017. Starwars Battlefront: 5 things you need to know before you buy

Hi guys,

StarWars Premiere early this week in LA. TCL Chinese Theatre

where the first trilogy was launched. Photo:Businessinsider.com

We all can agree that it is going to be a very busy Star Wars week this week, yes? The opening of the star wars franchise is finally here! Earlier this week, some of us has had the first sneak peek into the long awaited movie of the year. The re-beginning of the franchise that has gotten us into a frenzy. Websites issuing the pre-tickets have crashed and families have cried while watching the trailer. It is finally here, people...

The frenzy is so great, you can see many companies capitalising on the franchise. Disney is smiling all the way to the already fat bank account they have.

We await StarWars Battlefront, and it is here! but wait...There's something severely lacking

But we're here to talk about the video game that has been launched to capitalise on this wave: Star Wars Battlefront by EA. Why do we say EA? well, cause we had all the warning signs imaginable when we hear that EA is taking the reigns to this anticipated game(supposedly, of the year). To add to it, I don't think DICE really had too much say in this game. It's the same vicious cycle everytime, game developers get bullied by game publishers, and quality gets compromised.(to that end, kudos to Fallout4)

The Origin platform has never been a great success, but I guess it's a

stepping stone.

The Bare Naked truth

To be honest, there's much less to this game then what it is made out to be. When you're dealing with Star Wars, the potential is so great, that there's a standard you must live up to. EA fails miserably. Not only that, EA has displayed all the signs that show us gamers that they think we're sheeps.

That's to put it lightly. Here's five things that broke battlefront, even before the movie comes out.

01. As of 16th Dec 2015, Origin lowered the price of the game under the pretense that it's a limited time offer.

One month into the game and origin is offering a discounted price

for SW:Battlefront?

Should we forget that the game was released only exactly one month ago, on Nov 17?(18 or 19 on some areas).

Gamers who have bought the game early on found, to their dismay that to get the full experience that the game has to offer, they need to buy the battlefront season pass. Off course, one can just skip season pass, but the current game lacks depth in so many ways(we'll get to that later).So now you pay double for the price of one game.

So, season pass unlocks what we all want, but at what cost? It doesn't even

improve the game past decent...

Imagine the rage, Star Wars fans feel after this early discount?

02. The game lacks serious depth

Players get to immerse themselves in tutorials, singleplayer and multiplayer modes. As you pass through the tutorials, youd find so much potential in flying an X-wing, tie fighter, racers and AT-STs. That;s all good, no problem there, but then you get to the singleplayer mode and you find a big flaw.

Singleplayer modes reveal the barebones content that populate the

wealthy potential of the game.

So players get to choose a limited number of maps they want to play on.

Singleplayer looses out on game longevity.

Tutorial mode: Speeders

Tutorial mode: X-wing

AT-ST in the tutorial mode is awesome.

Singleplayer mode doesn't have a storyline. It's very mission oriented, in the form of battlefield. Off course you get to play as one of the main characters. On the imperial side you have Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine and Boba Fett, on the rebel side; Luke, Han Solo and Leia Organa. For the first ten minutes playing the game, you get so hyped up playing the characters, but the enthusiasm dies down so fast as you realise, there's nothing else to offer.

The Empire faction hero characters you get to choose to play in every map.

The Rebel faction hero characters that you get to choose to play in every map.

We were expecting the game to explore some StarWars lore going into it. Personally, we'd like a story that makes us travel through all the planets playing as a character and completing missions that are not points-based.

All you get is the cutscene that is meaningless...no story, no plot, nothing.

All we get is a location with our mission to get most points, get collectibles, restore health etc.All the potentials of the franchise gone to waste.

03. The game's core is weak

So, okay then, the singleplayer is a let down. Fine. Let's go to multiplayer and you find abit more depth, but not enough, if at all.

A wider range of game modes are available in multiplayer mode, thank goodness.

In multiplayer, you get a lot of the fps multiplayer modes like "capture the flag", "get the most kills" etc, but is it enough?

To add to that, some of the maps are so unpopulated that you'd spend more than half hour just to que. It's a disgrace.

This will take up most of your online play as the servers are so unpopulated.

At least Jakku DLC wasn't that bad, but still only on certain maps.

In multiplayer you accumulate xp and points so that you can unlock items like guns, grenades etc, but you only have 3 slots at loadout. Also, character customization is limited to customizing haircuts, facial hair on a preset UNKNOWN character. Wuttt?

