When Star Wars Battlefront II released in 2017, I got caught up in a cyclone of pessimistic outrage.



What started as pure excitement when Darth Maul and Yoda got ready to thrown down in that original reveal trailer quickly turned to disappointment thanks to the thousands of comments, tweets and videos bashing the game online.



“It’s pay to win!” was a seemingly valid complaint that I latched onto, and it’s one that unfortunately is still echoed today even though that system was removed before the games official launch following feedback from the public beta.



Despite this change and my obvious obsession with the game as I continued to constantly check on it through social media and the r/StarWarsBattlefront subreddit, I couldn’t shake the negative energy and just try it for myself.



Thankfully a close friend of mine and contributor to Positive Plugs, Matthew Kline, picked up the game on release day and consistently reassured me that it was many things but most importantly it was fun.



I eventually gave in and bought the game when it was on sale for $47. This purchase turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made this generation as it proceeded to provide me with over a hundred hours of entertainment.

The game itself is astonishingly beautiful on the Xbox One X, the movement and gun play is incredibly smooth and the maps are well designed with authentic replication of a galaxy far, far away.



What was once a “huge let down” has become one of my most played games. I’ve managed to complete all of the achievements and now I’m working through each of the in-game challenges, which there are plenty of by the way, and it never feels like a grind.



A glimpse at my Xbox stats for the game.

Yes, Star Wars Battlefront II has had it’s problems but the shining beacon of hope throughout all of the controversy and pessimism has been the development and community management teams at DICE.

Members such as Dennis Brännvall, Ben Walke and Jay Ingram have been actively engaging the community with honest and open discussions about the state of the game, forthcoming content and more, all while staying within the reasonable boundaries of their employment restrictions.

While I imagine working on something as cool as Star Wars is a dream come true, I do not envy anyone on the team. Seeing the amount of vitriol and crass insults that are blindly thrown around often causes me to shake my head and roll my eyes. I can only imagine the emotional and mental toll it takes on the team to constantly be barraged with these types of comments but their resilience, dedication and ability to simply shrug it off and continue with their work is why they’re making and supporting AAA games and I’m writing a blog about them at my desk during some down time.

And speaking of their continued work, recent additions such as the inclusion of Count Dooku and Anakin Skywalker along with a brand new clone wars mode titled ‘Capital Supremacy‘ has continued to rope me back into the game allowing the hours to melt away as I get lost in massive battles and eagerly watch my points tick up until I have enough to come in as a better unit and really start wreaking havoc.



And with Dennis claiming “We’re far from done on this one“, I imagine I’ll be booting up Battlefront II for a long time to come.



But this game isn’t all about multiplayer.

Screenshot courtesy of Matthew Kline.

The campaign for Star Wars Battlefront II was another hot point of criticism at launch for reasons I won’t discuss due to spoilers. Yes, I know the game has been out since 2017 but on the off chance that someone reading this article decides to give it a shot for the first time, I don’t want to steal an ounce of the magic they’re going to experience.

Those criticisms were something else I took to heart and even after buying, playing and enjoying the Battlefront II multiplayer, I refused to play the campaign because of those comments.



It took a while… like, a year. But eventually I had a free Saturday afternoon and figured I would give the story a try. What followed was one of the most enjoyable shooter campaigns I’ve ever had the privilege of playing.



For about seven or eight hours, I was able to meet a plethora of new characters, hang out with old friends, travel to unique and interesting planets and gaze in awe at the beauty of the Xbox One X enhanced gameplay and cutscenes.



One of the new original characters, a Duros who fights for the Resistance, easily managed to weasel his way into my heart and become one of my all-time favorite Star Wars characters. I really hope we get to see more of him in the future… maybe in a certain multiplayer, hero based game type… Please DICE?

In conclusion, I still see a lot of hate being aimed at Star Wars Battlefront II and I find that both sad and unfair.



It’s sad that some fans will never experience the excitement of the campaign or the hours of fun that come from the multiplayer all because of the internet hivemind constantly regurgitating old and outdated information, as well as the mainstream trend of blindly hating anything with an EA logo on it.



It’s unfair, because the team at DICE has worked tirelessly to bring us a wonderful product that continues to expand and grow as they do their best to keep the community up to date and tackle feedback as quickly as possible.



Thankfully, in recent weeks I’ve also seen more and more players opening up in defense of the game by debunking and defusing arguments across multiple subreddits, twitter and more.



It’s OK to like the game and it’s OK to dislike it. But if there’s one thing to take away from my experience it’s to use your own judgment and make up your own mind. No one else can tell you what fits you and if you listen to the opinions of others, regardless of how loud they may be, you might end up cheating yourself out of something great.



Star Wars Battlefront II is a labor of love and even during the worst times DICE continues to push through and provide good, quality content for their player base.



I’m very happy they do and I’m extremely excited for what the future holds.



Thanks for reading.









If you want to try Star Wars Battlefront II out for yourself you can buy a copy of the game digitally for your preferred platform at one of the links below











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