Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection Review - You Can Kill Gungans

Ah, Pandemic Studios. Playing Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection reminds me of its original development studio, and how much I adored both this team's work. Known for games such as Destroy All Humans! and Mercenaries, I fondly remember putting in dozens of hours into these games.

But those hours pale in comparison to the amount of time I put into Star Wars: Battlefront 1 and 2, which are now together in one handy bundle with the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection. If you're like me, you might be keen on reliving your experience with these games. Yes, they're still great, though the collection as a whole? A tad bit underwhelming.

What's New with Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection?

I've seen more than a few individuals throw the word "remaster" around for the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, so let's make it clear: This is not a remaster, nor is it a remake. This is most certainly a port at most, but it does add a few minor improvements to the two games.

A notable improvement to both Star Wars: Battlefront 1 and 2 is upscaled textures. I say notable, but that might be a bit of an exaggeration. The new textures are extremely subtle, and taking time to compare these textures with their original PC ports, it's hard to spot any improvement.

You'll see the biggest difference in skyboxes, which look more detailed. Though I never paid much attention to the sky while playing Battlefront, so this improvement is largely unsubstantial. Textures on terrain like the ground, rocks, as well as building walls look a bit sharper, but even at more than a glance, you'll have a difficult time seeing a difference.

However, since many individuals are running with 1440p and 4K screens, you might be happy to find that this port accommodates such resolutions. This includes up to 144 fps as well. I understand such frame rates were achievable on the original releases on PC, but you had to fiddle with some files to do so. Out of the box, this port supports modern hardware well.

There are several other notable features, like controller support. Because this port launches on consoles as well, it should support most Gamepads -- I tested both a PS5 and Xbox Series X controller, and both worked great. Buttons for PS5 show up as Xbox buttons, though, but I'm told Aspyr is already aware of this and should have a fix for it at some point.

Other modern bells and whistles include achievement support and a refined UI. In this collection, I appreciate the fact that Battlefront 2 uses the original home console UI as opposed to the, frankly, downright ugly PC version's main menu.

On the less technical side of things, the Hero Assault mode is playable on all maps now, so you can have Ki-Adi-Mundi and Kit Fisto fight General Grievous and Jango Fett on the Death Star. It's a ridiculous, canon-deviating scenario that plenty of fans should enjoy as much as I did.

We're left with all the original game modes from Battlefront 1 and 2. My personal favorite is Battlefront 2's Galactic Assault mode, which tasks players with choosing a faction and conquering the galaxy. You can unlock new units, upgrade your army to a small degree, and partake in space battles, too.

I was addicted to Galactic Assault mode back in the day, and I suspect I might relapse. On top of that, you can either follow the rise of Vader in Battlefront 2's campaign or play through some faction-specific missions from the first game. Though, if I had to pick between the two, Battlefront 2 is the superior game and will probably take up most of your attention.

What is Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection Missing?

I've mostly spoken from the context of a PC player. Many individuals interested in Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection probably already own the 2004 and 2005 versions. For the most part, these ran without many issues. Non-PC players are likely to get more out of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection since it's finally coming to modern consoles.

Other than that, one large benefit to this new port is a large influx of players looking to either revisit this classic multiplayer title, or experience it for the very first time. There is a non-advertised caveat, however: according to a Reddit user, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection only has cross-generation multiplayer.

In other words, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S players can play together, but not with PC or PlayStation players. This feels like a huge missed opportunity and won't really benefit the lifespan of Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection.

The lack of crossplay isn't surprising, considering the rest of the port feels rather barebones. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection ends up being underwhelming as a new release, even if the games themselves are excellent. Nothing is particularly game-changing other than adding necessary features for modern hardware.

Perhaps Aspyr could have tweaked the AI or added quality-of-life improvements to some of Battlefront's missions to make them less tedious. Other than that, I even ran into a few issues like visual bugs. There was even this one issue with, without fail, pressing Steam's screenshot button would immediately disconnect me from online servers.

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection Review | Final Thoughts

As of writing this review, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection hasn't officially launched, so servers are completely empty. I can't speak to server performance, then, but I am certainly excited to play online with 64 other players.

While I may disparage the port for its lack of new features, Battlefront 1 and 2 are still outstandingly good games and are must-plays for Star Wars fans. Something about taking the role of a common soldier on the battlefield seems even more fun than becoming a Jedi or Sith (though, you can still play as one in these games).

If anything, it's a good time as any to relive your childhood while the servers will be packed with like-minded fans. Both Battlefront 1 and 2 were released during the infancy of console-based online multiplayer, so either get a nice dose of nostalgia by making a return to the battlefield or see what everyone was raving about back in the day.

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection was reviewed on PC with a code provided by the publisher over roughly 6 hours of gameplay. All screenshots in this review were taken by the reviewer during gameplay.