much better than the campaign mode, which is needed to play to unlock weapons & colours.

 

[Robbie922004]

What a disappointment.

the game in general, not the review.

 

[Sandman822]

Great review, this game is indeed awful

 

[legacyAccount]

This game is pretty cool,my game dont lag and the multiplayer is great,full of thing to unlock,the story is great,the game is polish;more than any other game on the psp and the control are perfect...
And for a disapointing game the server are full almost of the time....

 

[infiltrator0]

Is the multiplayer any good? I'd like to get the best I can out of it before it's overrun by hackers like Renegade squadron. But seriously, half my soul died when Sonic the hedgehog came out in 06, this game just took the other half. Thanks Rebellion, I think you killed the last bit of dignity I had as a gamer. Why handheld only!? That's what I don't get. The game would be awesome if it simply had a console controller behind it. Though this, in my opinion, beats renegade squadron by miles from what I've seen in the demo. I love the ability to strafe while using the scope of your weapons. But I guess the single player isn't all that great. ~sigh~

 

[guiltywingv18]

*sigh*
And to think, this is supposed to make us forget that LucasArts canned Free Radical's Battlefront III. "Oh, look here! It's a new Battlefront that includes land-to-air-to-space battles! Totally original idea!". Screw you Lucasarts. When this is worse than Rebellion's last Battlefront, you've made the wrong choice.

 

[Mr.Illusion]

QUIT spammin our bords BOTIGN!

 

[Solid__D]

Don't let this review mind trick you. This game is a lot fun and worth $29.99
Lots of action, the best music, sound effects, Galatic Conquest is awesome.

 

[xDrezdenx]

Tired of PSP Battlefront games, wake me up with a PC Battlefront comes out.

 

[Carm70]

I somewhat disagree with the review. I am more forgiving of the control issues with the PSP because they're doing the best they can with only one analog controller. I think Elite Squadron is better than Renegade Squadron in all aspects except for two. 1) The radius of infantry target locking with the strafe button (R) is much tighter than Renegade Squadron. The review touched on this.. You have to turn your view so the enemy you want is nearly dead center before the snapping works. Kind of annoying. 2) Landing spacecraft. Just horrible. It's not always obvious where you can and cannot land. And my craft frequently snags on something as I drop down for a landing and explodes. This can be especially frustrating when you pilot a slow, lumbering shuttle to it's destination only to have it explode as you try to land it. A little bit of "landing A.I." could have gone a long way here. Other than that, this is a worthy sequel even if it does make me pine for the next console / PC version. The graphics and animations (walk / run cycles) are much improved. The addition of melee is great fun, and the ability to walk and strafe while in zoom / sniper view (using R shoulder button) is also welcome. I don't have the ability to play multiplayer, but I'm having fun with galactic conquest and instant action. The campaign mode was better than I expected but nowhere nearly as good as the Force Unleashed.

 

[Quicktomwookie]

I used to play Renegade squadron all the time before I got a Ps3, but I stopped because all the hackers ruined the game. I played the demo for Elite squadron and was really let down. The controls feel much worse and clunky than RS. Believe me I know, I must have sunk 100 hrs into Renegade squadron. The only good thing is I heard Elite squadron has online clan support.

 

[jodokast87]

So let me get this straight:

You gave Renegade Squadron a 7.9... and you gave Elite Squadron a 6...

What?! I'm sorry, I thought we were reviewing a PSP game not a PS3 game! I think the IGN staff are just a bit too grumpy that Battlefront III flatlined.

What did you say was bad about this game: Repetitive gameplay. Just because you know how to win battles doesn't mean you have to play the same way everytime. That's the joy of Battlefront: "Play the Star Wars battles the way you want to!" I've found loads of different ways to smite rebel scum.

Let's see what else: Loadouts have no advantage. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this, but the part where you said that you are forced to change loadout- THAT'S A GOOD THING! Why would you want to be one character through the entire game??? Boring!

Hm... and: Old control issues. Wait! So you admit it! You admit that Renegade Squadron had poor control. Then why did you score Elite Squadron almost two whole points lower? If you had realized that you were dealing with a PSP game, then you should have known that the system awkwardly is missing its second analog nub. Therefore, why did you expect the control scheme to improve?

