Who Still Plays Star Wars Battlefront (2004)?

[Sonygamer455]

I got this game for PS2 way back in the summer of 2006 and lord knows it saw MANY hours of playtime afterward for years to come and it still occasionally sees some even now. Just last week, I got the Xbox version of the game since I recently learned it was playable on the Series X and now I am about to start the fun all over again! That said, who else still plays this game?

Note: This is NOT a discussion about the 2015 reboot, so please don’t use it as such. We already have a thread for that here.

 

[Suzuki-Cara]

I remember this. Fortunately I was able to sample the online back in the Xbox era and it delivered an experience on console that was really only available on PC at the time. Battlefront 2 was pretty fun, too. It's what got me into the battlefield series soon after.

While you couldn't play as the Jedi in the first game, it was still something seeing Luke and Vader fighting along side you.

Honestly they killed it with the reboot.

 

[Sonygamer455]

I remember this. Fortunately I was able to sample the online back in the Xbox era and it delivered an experience on console that was really only available on PC at the time. Battlefront 2 was pretty fun, too. It's what got me into the battlefield series soon after.

Meanwhile I’ve never played an online match in this game at all. Though I wonder if this game has LAN mode and if people even use it.

I played this game on splitscreen with my brother a lot though, more so than I ever did on single player actually.

While you couldn't play as the Jedi in the first game, it was still something seeing Luke and Vader fighting along side you.

Yep! Truth be told, I didn’t even know you could turn them on in instant action until yesterday and it makes for an interesting experience. Don’t enable it on Rhen Var Harbor though because having Count Dooku fighting in the caves makes the game very unbalanced and the CIS will dominate there because of him.

 

[Suzuki-Cara]

Yep! Truth be told, I didn’t even know you could turn them on in instant action until yesterday and it makes for an interesting experience. Don’t enable it on Rhen Var Harbor though because having Count Dooku fighting in the caves makes the game very unbalanced and the CIS will dominate there because of him.

The fact you couldn't kill them with weapons was a major setback. xD

I believe the only way to take them out of the field was to grenade them and get them to fall off a ledge or cliff depending on the map. I know full well what you mean when you mention Rhen Var Harbor, and that was absolutely one sided.

Meanwhile I’ve never played an online match in this game at all. Though I wonder if this game has LAN mode and if people even use it.

i really hope an online community pops back up, or at least someone's able to get a server going. I'll definitely revisit the game, even if it's only ten players in a match.

 

[Sonygamer455]

The fact you couldn't kill them with weapons was a major setback. xD

Yea, that's something that always peeved me about this game. The heroes were pretty much invincible to blaster fire and could only be defeated through unconventional methods.

I believe the only way to take them out of the field was to grenade them and get them to fall off a ledge or cliff depending on the map.

That and landing a ship on top of them will also do it. Though I have seen some just fall over and die for no apparent reason.

I know full well what you mean when you mention Rhen Var Harbor, and that was absolutely one sided.

With heroes, yes. The caves are where a lot of the close-quarters fighting happens and you can expect stiff resistance there trying to get to their command posts at the end, but it's somewhat balanced without heroes. I say "somewhat" because the droidekas are somewhat overpowered in this game and can spawn more on the field at once than in its sequel. That said, CIS has always had a distinct advantage because of them, but fortunately, you still can reach their command post when playing as Republic if you try hard enough.

With heroes though? Not so much. Count Dooku will punch a hole through your forces big enough to run a tractor through it and you'll eventually lose your command post. (or at least that's what I took away from playing it yesterday)

i really hope an online community pops back up, or at least someone's able to get a server going. I'll definitely revisit the game, even if it's only ten players in a match.

I wouldn't be surprised if the PC version already has them on Steam.

 

[Sonygamer455]

So lately I've watched a few videos of a Jedi mod for this game recently and I remembered seeing a video years ago showcasing a Jedi mod for the PC version working on the PS2 version somehow. So I went looking for it and eventually found this:

While it wasn't the one I saw years ago, it was similar and although I don't think I can post it here, the uploader had a link to a tutorial in the description of the video. I didn't really have the attention span to try it way back when, but I finally decided to give it a proper go yesterday and it was a success!

