Battlefront II , the new television plot where you canplay as Bosskbefore you spenda dozen hours unlocking Luke Skywalker , has a slavish allegiance to fancy graphics and Star Wars activity . Unlike its predecessor , it has a whole newfangled Star Wars story to tell apart . But while it starts promisingly , it ends up being a far too placeable taradiddle .
Battlefront II commit you in the boots of Commander Iden Versio ( an excellent performance from True Blood ’s Janina Gavankar ) , the battle - hardened loss leader of Inferno Squad , a lowly specification ops unit of crack Imperial fender and soldiers that include Agents Del Meeko ( T.J. Ramini ) and Gideon Hask ( Arrow ’s Paul Blackthorne ) alongside her . start out just hours before the Rebel Fleet ’s assault of the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi — and let the game ’s “ heroes ” find its crushing demolition early on — it ’s a story with a fascinating premise . How do the Empire ’s most committed stalwart respond to the precipitation of their orderliness ? What ’s it like being the overwhelming force after you ’ve lost to the upstart torpedo ? And how do the people left stand after Endor move on as the Galactic civil war enters its inevitable final calendar month ?
The cum sown in the story mode ’s second mission — which follow Inferno as they attempt to restore the Death Star ’s planetside shield generator on Endor , only to witness the conflict station set off in the upper atmosphere — mite at the ideologic divisions between appendage of the Empire that would eventually lead to the ascending of the crueler First Order in The Force Awakens . Each member of Inferno Squad is devastated by what they witness ( especially Iden , the only one of them to experience a similar terrorwith the first Death Star ) when confronted with the realization that the Empire is literally crash down all around them . Del is too KO’d to see what could come next . Iden , ever the tactician , ca n’t help wonder who in the top brass managed to mess up what should ’ve been the simple of traps . Hask , meanwhile , straightaway reprimand Iden for traitorous calumny , unwilling to accept the opening of Imperial nonstarter despite the evidence blow up properly in front of him .
Those ideological divergences among imperial beard are ones that have seldom been explored in Disney ’s iteration of Star Wars storytelling . They summate entrancing grain to the faceless villainy of the Empire in a way that score these characters feel credible , while avoiding the pitfall of undercutting the fact that Inferno Squad are still very obviously people who ’ve done spoilt thing to try and stamp out the Rebellion . In fact , they ’re very much shew to be questionable from the get - go , as the game quickly actuate from Endor to the Empire ’s next step : reenact brutal , spiteful revengein the shape of Operation Cinder , a planactually introducedin 2015 ’s The Force Awakens prequel comical Shattered Empire . A giant , posthumous failsafe / screw you from the Emperor , Operation Cinder is a plan to install atmospheric condition - altering satellites above key worlds across the galaxy that basically begin creating massive storms that cause untold destruction and render world uninhabitable . It ’s a critical statement that despite the Emperor ’s death , his Empire still has a fearful grip over the lot of the galaxy .
Inferno Squad is more than happy to go along with the plan , as they ’re still emotionally caught up in what they saw on Endor . And when they discover Cinder is adjust to be implemented on Iden ’s homeworld , the staunchly Imperial Vardos , the stage is set for some really interesting lineament work . Can the Emperor ’s most loyal foot soldiers put aside their personal feelings to assure his absolute will ? Do they believe that inflicting a horror on the horizontal surface of the one inflicted on them is justifiable ? How dark a path are they uncoerced to travel in the name of vengeance ?
But Battlefront II choose to take the sluttish fashion out instead of face these questions . Upon check that the citizens — patriotic imperial — of Vardos will not be evacuate before Cinder devastate the planet , Iden and Del straight off decide enough is enough : They abandon Hask , tuck as many civilians as they can , and defect to the Alliance . There ’s a casual line about the trio ’s last rally as blood brother and sisters in weapons system about this being the brass of a “ new ” Empire that Iden and Del ca n’t get behind , but there is n’t any actual indication that they previously nurse the persuasion , peculiarly given how shocked and raging they were after the second Death Star exploded .
This should be a huge , dramatic breaking point for them to choose to link up the hated Rebels , but it just … happens . And from then on , Battlefront II chuck its premiss — and the challenge of have to explore and explain why these multitude could keep doing such cruel things in the wake of Endor , and why that matters — out the escape cock cod chute to tell the standard story of the New Republic , née Rebel Alliance , fighting the Empire .
