User blog:Commander Awesome/Beta Report

I managed to play some of the beta yesterday on the PS4 and my mind was 'blown! 'And now it's time for me to give you all the juicy details:

The graphics, needless to say were absolutely incredible, as well as the sound. It was also incredibly smooth, smoother than any other game I've played ever, I didn't experience even the slightest bit of lag, even in multiplayer. It truly felt lifelike and immersive, like I was really in the Star Wars universe. The controls were easy and felt pretty natural, very similar to the old games. Now for the gameplay. Overall I found it to be easy enough to be fun, and challenging enough to keep me playing without getting bored. It's a nice balance. At a glance, the gameplay seems very simple, but the customization with star cards (secondary weapons/items) and power-ups add quite a bit of depth to it. You really have to think about what star cards to equip and when to use them, and there's quite a variety of star cards available in the beta, ranging from grenades and rockets to sniper rifles to jetpacks. All with their strengths and weaknesses. Most star cards have unlimited uses and have a cooldown effect. Others, however, have a limited number of uses, and have to be replenished using special powerups called charges. This indeed add another extra bit of challenge to the game. There are three levels you can play in the beta, I got to play all of them:

Survival Mode on Tatooine: In this mode, you are a lone rebel soldier who must survive against waves of imperials. I played this on easy mode (This was the first mode I played). It's pretty much exactly what you saw in the E3 gameplay. Even in easy mode it was pretty challenging. The enemies are easy to take down, but they can overwealm you pretty quickly. In this mode I was given pre-made loadouts I star cards to use. In my best match of this I got 37 kills and survived 5 out of 6 waves (there are probably more waves at higher difficulty levels).

Walker Assault on Hoth: This was definitely the most fun and epic out of the three. In this mode the Rebels must secure uplink stations in order to sens in a bombing run to disable the shields of the AT-ATs, rendering them vulnerable. The Empire must prevent the rebels from doing so and defend the AT-ATs. The Rebels win if the AT-ATs are destroyed. The Empire wins if they are intact after the time limit. I got to play this as both sides. I didn't really get to try the vehicles much, but I did get to fly a TIE fighter around a bit. The controls and handling are identical to the original games. I unfortunately did not get to try out the heroes. But just the infantry combat alone was really fun.

Drop Zone on Sullust: This was the most fast-paced out of all the modes. In this mode each team has to capture escape pods as they fall. The first team to get five wins. Needless to say, you needed to stay on the move. Very fun.