One of the enduring confusions around the new Star Wars Battlefront [official site] was the ditching of any kind of meaningful singleplayer mode. The adverts were so very geeky 30/40-something-focused, with all their misty-eyed pining for childhood X-Wing fantasies – the only logical next step for the marketing campaign would have been Kelly Kapowski wearing a Huttslayer Leia bikini. Then the reality was just getting shot in the back of the head by bug-eyed teenagers a thousand times over, and spaceships limited to sporadic icon pick-ups. Also, the original Battlefronts were known for having decent bot modes, while recent stablemates from the Battlefield series boasted campaign modes, no matter how dumb, so it was an odd break from tradition too.
Speaking about Battlefront’s future and plans to improve its reception, EA claim the lack of singleplayer was a “conscious decision” made in order to ship close to the Force Awakens.
“We made [the choice] due to time and being able to launch the game side-by-side with the movie that came out to get the strongest possible impact,” EA Studio head Patrick Söderlund told investors yesterday (as reported by Eurogamer). From a pure biz perspective it’s hard to argue with that: Star Wars fervour was at its peak then, and there was simply no better time to launch a Star Wars game. But that decision at least partially contributed to Battlefront’s 75% Metacritic average; a Metacrisis as far as a big publisher is concerned.
Soderland sought to defend this. “I think the team created a really good game based on the premise that we had. I would say the game has done very well for us and reached a very different demographic than a traditional EA game. So from that perspective, it’s a success. Are we happy with the 75 rating? No. Is that something we’re going to cure going forward? Absolutely.”
I’m presuming that “different demographic” is Parentsquad, who sorely missed their AT-AT toys. Hello! As for the proposed cure, he’s talking about the recently-announced Battlefront sequel, due in the next year and which will be at least partly based around the new movies. Whether that’s Force Awakens or Rogue One we don’t know yet – but I’m to bet a battered Wicket figure (h.b. headscarf missing) that it will feature some kind of singleplayer mode.
18/05/2016 at 11:28 Ridiculous Human says:
These header pics are my favourite ongoing RPS gag
18/05/2016 at 11:30 Lakshmi says:
It’s familiar but I can’t place it. But yeah, loving these.
18/05/2016 at 11:35 Tinotoin says:
I believe it’s the one and only Krull :)
18/05/2016 at 11:50 Lakshmi says:
Of course. How could I forget. (Hooray for forgetting).
18/05/2016 at 11:57 Tinotoin says:
Tactical amnesia is where it’s at!
18/05/2016 at 11:36 krividus says:
That, my dear friends, would be the movie “Krull”, a mainstay of my young-un years.
18/05/2016 at 11:36 Neurotic says:
Krull.
18/05/2016 at 13:14 fish99 says:
Krud.
18/05/2016 at 20:14 Jay Load says:
Krull.
18/05/2016 at 11:29 BobbyDylan says:
The Lack of SP is why I didn’t buy this. The MP in the beta was dull as hell, so there’s nothing for me to want in this title.
18/05/2016 at 11:30 Lakshmi says:
Dadsquad – really Alec. Plenty of women wanted our single player SW toys too.
18/05/2016 at 11:32 Alec Meer says:
fair enough, edited.
18/05/2016 at 12:02 Lakshmi says:
Appreciated, thank you :)
18/05/2016 at 17:17 magogjack says:
Another reason why RPS rules.
18/05/2016 at 12:45 Don Reba says:
Would have been fine in Spanish, where they just call parents “fathers.”
19/05/2016 at 02:09 Dances to Podcasts says:
In the context of Star Wars the only correct language would be Dutch, where father translates as vader.
18/05/2016 at 11:35 dreadguacamole says:
Krull! One of those movies (and arcade games) I loved as a kid, but am absolutely not going to revisit as an adult.
And the running gag is great.
18/05/2016 at 11:38 dreadguacamole says:
Reply fail!
Also, I thought keeping it multiplayer-only was a nod to the previous SW Battlefront games, though cutting out the bots was a bit much. Good on them for coming out and admitting it was rushed.
18/05/2016 at 13:11 Angel Dust says:
It’s no masterpiece of course but I rewatched it last year and it’s got a certain goofy charm.
The score is also fuckin’ fantastic.
18/05/2016 at 15:23 thekelvingreen says:
Yes indeed, a great score, and a weird and wonderful cast; where else would you see Robbie Coltrane and Liam Neeson alongside Mark off of Eastenders?
19/05/2016 at 10:10 Jalan says:
Definitely one of James Horner’s finest works. Every time I hear it, I just get depressed that the man is no longer around to deliver more like it.
19/05/2016 at 11:31 The Great Wayne says:
One may disagree. Krull is a masterpiece imho. The cyclops background in itself is pure poetry.
And the whole noshame blend of over-the-top sci-fi/fantasy/shuriken is so 80s it brings a tear to my eye.
18/05/2016 at 11:54 James says:
Remember folks, money is always more important than quality. That’s my take away from this. That and pizza.
18/05/2016 at 16:28 Darth Gangrel says:
This conjures up a picture of EA as Emperor Palpatine answering AND electricuting a dev that asks why there is no singleplayer. EA’s answer: Exposure! Unlimited EXPOSURE!!!!!
I almost thought of getting this game in few years, but the lack of singleplayer killed it faster than Han did Greedo.
18/05/2016 at 12:02 TillEulenspiegel says:
It’s true that Episode 7 is probably going to be the pinnacle of Star Wars hype for a good while, but we’re going to have very large events every damn year for the foreseeable future. And you get 18+ months notice of the exact date.
So please plan ahead and make good Star Wars games because I need them kthx
18/05/2016 at 13:10 Angel Dust says:
Aw, yiss. Muthafuckin Krull.
18/05/2016 at 13:31 Junkenstein says:
It’s annoying because it’s got a bare bones glimpse at what a single player campaign could have been, with the stromtroopers with different abilities in survival mode and the training mission with the speeder chase etc.
I would like to play that game.
18/05/2016 at 17:21 magogjack says:
Is it too much to ask for it to be third-person with actual, physical, vehicle models to jump inside.
Please EA, I want to give you money for this quite badly but you keep slapping it out of my hands and into the dirt….
19/05/2016 at 09:16 raizhassan says:
Made a “conscious decision” to keep the AAA price tag too I noted.
19/05/2016 at 10:25 DrollRemark says:
Isn’t that when episode 8 is due out? Late next year?