Star Wars Battlefront: 10 Crippling Issues That Must Be Fixed

3. Some Worthwhile Single-Player Content

Ever since EA announced the new Battlefront would have a huge focus on multiplayer, it's been the most divisive element in gaming since the Kinect (remember that?). First this was going to be multiplayer-only, then we got wind of some arena-based single-player content, then those scenarios looked to be nothing more than siphoned off chunks of the multiplayer top n' tailed by cutscenes. Now the beta's out fans can confirm it's the latter. The real meat of the experience is clearly in the online multiplayer where all 40 players can blast holy hell out of each other, and the 'Survival on Tatooine' mission opens with a tiny cutscene laying out the predicament of a couple of Rebels struggling to survive against waves of Stormtroopers. Thing is, it's a Horde Mode. It's the Gears of War 2-popularising Horde Mode, where gameplay consists of killing swathes of 'troopers in a boxed-in environment, as Admiral Ackbar sends you drop-pods full of supplies. "How many waves can you last??" touts the menu, but unless you really fancy mindlessly blasting enemies in a fashion that could be in any other shooter, there's zero impetus to replay. With the incredible (and it is incredible) game engine DICE have built here, just give us even the barest version of replaying more scenes from the movie, complete with voice-acted cutscenes and set-pieces where they matter most. Going multiplayer-only with a side of "Oh but, you can play this one part offline" killed both Titanfall and Evolve stone-dead at launch, and once Episode VII's Star Wars fever has worn off, we'll be left with something that could be effectively titled 'Online Shooter: The Video Game'.