Since its release on Nov. 17 of last year, the Electronic Arts-published video game “Star Wars: Battlefront” has seen a lot of criticism from critics and fans alike. As an online-only multiplayer shooter, “Star Wars: Battlefront” needs to have an extremely robust amount of content to keep its players satisfied; however, the game simply didn’t have this at its launch. It launched only with a minute number of game modes, planets, and playable “Hero” characters (characters from the films), especially in comparison to the last game in the “Battlefront” franchise, “Star Wars: Battlefront II.” Because of this, the game was shunned by many as an inconsistent and unworthy reboot of the franchise.
In response to this, EA DICE, the developers of the “Star Wars: Battlefront” video game, have created several Downloadable Content Packs (DLC) to compensate for the game’s lack of content. Currently, there are four planned DLC packs, and three have been released so far. The first, Outer Rim, is set on the planets of Sullust and Tatooine, specifically in Jabba’s Palace from “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.” The second, Bespin, takes place in Cloud City, a main location from the film “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.” The third and latest DLC pack, Death Star, takes place both inside and outside of the Death Star, the flagship weapon of the evil Galactic Empire and a major location from “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.”
Each DLC pack includes a number of in-game items to players who purchase it (it is available for $15 alone or for $50 as part of the Season Pass, a collection of all the DLC packs for a reduced price). These items include pieces of content such as weapons, levels, abilities, and new “Hero” characters that weren’t available in the original game. In the Death Star DLC pack, the famous “Star Wars” character and best friend of Han Solo, Chewbacca, is available for play. The Trandoshan bounty hunter Bossk is also available as part of this DLC pack. New weapons from other “Star Wars” games, such as the Bryar Pistol made famous from the “Dark Forces” series, is made available through this DLC as well.
The biggest addition to this DLC pack is the Battle Station game mode, which sees to recreate the destruction of the Death Star from “A New Hope.” In this mode, players, both Rebel and Imperial, will try to attack and defend with the ultimate object being to destroy and protect the Death Star, respectively. This game mode is unique in that, unlike any other game mode, Battle Station may take up to three phases to complete. In each of these phases, the Imperials must stop the Rebels from completing an objective. In the first phase of the game, the Rebels must destroy an Imperial Star Destroyer; in the second phase, the rebels must escort R2-D2 from one end of the Death Star to the other while inside of it; and in the third phase, the Rebels must complete the famous Death Star trench run and destroy the Death Star. If the Rebels succeed at all three of these phases, they win the game. However, if the Imperials succeed in stopping the Rebels during any of the three phases, the Imperials win the game.
The Battle Station game mode, is, in theory, a very interesting mode. It’s always an exciting treat to relive moments from the actual “Star Wars” movies, and when actually succeeding as the Rebels in destroying the Death Star, actually seeing the massive space station blow up is a very rewarding sight. However, the problems of this game mode are set in the balance of it. It seems as though the Imperials always have an advantage in this game mode; this is mostly due to the fact that, if the Imperials win a single phase, they win the entire game. In the second phase, in which the Rebels escort R2-D2, it’s very easy to stop R2-D2 from moving, and if R2-D2 does not reach his destination in time, the Rebels will lose. In addition to this, the game mostly consists of flying – a feature that not many “Battlefront” players are fond of – and the only other modes included in the DLC – Blast and Fighter Squadron – don’t add very much variety to the DLC pack overall.
The actual weapons included in the DLC are also extremely game-breaking. Both the TL-50 Heavy Repeater blaster and Bryar Pistol come with an extremely strong secondary fire that melts enemy soldiers with little to no effort. The Bryar Pistol’s secondary fire in particular is even able to destroy Imperial vehicles in just a few shots, making it the most popular weapon in modes that include vehicles. This also creates frustration for players who drive vehicles. This could, in the long run, destroy the overall balance of the game.
The Death Star DLC is decent, but probably the most disappointing one so far. Its lack of variety in the modes and extremely powerful weapons make the DLC feel less like an expansion and more like a general update—and a rushed one at that—than anything else.
