In a galaxy not so far away, the release of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection by a port specialist studio in Aspyr Media was met with great anticipation from fans eager to relive a bygone time defined by a pair of iconic shooters: Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront II, originally developed by Pandemic Studios.
These titles, revered for their deep immersion into the Star Wars universe, offered fans a chance to partake in epic battles across various locations known from the films a decade before DICE’s re-release back in 2015, which was eventually good but flopped even harder at launch (that’s a topic for another day).
However, the joyous occasion for Star Wars fans quickly soured – a shadow cast over the collection’s launch resulting from numerous issues.
From the get-go, the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, priced at $35, faced many hurdles. On the release day, only a handful of official multiplayer servers were available, immediately leading to connectivity problems, frequent disconnects, desync issues, “rubber banding”, and difficulties in joining teams or spawning.
Aspyr’s overall lackluster effort to bring Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection created a disappointing experience for many, as evidenced by the collection’s “Mostly Negative” Steam rating, where only 20% of reviews were positive.
Critics and players highlighted that the multiplayer aspect of the game, the collection’s main selling point for many who already owned the originals, was “entirely unplayable.” Complaints ranged from the inability to join servers to players not being able to spawn once they did. As a result, many felt that the purchase was a waste of money until these significant issues were addressed. In addition to multiplayer woes, the Classic Collection promised several enhancements over the originals, such as 64-player server support, a selection of bonus maps, and the ability to play Hero Assault on all maps. However, the features could hardly be enjoyed due to the aforementioned problems. The collection’s file size requirement of 62.87GB, quite large considering the visual improvements don’t substantially enhance the game’s appearance, further compounded the issue.
In response to the backlash, Aspyr Media issued a statement thanking the community for their feedback and acknowledging “critical errors” with their network infrastructure. They committed to continuing their efforts until the network infrastructure is stabilized.
Despite the promises, the modding community, familiar with fixing issues in the original games, have begun compiling a list of problems to address, taking a proactive if cynical approach, as revealed to IGN.
With Aspyr’s commitment to resolving the game’s issues and the modding community’s efforts to provide unofficial fixes, there remains hope for the redemption of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection. But this rocky start reminds us that the Force can’t guarantee a smooth journey.
Speaking of Star Wars, Ubisoft is releasing the next AAA outing set in the galaxy, far, far away, possibly later this year.
