'Loot box' is a phrase almost as evil as Darth Sidious. EA was lambasted for the advantage online players gained from spending actual money to advance their characters' skills in Battlefront II through microtransactions and loot boxes.
It brought a lot of negative reaction to one of 2017's most anticipated games.
Yes, the loot box system sucks but the multiplayer mode is as fun as riding a Taunton at full speed. It's a great upgrade from Battlefront.
What the original lacked was a story mode. That's been rectified in the sequel.
Just being in the Star Wars world is enough of a thrill but EA's Dice team have done a great job capturing the look and feel of a galaxy far, far away.
The storyline answers the question, 'What the hell happened between Return of the Jedi and the Force Awakens?'. Those destroyed ships Rey explores on her home planet Jakku? Yes, that's all explained. There's also a nod to a small prop in the latest film.
Like the Star Wars universe the story mode has a decent balance of good and evil. The single player campaign mode follows Iden Versio, a commander of the Imperial Special Forces.
She starts to get second thoughts about the Empire's future plans and looks at, erm, other job opportunities.
Versio has a strong storyline at first, but it gets a little weak. However her character is a welcome addition to Star Wars lore while fans will be happy to know there are also stages where you control Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and Princess Leia.
A scene from Star Wars Battlefront II.
The cuts to the heroes are great: who doesn't want to be Han Solo shooting at Stormtroopers? However, their mix into the story could have been smoother.
Gameplay is a mix of flying and ground assault missions but there is very little battleground tactics needed.
In saying that from Endor to Naboo and from flying the Millennium Falcon to controlling an AT-AT, Battlefront II hits a lot of marks for Star Wars fans.
Battlefront II
Platform: Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC Rating: M Verdict: Improves on the original and gets a little more evil.
