Video footage and previews of the new Crate system in Star Wars: Battlefront 2 have emerged, giving gamers an opportunity to view what the looting mechanics are like for uncovering new gear and upgrades. Well, further revelations were made indicating that Crates can be purchased with real money, raising concerns over whether the game would turn into a pay-to-win fest.
Eurogamer received confirmation from Electronic Arts that gamers can spend real money to unlock these new Crates. Each Crate contains a random assortment of Star Cards. Yes, the Star Cards are back, but they're being utilized very differently in Star Wars: Battlefront 2 compared to the original from 2015. Instead of unlocking new weapons and gear by leveling up and accessing a Star Card -- where it might grant you a sniper rifle or a jetpack and you had a limited number of card slots for your deck -- the new game has it setup where Star Cards are uncovered through Crates and they no longer give you weapons or items, but rather boosts or crafting material.
EA confirmed to Eurogamer that players who don't have time to grind for the Star Cards that they need for their characters or Heroes, can potentially be unlocked at random by purchasing Crates with real money. The only caveat is that the items contained within the Crates are random, but it is possible to keep paying for higher tier Crates in hopes of getting higher tier rewards.
YouTube videos sponsored by Electronic Arts walk gamers through the process of unlocking Crates, combing through the rewards and applying them to Heroes and character classes.
For Heroes you only get two Star Card slots, so you can't make Rey or Darth Maul all-powerful. However, depending on how you stack those two slots can make a drastic difference in how they play. For instance, in one of the demonstrations we see that Darth Maul is granted a defensive Star Card boost, enabling him to have a 60% reduction in damage taken while using certain attacks. This compensates for the Heroes not having a block button like in the old Pandemic Battlefront games.
In another example, we see that Boba Fett's rocket launcher can have its fire-rate increased by anywhere between 35% and 50%, meaning that he can rapid-fire his rockets using the Intense Barrage Star Card.
One of the more startling cards revealed was for the Heavy Trooper, with a legendary card called Sentry, which enables him to dish out massive damage while receiving a 5% damage reduction bonus for 16 seconds. For standard class characters they can have up to four Star Card slots, giving players some potentially devastating bonuses when heading out onto the battlefield.
These aren't just cosmetic changes and skin alterations, some of these Star Cards will drastically alter combatant performance, giving certain players a definitive edge over the competition.
EA didn't really comment about the performance aspect of the microtransactions in Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Essentially these microtransactions will be the monetary replacement for the DLC packs, the latter of which will be free.
Some gamers are okay with being able to pay for upgrades and gameplay enhancing bonuses. Others are right sickened by the inclusion of these features. With the closed alpha test for Star Wars: Battlefront 2 currently underway, maybe we'll get more insight into the how the Star Card system works and how much of a benefit it gives to players ahead of its release this November.
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