Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection | PS5 Review

March 16, 2024 Zack Parkerson

If you grew up as a kid during the era of the prequel trilogy, there was no avoiding Star Wars Battlefront. It defined many a gaming night, and with its online connectivity, it felt like tapping into something magical at the time. A way to experience the galaxy far, far away as though you were a soldier on the frontlines. Thanks to Aspyr’s never-ending efforts to preserve Star Wars video game history, these two classics are playable once more.

Watch Those Wrist Rockets

I really know of no way to approach talking about the Battlefront games other than as someone who was a teenager when he poured hours and hours into them. While there are plenty of game modes, the majority of the experience is shooting your enemy and killing them to whittle away their forces. Each team has a set amount of reinforcements, and your objective is to eradicate them. Every map has control points (which act as spawn points) to capture, and if your team captures them all it can lead to an early victory.

It sounds incredibly simple, and it really is. And that is the shining beauty of spending time with Star Wars Battlefront: Classic Collection. You’re not inundated with constant XP feedback loops, or staring at a battle pass hoping to get that better weapon. There are character classes with different weapons, and those loadouts are set in carbonite. What you see is what you get, and it did more to make me want to keep playing than any modern shooter’s progression system. You’ll play “just one more” match all night long just for the fun of it. Remember those days?

Just Like the Simulations

Most maps are on the ground. These can be tight, small maps like Mustafar that really drive home the intimate nature of these conflicts. They can also be huge maps like Hoth, where vehicles play a central role. Differences like these ensure you can’t rely on a fallback strategy for every map. If the enemies are relying on tanks, maybe it’s best to whip out the character class with a rocket launcher. Sniper got you down? Why not ram a speeder bike into that stupid helmet of his?

A few maps, however, take to the stars. These tend to have two capital ships facing off in orbit. Your objective is to pilot your own starfighters into enemy territory, attack their shielding, invade their base ship, and take it from them. It’s exhilarating, and something no other Star Wars game has really captured the spirit of since.

Do well enough in a match, in Battlefront II at any rate, and you can don the shoes of a Hero or Villain character. While the fantasy of playing as a foot soldier is the real draw of these games, it nonetheless feels pretty rewarding when you earn the right to cut people down as Obi-Wan or fly around in the jetpack of Boba Fett. There’s actually a whole game mode dedicated to playing as only these elite characters, and Aspyr has seen to it that we can play this game mode on all maps now, as opposed to just Tatooine.

Leave Some for the Rest of Us

If multiplayer matches aren’t your bag, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection still has you covered. The original Battlefront doesn’t offer much, but Battlefront II has more fleshed out single-player offerings. There is a story mode following Vader’s 501st legion that gives the multiplayer maps more narratively focused missions, complete with surprisingly nuanced monologues from soldiers about the horrors of war before each mission. There’s also the addictive Galaxy Conquest mode, which combines the frantic shooter gameplay with a sort of board game happening on top of it. It’s hard to describe, but you won’t be able to put it down.

As for this Aspyr rerelease, it’s exactly what I wanted. Like most of their Star Wars output, this isn’t really a full remaster. It’s closer to a direct port, with resolutions bumped up for modern displays. Personally, I love this, as it’s the best way to keep the games exactly as they were. There is full 64 player online multiplayer with this release, and it feels like living in a dream world to be playing these games in the modern age with lobbies of this size. Also included are the characters that were added to the Xbox version later via Xbox Live, and as said before Hero Assault has been expanded to more maps. It looks and sounds just as you remember it, which is what any fan could ask for.

I do have a pretty major gripe, though. At the time of review there was no way to invert the y-axis for aiming. I really can’t remember if this was the case in the original games, but it feels inexcusable with this release. Asypr added colorblind options and a streamer mode, which means small comfort and accessibility additions have already been added, so surely it’s not impossible to add an inverted option. While I could adjust, it was never as comfortable as it should’ve been. The lack of this incredibly standard option during review is baffling to say the least, though it has been rectified in the day one patch.

One Shot, One Kill

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is the perfect multiplayer offering for the galaxy far, far away. It was hard to believe when it got announced, but here it is in all its glory as originally made by Pandemic Studios. It’s easy to recommend to even the most jaded of Star Wars fans, and also those burned out by shooters constantly asking you dedicate your life to it to enjoy. If you’re interested, don’t hesitate. Hop online and remember the good old days when we played multiplayer games for the most important reason of all: fun.

To hear me talk more about Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, be sure to listen to the March 13 episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast around the 1:13:46 time stamp.

This review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy of Star Wars Battlefront Collection provided by Sandbox Strategies for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation 4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.