And one of the things you liked was the heroes?! Most of the heroes are quite ineffective against multiple AI troops due to poor collision detection and lightsaber response.

I'm sorry IGN. I almost always agree with your reviews except for two games: Star Wars Battlefront II and now this one.

Elite Squadron is definetely an improvement over Renegade Squadron. The multi-layered levels add Strategy to keep things from being "repetitive", and although you do many of the same tasks in each level, I found the story to be quite engaging. Not only that but (something I forgot to mention in my review) the AI has inproved in intelligence. By no means are they bordering on wise, but they actually follow you and at least attempt to capture/guard command posts.

If you would like a more "fair" review of Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron, please read my review.

 

[Theporri]

+1.

Hey maybe you should buy a router or something, cuz i only see "some" lag few times and playing in Europe in American servers.

The history is boring? Man... this is a battlefront, the history and galactic conquest are an extra. The history is very FUN and IT ISN BORING. I mean there isnt like another bfs clones like LOTR: Conquest from Pandemic.

I really hate BF:RS! But this have a fun multiplayer gamepaly (and deeper), with less lag (only the rewiever seems to have it), with history (RS hasnt) and achievements and you gave it a 6.0 and RS 7.9

Seriously, what were you thinking? Maybe your next weekend, come on...

 

[Kogssk]

Look people I LOVE BATTLEFRONT! but i find this game to be a minor upgrade of Renegade Sqaudron, and the upgrades werent anything special. Wow u can go from space to land and back, so what. Hopefully this game will fall short of expectation and Battlefront III will b put bac on track.

 

[Theporri]

I accept that you dont like the game or whatever but this game with campaign mode, and more multiplayer modes its far away from 6.0...

So if RS is about 7.9 this 6.0 its means that this game is worse than RS? Of course, and it doesnt

 

[Spec6257]

Wasn't completely impressed by Elite Squadron... seemed more like Renegade Squadron with a few extra bells and whistles. I was disappointed by the fact that they said that you customize far more than on Renegade... but it was the same exact things! Best thing about this game was blowing up STAR DESTROYERS... I agree with quicktomwookie... the multiplayer on RS was plagued by hackers and the one on ES is too! The controls aren't as fluent on ES as they were on RS as they just made the game much more complex. On ES, I can never manage to tank around in single player like I did on RS. This one at least was only slightly better than RS; the only thing improved was the features. And ES actually has less maps than RS. That's right, LESS maps! I wanted them to keep Saleucami, Sullust,Boz Pity, Ect.! Those are what made RS good! I can't stand Vjun, and Dantooine seems like Kashyyyk from BF2. By the way, Kashyyyk was completely ruined!

 

[infiltrator0]

I think the reason this got such a low score was primarily because it was a game with a gimmick. And it's not that the gimmick was a bad one or anything, because it was a really good idea. The problem is that the game practically rubs it in your face. Just like half the wii games out there. You know, the ones that never let you forget the fact that there's a motion controller no matter how tedious or annoying the task is. Like when they force you to use the motion controller when you're better off using analog, that's what this game does. What I don't like is how games force you to explore different aspects of them, but that's not what I actually dislike. What I truly dislike is when a game forces you to do something over and over and over and over again. Yeah, it should introduce the player to the feature, but the entire game shouldn't hinge, sink or swim, on that one aspect. It shouldn't force the player to use it that much. That's the problem the reviewer addressed the most. Though I seriously doubt that should've brought this game down to a 6. Maybe a 7.5, but a 6? That's almost as bad as the last sonic the hedgehog game. They didn't count multiplayer or anything else in that review. They just found one or two problems and magnified them to the point where they repel people from the game. I personally think it's totally worth the money, it's just a buzz kill that it's battlefront III.

 

[infiltrator0]

Also, I'm sure since IGN is such a high caliber power in the world of gaming, that at least someone from Lucas Arts reads this board for feedback. Lucas, if you're reading this, if you ever make another PSP game ever again, if at all possible please make it as hack proof as possible. That ruined renegade squadron, and most likely elite squadron. And if a title only rumored, don't ever leak something that good again without releasing it. The game wasn't bad, it was just a heart breaking buzz kill. If that video was never released, this game would've probably hit it much higher with the fans. Oh and one more thing. Why can't Rebellion work on a console!? Seriously, a game with at least 18 months worth of work put into it gets thrown onto PSP? Really?? Instead of releasing it prematurely, just save it until someone who can actually do something decent, like pandemic, gets the time to work on it. I hate the economy. If no one important reads this, there goes another wasted 5 minutes of my life. Oh well.

