Greetings! Time for the Recon Office Report, 52nd Edition. ;)
First up, how many of you have seen your new glorious trilogy more than twice already? Yeah that's what I thought. :P So have I.
Apparently so have most of the other fans out there. The Star Wars trilogy has broken major records as well as Star Wars Battlefront for sales in a single day. Around $115 Million if I remember correctly. That's a LOT.
I haven't gotten to the bonus disk, someone tell me how it is.
Now, as far as SW Battlefront PC version is concerned, The Force.Net has reviewed it and that piece is below. I did not have the install problem like alot of people have had, but I did have some playing problems such as the maps are too small, the controls for the fighters are really screwed up and hard to control, and there are way too many players for that small of a map. But besides that, it's fun and I'm still gettng used to it.
Anyways, on to other things. I'm still waiting on an email interview. I'm surprised it hasn't been returned yet (half the reason why I was late with this report).
I've fired off an email to LucasArts about a fan booth for the EH for Celebration III. The booth is free of charge but I will need people to man the booth. It's a four day event, so if your going to be there, LET ME KNOW! It will problably be a two hour "Tour of Duty". More on that in later reports.
***STAR WARS NEWS***
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**TFN Reviews Star Wars Battlefront**
Many people have been looking forward to Star Wars: Battlefront as much as KOTOR2 and even more than Republic Commando. Finally Star Wars will have a worth Battlefied game to compete with other classics. But does the game live up to the hype?
I am a veteran player of almost all the battlefield games. Operation Flashpoint is considered near-perfect in my world. The graphics are not as flashy as the newer games but the gameplay is awesome. Battlefield 1942 is more "arcade" but the maps have a good balance of cover, open field, and strategic points.
When I realized that Pandemic was also involved in making the great (but too short) Full Spectrum Warrior, I was really hoping for a similar game that would require squad level tactics.
Installation
Unfortunately, SWB got off to a VERY bad start with me. The installation process did not go well and in fact, had it not been for another player on the LucasArts forums, I would only be writing an article on Battlefront Installation problems.
The first time I tried to install the game, I got a Wrong Label error. I tried to put another disk in the drive and click continue but the installation just stalled the computer. I shut down the computer and restarted.
On the second attempt, I finally got to the last CD but the install hung while trying to copy yav1.lvl in data5.cab . It seems a lot of other players are having the same problem as well. I first tried to copy the contents of Cd#3 to my harddrive so I could install that way but data5.cab will not copy. The file on the disk is corrupted. This is not looking good for LucasArts. I am hoping this is not going to be another "creative decision".
A temporary fix is to close out of the installation, then open the game directory and find the Battlefront.exe file (not the BFLaunch.exe). Create a shortcut to this file on your desktop and the game will run. However, I do not know what files are missing from the rest of the data5.cab . The more permanent fix is to take the game back for another copy. Let the retailers know that some of the disks are corrupted and to expect some angry fans. I am returning my copy to Wal-Mart this afternoon and will try to reinstall using (hopefully) a non-corrupted copy of CD3.
Using the temporary fix, I was able to play the game for several hours. The game menus have a cool 3d angle to them and I jumped in Instant Action. My first mission was Hoth (as Imperial). I played as the AT-AT driver, relentlessly marching to Echo base. Speeders screamed by and stupid Rebels on Tautauns tried to attack me in vain. The main cannons are very slow but nothing survives a direct hit. The graphics in the vehicles are not very exciting but the joy of crushing friend and foe under my giant vehicle's feet made up for it.
However, the data display does have some issues. LucasArts, please allow us to read data in numbers, not health bars. The action is too fast and it is often too difficult to scan your health, the health of your vehicle, and your weapon status. Some fans may like the bars but give us a choice to use percentages or something else with numbers on them.