Played around with it some and here's my takeaway from it:

• It replaces the sniper class with whatever hero the faction has. It's unclear to me if adding them without replacing others is doable or not.
• The heroes function about the way you would expect. They deflect blaster fire and they're invincible to pretty much every kind of attack out there, even ones from other heroes. The only way to kill them is by running them over, landing on them, knocking them off the map, or into areas like the carbon-freezing chamber, Sarlaac, etc that are guaranteed to kill you regardless.
• Adding to the above, they're not invincible in vehicles and die the same way normal units do.
• The lightsaber is the only weapon they have.
• They only have one attack animation and since it's a bit slow, you have to time your attacks correctly to kill someone, but it's a one-hit kill on most infantry. Droideka's I think need multiple hits to be destroyed though.
• The heroes in this mod are treated like normal units, meaning they could spawn in large numbers and you could have a bunch of Luke Skywalker's on the map at once. Should the opposing hero meet yours, they'll attack each other relentlessly without success since they cannot kill each other.
• Doesn't work on Bespin Platforms for some reason, no heroes show up.
• They cannot capture command posts.

While it's flawed and pretty much breaks the game, if you REALLY want to play as a hero on the PS2 version, it's worth a try! 👍 I've already tried another mod and it crashed the game shortly after loading a map, but I am going to try some others and see if any of them work. I really do wish console versions could get some decent mods for them because it's clearly doable, people just don't seem to care. I don't expect it them to have as much as the PC version, but mods like this shouldn't be too hard I would imagine.

 

[BKGlover]

Sooo...this might actually be a thing...

 

[Sonygamer455]

You ain't kidding and something else I also noticed is it's not just Playstation either, it's coming to Xbox and the Nintendo Switch too! I wonder what all they have done besides having the Xbox DLC heroes on other systems and bringing back online play. It's interesting how the Xbox version is getting this even though both games are already backward compatible on the system.

 

[BKGlover]

I think the Xbox wrinkle is 64 player online. I believe that was PC only originally. This would also be a good time to make sure it runs smoothly and any old bugs be dealt with for good.

 

[Sonygamer455]

So I looked it up and it's offering quite a bit!

Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection Available Now - Updated

The original favorites strike back.

www.starwars.com

Having more hero assault maps is great because that was the mode I played the most in BF2, however, the fact it's going to have crossplay is a big one for me. Me and my brother used to play both games a lot when we were younger, with BF2 being the one game we played the absolute most, and with him moving out in recent years, I no longer have that, but with crossplay, that means we might be able to do it all again!

Going to pump the brakes a bit and wait for reviews to make sure it lives up to the hype first because I'd hate to be disappointed, especially since these 2 games (BF2 especially) are very significant to me. I have confidence it'll be good though.

 

[BKGlover]

It's weird. I have no love for the first game. I remember finding it clunky, bad repetitive, and unimmersive. 2 on though grabbed my mind and still haven't let go. A console re-release of Renegade and Elite Squadron would also be nice, if niche.

 

[Sonygamer455]

It's weird. I have no love for the first game. I remember finding it clunky, bad repetitive, and unimmersive.

While I do heavily prefer the 2nd game, the 1st does have an edge over its sequel that makes it still worth playing today. Such as:

1. Being able to fully crouch down.
2. Being able to fly vehicles on ground maps (besides Hoth)
3. The main cannons on vehicles have a lot of splash damage against infantry.
4. You have vehicle repair droids.
5. Highly opinionated, but it has some of the better maps in the series, like Naboo Plains, Tatooine Dune Sea, Rhen Var Harbor, and Bespin Platforms, which weren't originally in the sequel until they came out as DLC.
6. Maybe it's just me, but I find BF1's graphics to be a bit better.

And I am sure I left out something, but while Battlefront 2 does have a lot more content to offer and it is a lot of fun, theirs still things the original game did better.

2 on though grabbed my mind and still haven't let go.

I get that. Battlefront 2 held my attention for a very long time, longer than most games I have ever owned and I think it received the most play time out of all of them too. It's been a hot minute since I spent some quality time with it again, but that's something I intend to change sometime this year.

I will admit, for me, BF1 kind of lived in BF2's shadow for a long time since BF2 did a lot more for me in my teen years, but in recent years, it's become more relevant to me now, especially since I have it on Xbox.

A console re-release of Renegade and Elite Squadron would also be nice, if niche.

Agreed! Haven't played Elite Squadron, but I played Renegade Squadron a lot back in the day and it's a fun game worth playing. It actually wasn't too long ago I played it again.

 

[BKGlover]

Haven't played Elite Squadron,

If you can get ahold of a copy, I do recommend... mainly for how it weaves in and out of the extended canon pre-Disney. It's a decent challenge too

 

[Sonygamer455]

I also heard it adapted some things that were meant for Battlefront 3 as well. It's a game I have wanted to play for years now since Renegade Squadron did a lot for me.

