Star Wars: World

Everyone is over-hyped about the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront, and that Open Beta only made it harder to endure. If the publishers are to be believed, over ten million people are going to purchase the game on release day, which is an awful lot indeed. However, not everyone affords to pay that kind of money, not to mention the microtransactions that are going to be part of the final product.

Fly coach and save the Empire some money

Star Wars: World is an indie production that aims to recreate at least part of the same feeling you might have experienced in the original game developed by DICE. It features many of the same aspects, but it obviously doesn’t come very close in any regard. The fact that it supports multiplayer and a fairly big map is quite nice, on the other hand, and the game is pretty polished for such an early version.
To begin with, there is only one map you can play on right now, and it is modeled after the winter planet from Battlefront. It even features a huge Walker as well, although it doesn’t actually move or do anything at all. You also cannot use vehicles or those sweet force powers, except for a nice jump boost from the jetpack you carry on your back.

Two weapons to annihilate your enemies with

In the arsenal department, there is only a rifle and a pistol you can toy with. They are pretty accurate, and it only takes a handful of bullets to put down an enemy, so it shouldn’t be too much of a struggle in this regard. The lack of variety can become annoying after a while, on the other hand, especially since it’s not the most entertaining thing in the world to shoot the same gun for hours on end.
One of the most surprising aspects of the game is the graphics engine, even if it’s actually Unity. The map and the objects are quite detailed and well modeled, not to mention the decent post-processing effects completing the mood. Things are not as exciting in the sound department, but there’s a lot of time to fix this and add more effects later on.

A potentially exciting free alternative to Star Wars: Battlefront

All in all, the game probably won’t last too long until EA rains down on it with a cease and desist, but if the developers play their cards right, this might stick for a while. Hence, if you are not pretentious and you don’t mind the lack of content, Star Wars: World can be a nice way to spend a few hours.