Aggravatingly , after they do defect , Battlefront II proceeds to speedily and merrily skirmish aside Iden and Del ’s integrating into the Republic to assure its overly intimate story of good cat vs. bad guys . There ’s some tokenish talks ahead of time in one mission to show that their new “ friend ” do n’t trust them just yet , but by the same mission ’s ending , Iden and Del are chum up around with Princess Leia , and acting like they ’ve been flying X - Wings and crucify Stormtroopers their whole lives . There ’s a few clunky time - skips that try and provide an excuse for brushing past all this , but that ’s it . One arcminute Iden ’s eagerly blasting Rebel scum , the next she ’s thirstily doing the same to Stormtroopers , and Battlefront II does n’t explore how conflict she and Del ( should ) feel about that .
Even worse , Iden becomes less and less the chief character of her own story , as bringing her into the Republic ’s fold substance putting her in the periphery of the characters that we make love and love … characters that , for a good chunk of the fib ’s final hours , take center microscope stage . For several military mission in a run-in you go from Naboo to Sullust to Takodana , and instead see the Republic ’s metempsychosis from the view of Leia , Lando , and Han , pushing Iden aside to help as at best as a secondary player to these escapade , at speculative as a faceless voice over comms . These chronicle are n’t necessarily bad , because it ’s always fun to follow up with these characters we know and love , and see what they were doing after Return of the Jedi . Leia obtain to represent her mother ’s homeworld ! Lando , uproariously charming as ever , is out on the frontlines being a general ! Han … has a face fungus !
But we have it away these lineament already , and we ’ve visualize them spiel the paladin and deliver the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. in so many other Star Wars history . Battlefront II ’s storyline injures itself by select to toss out its challenging yet fresh drama for the same ol’ Rebel heroes being heroes , and cede the final blow by downplaying its unique protagonist , just so it can crack launch the toybox and wreak with the nostalgia of older playthings . By the time the story is done performing and returns to Iden ’s perspective , the game is essentially over . At least that final mission is consider from her perspective , as she take part in the final conflict of the war over Jakku , and even gets to confront Hask one last time .
This is something that’squickly become a problem with Disney ’s ownership of Star Wars , which keeps telling the same kinds of stories with the same characters in the same period over and over again , instead of focalize on stories that really do something new in the galaxy far , far away . It ’s almost even more disappointing that Battlefront II spread out with — and was sold on — an challenging , challenging premise and discards it than if the biz had been true about its intentions to redeem the same old Star Wars experience .
But this disappointment by , there ’s at least a ( newfangled ) hope after Battlefront II ’s net delegation . Played from the linear perspective of Kylo Ren and set decades after the Battle of Jakku , this epilogue serves as a leash - in to The Force Awakens on a grander scale , but its real machination lies in the personal drama it congeal up . It break that not only did Iden and Del hook up and have a girl in the years since the engagement of Jakku , but their one-time Inferno Squad ally Hask live his seeming death at Iden ’s hands , and is now a fervent acolyte of the First Order . Del is enchant by the First Order , and Kylo tortures him for data on where Luke could be veil . Afterwards , Hask kills him for betraying him and the Empire all those years ago , forebode to do the same to Iden .
It draws matter back to the kinship between Hask , Del , and Iden , and it sets the microscope stage for a dispute that need situation during a Star Wars period we still have n’t explored much yet — seen through novel characters , rather than I we ’ve been follow for decades . In fact , EA on the face of it plans to tell that story with a young mission due alongsidefree content splice into The Last Jedi ’s release this December , and hopefully more after that .
Battlefront II ’s tale definitely has its qualities . It maltreat away from the outer boundary of the movies , weaving a story through and around the newly - established canyon from recent book , comics , and other games . That ’s praiseworthy — specially consider it could ’ve easily took the overworn way of life of re - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - ing the original Skywalker saga .
But it sacrifice so much possible , along with the chance to be something truly raw among what we ’ve seen from the Disney epoch . I can settle for it being unspoilt Star Wars fun , but it ’s such a shame it took a great premise and cast it aside for something we ’ve seen so many time before .
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