Star Wars: Battlefront (2004)
| Star Wars: Battlefront | |||
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| Studio |
 Pandemic Studios
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| Publisher |
LucasArts
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| Erstveröffent- lichung |
Windows, Xbox September 21, 2004 Mac OS X July 2005 Mobile phone November 1, 2005 |
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| platform | Windows , Macintosh , PS2 , Xbox , mobile phone | ||
| Game engine | zero | ||
| genre | Third-person shooter / first-person shooter | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Mouse keyboard | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
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| medium | CD , DVD | ||
| language | English , German | ||
| Age rating |
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Star Wars: Battlefront is a first- and third-person shooter based in the Star Wars universe and the first part of the Star Wars Battlefront series . It was developed by Pandemic Studios and published by LucasArts . The game was released in 2004 for PS2 , Xbox and Windows . In July 2005, Aspyr released a port for the Macintosh . In November of the same year a version for mobile phones was released under the title Star Wars: Battlefront Mobile . The successor Star Wars: Battlefront II was released on the same day . In 2015 a new edition of the game of the same name appeared, see Star Wars: Battlefront (2015) .
The concept of the game is similar to that of the Battlefield series . On different maps, which show well-known places from the Star Wars films, two factions fight for command posts distributed on the map . Once one of the teams has captured all of these posts, it wins. In the course of these battles, the player takes on the role of a soldier from one of the two factions.
Star Wars: Battlefront received good reviews overall, with Metacritic all versions got averages between 76 and 82 out of 100 points. Critics praised the concept of a Star Wars shooter and the powerful multiplayer mode . In return, weaknesses in the single player mode and weak artificial intelligence were criticized.
Gameplay
General
In Star Wars: Battlefront , the player takes part in battles located in the Star Wars universe. He takes on the role of a soldier. In the game, the armies of the four major factions from the Star Wars films, the Galactic Republic , the Confederation of Independent Systems , the Empire and the Rebel Alliance , face each other on the battlefield. In every battle, the participating armies have the goal of either crushing the opposing army or cutting off supplies by conquering strategic points. There are always two factions against each other. Each side has a finite supply. If the supply of a faction is used up due to high casualties, this battle is lost for that faction. Native species can take part in combat on some planets. Locals can be neutral, hostile to one side, or fight both sides.
Each side has five types of troops. Four of these types are similar across all factions; these are simple infantry, anti-vehicle infantry, snipers, and technicians. The fifth type are unique, very highly specialized units. The types of troops differ from one another in terms of their weapons, their armor and their speed.
The head-up display (abbreviated to HUD ) shows a radar that shows the area in which the player is currently located, an overview of his available ammunition and his health, as well as a status display that shows the troop supply of the combatants. There is a crosshair in the center of the HUD. In the battle between the player may Egoperspektive and third-person perspective switch. For more precise aiming, the player can look through a telescopic sight. If the player uses a sniper rifle, he has a telescopic sight with zoom function.
In addition to the four factions, a total of ten planets, 20 types of soldiers and 25 vehicles of the Star Wars universe were reproduced.
Single player
There are three game modes in total. The story of the Star Wars films is roughly retold in two campaigns . In the galaxy conquest , the player takes command of an army and tries to conquer the planets shown on a galactic map. Instant Battles are individual battles that are fought on the maps from the two previous modes.
The campaigns consist of loosely connected missions that hardly differ from the usual game events. There is a campaign for each trilogy. The first begins with the plot from Episode 1, namely the Battle of Naboo. The player starts on the side of the confederation, but in the further course of the campaign the perspective changes and the player takes on the role of a soldier of the republic. The individual missions are linked by cutscenes from the Star Wars films.
The Galaxy Conquest also includes strategic elements. The goal in this mode is to conquer a series of predetermined planets. At the beginning, the player chooses from a list of predefined scenarios. The scenarios vary in terms of the factions involved and their balance of power. Then the player chooses a faction on whose side he wants to play. The game is turn-based. One attack can be carried out per round.
Each planet gives the respective occupier a specific bonus, e.g. B. additional reinforcement troops, health bonuses or support from a hero. If one side succeeds in conquering four planets in a row, it receives access to a faction-specific bonus. This is much stronger than the normal bonuses. An example of this is the empire's ability to destroy a planet.
In the immediate battle, the player selects a card, configures start parameters such as the number of opponents, participating factions, etc. and then begins the battle. This is gained either by wiping out the enemy reinforcements or by capturing and holding all command posts for 20 seconds.
Multiplayer
The Windows and Macintosh versions of Star Wars: Battlefront can be played with up to 64 players via LAN or on the Internet via GameSpy . In the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions, up to 32 players can compete against each other. The PlayStation 2 version works with GameSpy servers, while the Xbox version uses Microsoft's Xbox Live network. Playing online with the Xbox is no longer possible because the necessary servers were shut down on April 15th.
Development history
Development of Star Wars: Battlefront began in 2002. Greg Burrod , lead developer at Pandemic, announced that he would develop an online shooter that would include locations and vehicles from all six Star Wars films. The developers regularly reported on the development with a special focus on the technical background of the game in a blog on GameSpy . Models and animations were created using the Softimage XSI modeling software. In order to conserve the customer's system resources, Battlefront has been optimized for efficiency. Most models share animations and have a structure that has been kept as simple as possible. Maps were developed using the ZeroEdit editor specially developed for Battlefront . Then paths were programmed into these cards, which the artificial intelligence that controls the computer players should use preferentially.