Also, the gameplay in multiplayer allows you to take control of speeders, AT-STs and wing fighters and hero characters, but the hero characters are too overpowered that you just can't help but just die. Don't get us started on Bobafett.

Boba is just amazing. His jet pack makes him super overpowered. You could

leave opponents in the dust with this guy, and therein also lies the problem.

04. Play the Jakku DLC

Although the DLC looks nice. It just lacks any meaningful gameplay. Of course we are not asking for a storyline that might spoil the movie, but there is no story at all.

You gotta admit that it does look awesome. This is a map in jakku that gets the people.

Most other maps are still very much quiet.

The character of the maps, not just in Jakku, but every other map, lacks a character that is at least close to battlefield. It's just pretty much "duck-and-shoot" with most of the debris here. There are spots that offer you little more advantage, but that's it. It's just bland.

Sure, some of you might ask, what then could be a good suggestion.

and hoth is not much different from the other landscapes offered

in this game when you strip of the beautiful graphics.

I mean, c'mon we'd like to use spears and boulders every once in awhile, either

for fun or for strategy...

Like, what we mean is, like for example, they could add ewoks in endor as neutral parties, or taun tauns that we can utilize on hoth, you know? Or we could have maps that players could interact with the environment to give them the winning advantage. We think Star Wars deserve better than that.

05. This point is a culmination of all the points that makes this game bad

It comes to a point where you wonder if EA even think fans are humans. We love starwars, but we cant get immersed in a world where there is a lack of a storyline to feed our thirst for the force, nor can we get immersed in a world where skills count for nothing. The fight mechanics are just too 'guided', we don't have any form of 'planning phase' of the game to strategise AT ALL. Players just get onto the field and "try their best". The light saber duels are so "hack and slash" and doesn't provide variety. There is just no variety.

It seems almost like EA just created a game and thought fans might be content with the thought of the beautifully reproduced StarWars landscape that we know and love. We need more than that EA!

If EA creates more series in this franchise like what it does to their other titles, overprice it and underwhelms the game, then maybe it's best to stop supporting this title. They have gotten money from this title, but they are not going to get anymore.


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013. A Quick 10 new things we love and hate in Fallout 4!

NON-SPOILER ALERT! This article is SAFE from Spoilers

Oops! Trust me, I got all the armor I need...and then some'

Two weeks(it's the third week now) into the release of Fallout 4 and we still haven't got past 50% of game achievements and completion. Bethesda has done it again. Another grade A game from them, kudos. Something to keep us all occupied for the year end(and perhaps well into Q1 of the next year!).

Ok, enough sweet talk. Leave the fanboy moment aside for now, the mechanics of Fallout 4 has changed somewhat tremendously. The good news is that they are all addons to the original title that we know and love. The bad news is that the new mechanics comes in droves in the new Wasteland. This is compounded by Bethesda Studios not really getting into the details but letting us figure it out ourselves!

Still, It is tremendously addictive!


Let's keep the article short and sweet so that you can refer to this once you're in the wastelands of Fallout 4!

01.Using Stimpaks doesn't automatically increase your health!

While in Fallout 3 and New Vegas, using stimpaks immediately increases your health, in Fallout 4, once you leave the pipboy window, there will be a short animation of your character injecting the stimpak sterum before your hp goes up.

The process of "Stimpak-ing" oneself takes about 1-2 secs(animation time). Vital when in a fight that you don't get cornered!

If you're cornered, spamming stimpaks wont work like it used to. ~Fair warning huh?

02. Item durability is a thing of the past

Aparently Bethesda did away with item durability. Someone must've complained about item durability being to excessive we guess. If you're the kind who is usually attached to the same weapons and armor, that's great news...except if you like Power Armor though. Power armor parts HAVE DURABILITY METERS! Don't say we didn't warn ya!

Fallout New Vegas has item "Condition" bar which loses it's effectiveness as it depletes.
Becomes unusable when the bar completely depletes...unless you repair it.

Items like weapons, armors etc don't have a 'condition' bar like they used to, but power armor parts do
although, it's now renamed as 'health' on the item. Take note of that.

03. The layout for S.P.E.C.I.A.L,Skills and Perks are visually re-invented

You know that Perk Chart we get when we buy the cd? That's exactly what we get in Fallout 4. Every point divided upon a visual tree. The top row represents the S.P.E.C.I.A.L, and the rest are skills and Perks. You'd still need to upgrade a skill or SPECIAL to level up a Perk, but it's all visual now.