 

[Morgoth_666]

While I do heavily prefer the 2nd game, the 1st does have an edge over its sequel that makes it still worth playing today. Such as:

1. Being able to fully crouch down.
2. Being able to fly vehicles on ground maps (besides Hoth)
3. The main cannons on vehicles have a lot of splash damage against infantry.
4. You have vehicle repair droids.
5. Highly opinionated, but it has some of the better maps in the series, like Naboo Plains, Tatooine Dune Sea, Rhen Var Harbor, and Bespin Platforms, which weren't originally in the sequel until they came out as DLC.
6. Maybe it's just me, but I find BF1's graphics to be a bit better.

And I am sure I left out something, but while Battlefront 2 does have a lot more content to offer and it is a lot of fun, theirs still things the original game did better.

I get that. Battlefront 2 held my attention for a very long time, longer than most games I have ever owned and I think it received the most play time out of all of them too. It's been a hot minute since I spent some quality time with it again, but that's something I intend to change sometime this year.

I will admit, for me, BF1 kind of lived in BF2's shadow for a long time since BF2 did a lot more for me in my teen years, but in recent years, it's become more relevant to me now, especially since I have it on Xbox.

Agreed! Haven't played Elite Squadron, but I played Renegade Squadron a lot back in the day and it's a fun game worth playing. It actually wasn't too long ago I played it again.

Pretty much exactly what I was going to post. BF2 was my favorite but both games were great for me and sucked up tons of my time, and I really did miss some of the maps and features from the first game.

BF1 also had the ability to select all the maps and instantly fill the Instant Action queue with whichever game modes you wanted, and then randomize it for endless fun, where the second one forced you to set it up one at a time in the specific order you wanted to play. BF2 kind of made up for that by having a fantastic Galactic Conquest mode, though that too was plagued by not having any way to randomize the map so it was always the same choke-point worlds you were fighting over. Didn't stop me playing through it 50+ times lol.

The other thing that got lost in BF1 which is largely irrelevant now is that in the online modes the official maps always had tons of bots, so you could just join a room and play until humans came in. So online was always fun, instead of BF2 where there might only be a handful of active rooms. There were also always lots of custom servers, often doing ridiculous things like having hundreds of bots per side which was incredibly fun(when it worked). BF2 was great solo or with a friend but after a while online became a bit empty on PS2. The space maps were a blast online if you could actually find some people to play with.


**I just popped open my PS2 and Battlefront 2 is in the drive
I still play it once in a while when I just need something fun for a few. But it's probably been idle for a year at this point.

 

[Sonygamer455]

BF2 was my favorite but both games were great for me and sucked up tons of my time

Same!

and I really did miss some of the maps and features from the first game.

I did and I didn't. Part of me wished we could have gotten ones like Naboo Plains again, but at the same time, I am glad we didn't because it gave me some incentive to play the first again. Something I wouldn't be nearly as motivated to do if it had all of it's maps.

Don't get me wrong though, it is cool they at least offered them as DLC for those who really wanted them. Too bad PS2 players had to miss out on it.

BF1 also had the ability to select all the maps and instantly fill the Instant Action queue with whichever game modes you wanted, and then randomize it for endless fun, where the second one forced you to set it up one at a time in the specific order you wanted to play.

I could be wrong, but I think if you scroll to the very bottom, you can add all maps to the playlist. I can't remember if it could be randomized though.

BF2 kind of made up for that by having a fantastic Galactic Conquest mode, though that too was plagued by not having any way to randomize the map so it was always the same choke-point worlds you were fighting over.

Something else that was cool about Galactic Conquest is if the 2 fleets meet, you could have space battles you can't play anywhere else, and even some from Rise of the Empire. Like space Mustafar, space Polis Massa or even just in space by itself with no nearby planets. It was good stuff!

 

[Sonygamer455]

So about the cross-play. Something I've noticed is, it's not going to have cross-play, but rather it will be cross-gen. So I guess I, an Xbox user, won't be playing with my brother who is using a PS4. It does however mean if I was to ever get a PS5, I'd be able to play against him though. I really wish it could have been cross-play, but looking into it, I can see why it isn't.

 

[desmodan]

I used to close my eyes at night and all I could see was waves of droids advancing up Kassyyyk beach head.

 

[BKGlover]

I used to close my eyes at night and all I could see was waves of droids advancing up Kassyyyk beach head.

That damn refinery gave me hell so many times before I cheesed it with a tank.

It's officially re-released...Steam version is being bombed, but I expected that. I keep seeing conflicting reviews. Guessing another case where no one knows how to have a game ready for launch...

 

[Sonygamer455]

Since theirs been some discussion on the games sequel in this thread, I made a thread on Battlefront II, something I have been meaning to do for a while now.

 

[BKGlover]

Sounds like, once again, the re-release is a minimal effort screw job. PC version is directly a console port. Minimal servers for online. Didn't fix anything or clean it up, may have broken more bits.

Dammit, I wanted it to be good.