This is the same issue on Multiplayer. We don't like bars to determine the ping. There is no indication what 2 bars, 3 bars, 4 or 5 bars actually mean for ping numbers. If 50 or less represents 5 bars, that would be good information to know. Again, how about the ability to change all bars into raw numbers. The multiplayer menu also needs a filter. The first servers to show up are all 1 red bar. I don't want to see those servers. The lack of a filter in the game does not affect gameplay so should have been an easy task to complete. This appears that the game was very rushed and expected items with a lower priority were never finished. Also, turn up the FPS in multiplayer. The 15-20 FPS cap is irritating a lot of players. Multiplayer is going to keep your game on the market for a long time (just look at Half Life).
One of the great things from 1942 was the size of the maps. Yes, it made for long treks by grunts to hike the trail to the battle (that is why you always found a ride) but it also made the game a lot better for air units. Far too often in SWB, I was threatened for desertion for leaving the battlefield because my Tie Fighter or Droid Fighter went straight for a short 5 seconds. The maps need to be larger when air units are involved.
I have bashed the game around a bit but is it fun? You bet. But let me put a caveat on that statement (if you play the right maps). Some of the levels are great (Endor, Tattooine Desert, Naboo-Theed, Geonosis) but some are quite boring (Kamino, Naboo Plains) and others are both (Hoth, Kashykk). I played Endor this morning and enjoyed racing the speeder through the forest at top speed while dodging trees, rocks, Ewok traps, and friendly units. The Endor map works because it offers cover for troops but also open area for vehicles. The map is not large but walkers and speeders don't need the room like TIEs and XWings. The best vehicle has to be the Republic's LAAT. They are a lot of to drive but the firepower will make your droid opponents scatter. My favorite character has to be the Droideka. The shield generator allows for extra punishment and the cannons make short work of most Clonetroopers that get in the way. However, the droideka shield should be a little more powerful (one grenade should not destroy it) and the arms should be moveable up or down to fire down on units over railings.
Conclusion
The game does not have a polished feel to it. It seems rushed out the door to match the DVD release. I am going to play the game and I am very hopeful that LucasArts will:
1. not release a game again with this many problems
2. give Battlefront priority and not delay fixes because they are busy on KOTOR2, Galaxies, Republic Commando or Mercenaries
3. Quickly give the SWB fans the tools to modify and improve the game.
They will also need to tweak some of the units in the game but this is expected. Grenades do a lot of damage. The rockets launcher is too accurate for its strength. It should be affected by gravity a lot more (like the bazooka in 1942).
With all the issues with the game and the quirks of the display, I would have to give the game a C+. If LucasArts quickly gets on the ball and puts out an update for the health bars, the multiplayer menu, the Multiplayer FPS, better maps for air units and cover for ground troops and replaces those corrupted disk 3, this grade could easily be a B+ or even a A-.
**Star Wars DVDs Smash Sales Records**
Business Wire is reporting massive $115,000,000 day one sales for the Star Wars DVD.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 2004--Shattering all records for entertainment franchise spending in a single day, STAR WARS fans around the world have spent more than $115,000,000 on in-home STAR WARS entertainment. Single day sales for the most requested DVDs of all time, the STAR WARS TRILOGY, combined with the release of the new STAR WARS Battlefront videogame have set yet another benchmark for the most popular entertainment franchise in the world. This phenomenal achievement will continue as the DVD debuts in Japan, Australia, Benelux and Mexico, and the LucasArts game launches internationally later this week.
Easily setting a record for the best selling film collection ever released on DVD, the STAR WARS films boasts global box office performance in excess of $3.4 billion, not adjusted for inflation. Worldwide home entertainment sales for the STAR WARS franchise stand at more than 125 million units inception to date.
**Star Wars Celebration III Registration**
Registration for Celebration III begins September 27th at 12 noon PDT at starwarscelebration.com. Admission to Celebration III for all four days is only $95 if you pre-register, onsite purchases jump to $110. For more information regarding Hyperspace benefits ( lanyards ) and pricing structures for individual days, kids and families.
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That's it for me this week. I'll probably release the interview before my next report. Look for that.
Thanks for your time.