BattleFront 2: Battle of Geonosis Review

As of today it has been a week since the folks at EA/Dice have released the Geonosis update for Battlefront 2. Since I have been playing it in the little free time I can grab between working on assignments and being a new dad, I figured a review of the update would be appropriate.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the new content brought to the game. The addition of Obi-Wan Kenobi to the roster of playable heroes had me quite ecstatic, and the new map really hit the high standards held by myself and the rest of the player community. The preceding update that introduced general grievous to the hero roster was cool, but it is weak in comparison to the new content introduced with Geonosis.

QUICK SUMMARY

The new update boasts the Geonosis map, Obi-Wan Kenobi as a playable hero character, new skins for the clones as well as a new skin for general grievous, and three new vehicles. Two of the new vehicles (BARC speeder and AT-TE tank) are reserved for players on the Galactic Republic side, and the remaining one (STAP speeder) is reserved for the players on the Separatist Alliance side. The lack of new weapons had me a tad upset, but the quality of the content added in is good enough to make up for that for the time being.

THE MAP/OBJECTIVE OF PLAY

The actual map of Geonosis is huge. Fans of the prequel era films will recognize the barren desert landscape of Geonosis, sparsely populated by cool a.i. geonosian bug people flying about in the distance. The map is split into three zones currently as it is only available to be played on galactic assault mode, so that does help bring some variety to the layout of the map. Check out the stills below to see the layout of the new map.

Like every map for the galactic assault mode, there are specific objectives for the attacking and defending forces playing on the map. The republic forces (attackers) must bust through the separatist alliance's (defenders) forces in order to claim critical territory and mount a siege against their droid foes. After the critical ground has been claimed in the first phase, up to ten AT-TE tanks are deployed for the attackers to bolster their siege with. The final siege stretches the final two phases of the map, and it can lead to some intense firefights for either side. The result is a space fantasy war simulation that is both exciting and fun to experience as an average player or die-hard fan. You can view the community transmission from Dice below to get a feel for what is offered through the new update.

NEW VEHICLES

Players are now able to use the AT-TE tank and Barc speeder for the galactic republic forces, so long as they are playing the Geonosis map. The separatist's droid army gets a new toy to play with as well, with the addition of the STAP speeder. There is also the inclusion of massive spider droids that fight on behalf of the droids, but they are unable to be controlled by players so that is kind of a drag. Each of the vehicles control differently and have varying ranges of power.

The AT-TE is slow and lumbering with no armor regeneration, but it packs one hell of a punch and is quite fun to use. Aside from having three different firing modes to choose from when shelling out justice on the droids, the tank also gives players the ability to buff teammates that are within close proximity to the vehicle.

The BARC speeder offers very little protection, but it is quite fun to use as it is lightning quick and has a good front cannon that can make short work of enemy droids. The STAP speeder is not really all that fast, but the cannon on the front of the vehicle is pretty similar to the one on the BARC except slightly easier to aim. The lack of speed really doesn't persuade me to ever choose this vehicle in the spawn menu though. Don't expect anything new in the ability department for either of the two aforementioned vehicles, as their abilities are identical to the other speeders in the game on other maps.

OBI-WAN KENOBI

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a blast to play. If not for the cool new abilities he brings to the table, definitely for the nostalgia associated with prequel memes that comes with his image. I have outlined his three unique abilities below.

Defensive Rush

Kenobi rushes forward at whoever is in his way, deflecting oncoming fire back at the enemy and slicing unfortunate passersby. This move is really great for closing the gap between you and the enemy or for high-tailing it out of harm's way safely. Plus if it doesn't work correctly it looks pretty funny.

All Out Push

A charged force push that is focuses to a long, rectangular field of effect. I really like this ability for clearing out tight hallways of hapless goons. The longer you hold the relevant button, the longer the area of effect gets. This can create some really entertaining scenarios when dealing with clogged halls.

Restrictive Mind-Tricks

This is a very useful ability for keeping the enemy where you want before a fight and preventing them from running away on you during said fight. Enemy forces within a cone shaped area of effect are unable to use their abilities, dodge, or sprint while affected by the mind trick. It's not the craziest new ability to be added into the game but it is rather funny when someone panics upon discovery that they can't roll to safety.

VERDICT

As previously stated in the review intro, I really enjoyed this update. There are only some small issues with Kenobi, e.g. his force push not charging properly or activating too early, however; the update as a whole itself is quite solid. I give this one 4.5 "hello there's" out of 5.