On November 17, 2015, EA, in conjunction with DICE and Lucasfilm, released Star Wars Battlefront, a brand new Star Wars shooter game created to revive the beloved series of generations passed. The actual game, however, falls somewhat short of the massive standards that were put in front of it.

In the video game industry, or at least the discussion among fans, the over-hyping of certain video games presents a somewhat massive problem within the marketing in the game. Developers frequently ask themselves whether or not they are revealing too much about a certain game or creating too much excitement for a game. This may not particularly sound like a problem since getting more and more excited for something just psyches people up for the eventual release, right? Well, if a company gives too much information about a game, the element of surprise dies out, and fans are left to speculate what could have been. In most cases, fans tend to give a video game the responsibility of meeting unreasonably high standards. Sequels have it the worst, needing to satisfy the fans’ demands while still adding more innovative formulas into the gameplay to make it fresh. A game like Star Wars Battlefront, a sequel of a stellar game series based off of the biggest movie franchise in the world, is going to be a major victim of over-hyping.

Unfortunately for fans, Star Wars Battlefront did not live up to the expectations. The original game saw players compete in multiplayer battles in fully fleshed-out environments. Each player had a purpose and an objective to complete. This new game features the same elements but just doesn’t feel right. What I mean by this is that there is just not a lot of depth in the game. There is not a huge variety of weapons and the amount of maps given with the initial release of the game did not give a good enough variety to keep the game interesting for long periods of time. The new 40-player battles are very fun and chaotic but become somewhat boring after realizing that this is the only thing a player can do with the game.

Many regard Star Wars Battlefront II to be the best installment in the franchise. Star Wars Battlefront II featured a single-player campaign, along with a large amount of interesting maps and eclectic styles of gameplay. What many players wanted was an evolution of the gameplay, but what they truly got was a step backwards. Single-player mode was almost entirely scrapped for missions that have absolutely no connection with each other. This brings me back to the title of this article, “Less Battlefront, More Battlefield.” The big problem with the game is that it looks like a Star Wars Battlefront game, but it feels like a Battlefield clone with a Star Wars skin.

Star Wars Battlefront is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One consoles. Star Wars Battlefront is an unfortunately shallow game experience. There isn’t much to do besides battle online and the things the game allows one to do are not too spectacular in their own right. It is a fun game to an extent, but once the limit is reached, the game is just too hard to pick up again.