This will be a review of the gameplay itself. The bit around the politics will be at the end.



The actual goddamn game: Much like the This will be a review of the gameplay itself. The bit around the politics will be at the end.



The actual goddamn game:



Much like the first modern SWBF, SWBF2 looks and sounds amazing. The graphics are very detailed yet the game runs smoothly on a middle-of-the-road PC. The music has been improved to feature more of the classic Star Wars score, making the game feel much more alive than the previous entry.



Multiplayer matches are your standard Battlefield fare. Compared to the Battlefield titles, the weapons mostly have a lower fire rate, but the time-to-kill is roughly the same. The map design, while asymmetrical, feels balanced. Unlike Hoth in the previous game, the maps do not end up in one-sided fights and the spawn points don't dump you directly into the line of fire. The controls for flight have been touched up, with the semi-autopilot from the previous game completely gone, making dogfights and space combat much more skill-based.



As of this review (written at the end of launch week), there don't seem to be any weapons or abilities that absolutely dwarf the others in power. Every weapon and ability has its tradeoffs. Abilities can be upgraded to be more effective through the crafting system, which feels slow and random. That being said, the time-to-kill in this game is so quick that the abilities hardly seem to give you an edge. Good map awareness and tactics from a new player will beat an optioned-out run-and-gunner 9 times out of 10.



The campaign, while short, features a compelling story with decent characters. If you pick up the game, it's worth a play-through. I won't spoil anything beyond that.



All in all, SWBF2 is a solid game that highly improves on the first game. I've had a lot of fun playing so far, and I have not felt punished for not buying lootboxes.



The Politics:



Frankly, I am worried about this game's future and the hype machine surrounded by it. Yes, EA's lootbox system is technically P2W because paying players can get power faster than non-paying players. I think they absolutely need revamp the lootboxes to remove P2W items and include fun non-gamechanging items like you see in Overwatch and CS:GO. However, the impact of the P2W system has been blown out of proportion IMO. It's nothing like those old Nexon games where you get destroyed by whales.



The impact of the P2W stuff is very similar to that in Battlefield 1, so if you could tolerate it in that game, you can tolerate it here. The fact that EA is making last-minute changes to their years-long project means that the pressure on them is real, and there is a chance we will see them forego the P2W stuff entirely.



To those that would love to play this game if not for the P2W mechanics, I urge you keep an eye on this game and see what EA decides to do in the future. If the small amount of P2W makes this game absolutely not worth it, I totally get it. But don't rob yourself of a good experience because the Internet hype machine says so. … Expand