Ah, Pandemic Studios. Playing Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection reminds me of the original development studio and how much I admired that team's work. Known for games like Destroy All Humans! and Mercenaries. Now Aspyr has taken over the helm and is bringing Battlefront I and II to current platforms, after not long ago they brought KotoR II to the Switch and simply broke their promise about the restored content. But let's stick with Battlefront, because you'll find out how it turned out in our test.
A comprehensive package for nostalgia fans
The Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection offers a ton of content and will immediately make you feel like a kid in a candy store. From the abundance of cards to the selection of heroes and villains you can play as, you'll be overwhelmed in the best way possible. A great place to start is the two campaigns, which offer the opportunity to take part in many battles across the Star Wars galaxy. Star Wars: Battlefront's campaign is more of a collection of battles in various locations like Naboo and Tatooine that have little to do with the story. It still feels good to fight as a stormtrooper or battle droid and shoot down hundreds of enemy soldiers. As a huge fan of the Clone Wars and the 501st in particular, it was great to replay the Star Wars: Battlefront II campaign. Each mission begins with a short cutscene narrated by Temuera Morrison (the voice of Boba Fett in the prequels and the face of the clones) before you plunge into war and complete various objectives. The story is more than serviceable, and while it doesn't quite measure up to what we're used to today, there are a lot of cool story elements that are never revealed in the films, including a backstory to Aayla Secura's tragic end during Order 66.
Galactic Conquest was also one of the best game modes, and the renewed attempt to gain complete domination is just as exciting as ever. You fight for control of various planets, and the more you control, the more likely you are to end up challenging the last planet under your opponent's control: your base of operations. Battlefront II offers the best version of this mode, as it includes a galactic map and the ability to earn credits that can be used to purchase new troop classes and bonuses for each attack. The second game also features space battles that add some spice to the proceedings, and the feel of the game is really good here too.
Changes and problems that should remain far, far away
The controls will be familiar to anyone who enjoys playing FPS titles. But there are problems. On the one hand, there is the slowness with which you look around, which cannot be adjusted either. Aiming is generally more difficult than back then, which seems to be due to Aspyr's strange new settings, because the first major patch also removed the ability to invert the Y-axis, which was previously possible, and saves were also made easy for pre-orderers sometimes corrupted. And why there are only three servers for 64 players each at the start and therefore nobody can actually play online is beyond any understanding, because the big special feature of the old versions is of course the functioning multiplayer. But back to the game.
Different classes allow different approaches, such as: B. Engineers who can repair turrets, snipers who can attack from a distance, and heavy gunners who can fire rockets at the battlefield. You can change classes at specific spawn points and in areas of the map controlled by your army. If you're in the hottest chokepoints on the map, with blaster fire and grenades everywhere, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is your best bet. It's total carnage, and despite the slow pace, the thrill that was present in the early 2000s is still a big part of it today. You can take on the role of a variety of iconic Star Wars characters throughout the game, but especially in Hero Assault mode. Two teams compete to achieve the most eliminations across both Jedi and Sith, with characters including Luke and Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, Count Dooku, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi available. There are also characters like Princess Leia, Boba Fett and Chewbacca who don't wield a lightsaber but are just as effective on the field. It was also a good opportunity to try out the new characters featured in the game. Dooku's apprentice Asaajj Ventress has two lightsabers, and while Kit Fisto is an odd choice for a Jedi, it was still cool to play as a Nautolan. I'm just sad we didn't get Plo Koon or Ahsoka.
Conclusion
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection brings two great games back to modern times. Packed with lots of content, all the DLC, online modes and a spruced-up look, little should actually go wrong here. But Aspyr messed it up a bit with a disastrous online launch with too few servers, vaguer controls and missing options from the original. Patch it Chewie!
Positive:
+ Battlefront package with all content
+ lots of vehicles and spaceships
+ small innovations like Ventress and Kit Fisto
+ Online modes are back
Negative:
– too few servers at launch make multiplayer impossible
– strange aim assist
– Online matches are often over in 2 minutes
– Missing options and corrupted save states after first patch