 

[Antiquefoxhound]

come on ign this game is awsomeness

 

[Antilles777]

THE GAME DESERVES AT LEAST A 9 FOR PSP TITLES. Are you kidding me,this game is almost perfect. It battles are huge from ground to space,etc and not only that but online is awesome

very disapointed ign,very

 

[infiltrator0]

THE GAME DESERVES AT LEAST A 9 FOR PSP TITLES. Are you kidding me,this game is almost perfect. It battles are huge from ground to space,etc and not only that but online is awesome

very disapointed ign,very

Only problem I really have with it is that the targeting is rather unreliable. Maybe an 8.

 

[JoetheFoe]

You guys have done a ton of bad reviews, i love this game!! I mean its a psp game, it cant be perfect, but to fit all the stuff on the disc, it has to miss out on some stuff, i sorta agree on the story though

 

[NightX-2]

Battlefront desperately needs a console release.

 

[C4uti0n5150]

I never played a Battlefront game till now, and I was suprised by the gameplay and how huge the battles are from space to the ground! it was awsome I enjoy this game alot dont listen to the review you just have to try it out for yourself. I give this game a 8.5...

 

[SNAPS_24]

this is lucky to have a 6 this starwars on the psp is soo crap comapered to rengage squadron this is stiff moving way slower even the hand to hand combat is so crap compared to unleashed the graphics are not that amazing its not hard to take unleashed movements and gun battles of rengage and create a good game this game was a disappointment and i liked all the starwars on psp until this 1

 

[Aleix07]

I found this to be one of the best Star Wars games for the psp, Renegade Squadron was great, that can't be denied but this game actually made a new way to play the battles, something no other game has done since Battlefront 2 (with space battles, but no atmosphere combat) and it brought back some of the good elements from the previous games, even if the graphics could be better. I think at least a 7 would be more fair.

 

[shimododragon]

What we really need is Battlefront III.

 

[jodokast87]

I now know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is the remnants of Free Radical's Battlefront III. There are images out of level design, and Coruscant is exactly the same. Plus, people who worked on the game said that the story was going to be about two clone brothers with jedi powers. Even from the leaked footage almost a year ago I began to suspect that Elite Squadron was derived from Free Radical's game.

So I don't know whether to think of Elite Squadron as the remains of Free Radical's game, or LucasArts' "F you" to Free Radical...

 

[GigersALIEN]

I don't give a crap who made this game or if it was the remnants of another, the fact remains that this game kicks ass in online and offline gameplay. It has the same exact controls from Renegade and there's no problems with targeting. Just auto-target and shoot. And if you want to hit the nead, hold the target for a few more seconds. Otherwise you can press triangle to bring up your crosshairs.

I absolutely love this game and IGN's one page half-asses review means nothing to me.

 

[legacyAccount]

Beside the Vid Doc lies (WHere they stated it was made from scratch wehere it's clearly remnants of SWBFIII), and their high hopes:

This game ammounts to no more than the same exact crap you played on Renegade... only less polished, and in some cases broken.

No model refinements, no improved weapon selection, no over-all gameplay tuning.

It's a broken shadow of what once was a promising game... and a once promising franchise.

 

[prisonerno.145]

this review is bull! Of all the people I know that have this game, they all love it, including me. I think whoever wrote the review isn't a fan of starwars battlfront.

 

[kaneticut]

Yeah this game is really good,how can they think that this game deserves a 6?
As for the repetetivness it is all the game is about,battling on ground then taking a starfighter up to space,it does not get repetetive its just fun to keep fighting.

They could have added a few more things like there is only two types of fighters per faction.
and that you cannot even move the AT-AT on Hoth so its useless to use, unlike SWB2 for PS2.
Also they should not have taken any planets away like geonosis.

We do need a SWBIII because it would really be good to have a new one for PS3 and WII,and i hope if they make it for PSP it will be as good as WII version.

I have high expectations for it if it comes out and i hope it will be very good