Here's the new 'Perk Chart'. Everything into one

Remember that you can scroll down by simply hovering your mouse at top or bottom of page!

Oh, and, remember, to "scroll down" the chart, simply hover your mouse towards the top or bottom of the chart...Coz Bethesda's all like: "f*#k scrolling...that's for zooming in and out."

04. Junk Items can be "scrapped" for raw materials

This pointer leads to the next pointer(and thereafter). Yes, all those junk items that have been cluttering all those previous Fallouts? They just found their calling. They can be kept for their raw materials content so that they can be used to built or modify your weapons or armor or for building something

You can choose to scrap some item and get raw items, but there's a better alternative~
Just build a lesser mod on your item and gain the spare part of your rifle(to be attached later to your other weapons!)

Scrap some armor to get some ridiculously minimal raw items return~

05. Armor and Weapons can be modified!

Oh boy, is this a treat or what? Now you can turn your useless pipe rifle to accept .308 rounds! Maybe add some scopes here and a bayonet there. Voila! Heck, we can even run around naked except for a hat and still have power armor like stats. Ok we might be exaggerating, but yeah, anything's possible now..."if only I can find the items I need..."

A simple pipe rifle can be modified to take in a .45 round, increasing it's damage output, provide-
you have all the raw materials and the required skill tree.

06. You can literally build a safehaven town from scratch

If you're in workshop mode, you can build yourself a power generator, a radio signal, a few turrets, stalls and you can do the "minecraft". You can even grow crops and get a few settlers to tend to the crops. Just for fun, you can build a chamber, trap a companion inside and power a dangerous tesla coil to see how they'd react. (In the name of fun right?..aww..c'mon)



"Workshop mode" turns your screen into a HUD something like this.
Here you can choose to scrap an item to get it's raw material.

...or build something

Or plant some goddamned crops in this wasteland..



Look at what I built for class today Ma!

07. Sprint, I say!

A simple mechanic that previous Fallout versions left out, the option to sprint to an upcoming ghoul before it gets up to blast it's face with a shotgun

That's damn straight, son!

08. Re-inventing the Health meter(HP) and the Action Point meter(AP)

Too much Rads don't kill you, but excessive amounts do lead to your death~ In your HP meter, radiation exposure fills up what's supposed to be your HP bar with a red Rad bar, effectively blocking out your overall health. Unless you cure yourself from rads, you'd almost always be walking around with 80% health when you go out for a few missions.

In Fallout New Vegas, Rads take up it's own bar, after a certain level, it starts to get dangerous

Darn RADS

Your AP bar is now shared with your sprint mechanic. Sprinting drains your AP. Just make sure you get to VATS your enemy by the time you sprint to reach them.

09. Item looting is now a one-button affair

In previous Fallouts, one has to get close to a chest, container or dead person, hit "open" before a menu comes up with the inventory of their items. Fallout 4 just needs you to hover your cursor to the object, producing a small window which allows you to just hit "Enter" or "E" to grab that item. You can scroll down to browse and grab only specific items you need. They must've taken cue from Apple's Ergonomics team...heh

In Fallout New Vegas, one would need to go close & "open" item first-
to explore it's inventory.

Soooo...how does this help in a fight? Well, for one, you can loot a body even before it hits the ground or if your sneak is high enough, can disarm an unsuspecting enemy before he realises he needs to fight you.

In Fallout 4, you can loot the enemy through this small window even before they hit the ground.
A useful trick against a pack of ghouls when speed is your ally.

10. Stimpak is all you need

In previous Fallouts, one would need to tend to every crippled limb separately. In Fallout 4, stimpaks cure crippled limbs, all at once! is that great or what?

In Fallout New Vegas, Bethesda shows the parts of the body that are crippled.
You'd need a doctor's bag to cure all crippled limbs or one stimpak for every limb affected.

Fallout New Vegas offers it's players a way to heal crippled parts.

Fallout 4 produces a less "gory" notification of when you're limbs are crippled.
Best of all, only one stimpak is needed to cure ALL crippled limbs.

Do catch more of our Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront articles coming up! Also, do visit our eBay store for more toys, games, comics and gadgets goodies! http://stores.ebay.com/Confaderal

Stay Tuned to more Fallout 4 articles!

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