For the sound, both original sound effects from previous Star Wars releases were taken and new ones created during a two-day visit to the Skywalker Ranch , a kind of meeting place for authors and developers involved in the Star Wars universe, in California. About 1,200 of these effects were created. Some well-known actors who also appeared in the Star Wars films participated in the voice recordings . B. Temuera Morrison or Tom Kane .
LucasArts released a demo version for the Xbox that was included in a special Star Wars DVD set. This demo includes one level, the Battle of Endor . The game was finally released on September 21, 2004 for Windows, the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. At the end of 2004, the developers released some developer tools that players can use to create extensive modifications . In July 2005, Aspyr released the title Battlefront for Mac OS . On November 1, 2005, the Japanese company Mikoishi developed a version of Battlefront for cell phones. On November 7, 2012, the GameSpy servers required for the multiplayer mode of Battlefront were shut down after LucasArts decided to stop supporting the title.
reception
Rating in game magazines
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GameSpot's Bob Colyaco praises the development of a Star Wars shooter. However, he complains that the title doesn't offer much new besides the Star Wars framework and, especially as a Windows version, it can't stand out from the competition.
Ivan Sulic from the British online magazine IGN Entertainment states three main weaknesses of Battlefront , the low level of difficulty, the hardly coherent campaign and the weak artificial intelligence . These three elements make the single player mode boring overall. One of the strengths of Battlefront is the multiplayer mode. Due to the high number of possible players and the team-oriented game principle, this is very entertaining and varied. The game as a whole offers too little scope in the areas of maps, weapons, troop types and game modes.
Sales figures
Star Wars: Battlefront sold approximately 5.5 million units. Most of the units were accounted for by the PlayStation 2 version with 3.61 million.
Web links
- Official website ( Memento of April 1, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- Star Wars: Battlefront at MobyGames (English)
- Star Wars: Battlefront in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Star Wars: Battlefront in Jedipedia.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ Interview with the developers of "Star Wars: Battlefront". In: GameSpot . CBS Corporation , May 20, 2004, accessed May 15, 2002 .
- ^ Luke Plunkett: Shutdown of Xbox Live servers. Kotaku, April 14, 2010, accessed July 20, 2010 .
- ↑ Juan Sanches: Developer Diary Part 2. GameSpy, April 1, 2004, accessed on February 14, 2014 (English).
- ↑ Dean Betton: Developer Diary Part 4. GameSpy, June 3, 2004, accessed February 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Nick Peck: Developer Diary Part 5. GameSpy, July 6, 2004, accessed February 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Handbook Star Wars: Battlefront
- ↑ Cesar Berardini: Demo for "Battlefront" available. (No longer available online.) Teamxbox.com, April 20, 2004, archived from the original on January 2, 2008 ; accessed on February 21, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Levi Buchanan: "Battlefront" for cell phones. (No longer available online.) In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , Nov. 1, 2005, archived from the original on April 3, 2012 ; accessed on February 21, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Phil Savage: GameSpy switches off servers for "Battlefront". PC Gamer, December 10, 2012, accessed February 21, 2014 .
- ^ A b c Andrew Pfister: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". (No longer available online.) 1UP.com, October 29, 2004, archived from the original on January 16, 2013 ; accessed on March 27, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Bob Colayco: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". (No longer available online.) In: GameSpot . CBS Corporation , September 22, 2004, formerly original ; Retrieved October 30, 2013 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Will Tuttle: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". GameSpy, September 20, 2004, accessed February 21, 2014 .
- ^ A b Ivan Sulic: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis .com, September 17, 2004, accessed October 30, 2013 .
- ^ A b Bob Colayco: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". In: GameSpot . CBS Corporation , September 22, 2004, accessed October 30, 2013 .
- ^ Sal Accardo: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". GameSpy, September 24, 2004, accessed October 30, 2013 .
- ↑ Ivan Sulic: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis .com, September 17, 2004, accessed October 30, 2013 .
- ↑ Will Tuttle: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". GameSpy, September 20, 2004, accessed February 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Ivan Sulic: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis .com, September 17, 2004, accessed October 30, 2013 .
- ↑ Bob Colayco: Test "Star Wars: Battlefront". (No longer available online.) In: GameSpot . CBS Corporation , September 22, 2004, formerly original ; accessed on February 21, 2014 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Various: Meta ranking Star Wars: Battlefront (PS2 version). GameRankings.com, accessed November 6, 2013 .
- ↑ Various: Meta ranking Star Wars: Battlefront (Windows version). GameRankings.com, accessed November 6, 2013 .
- ↑ Various: Meta ranking Star Wars: Battlefront (Xbox version). GameRankings.com, accessed October 30, 2013 .
- ↑ Various: Meta ranking Star Wars: Battlefront (PS2 version). Metacritic.com, accessed October 30, 2013 .
- ↑ Various: Meta ranking Star Wars: Battlefront (Windows version). Metacritic.com, accessed October 30, 2013 .
- ↑ Various: Meta ranking Star Wars: Battlefront (Xbox version). Metacritic.com, accessed October 30, 2013 .
- ^ "Star Wars: Battlefront" sales figures. vgchartz.com, accessed February 21, 2014 .
