Star Wars Battlefront's official release date is on November 17 in the US, however some lucky gamers have already gotten their hands on the game thanks to EA's Early Access program.
EA Access is only available to Xbox One owners, so PlayStation 4 and PC players have to sit tight until Tuesday. Anyone subscribed to the service has access to the full Battlefront game for 10 hours. This isn't simply a demo; all the maps, game modes, and unique heroes included in the retail release can be played with right now.
Some reviewers have already begun posting their early impressions of the title. However final grades can't be posted until the embargo is lifted at 9:00 pm PT on Monday, November 16. In a recently published piece, Polygon's Arthur Gies criticized the decision to restrict final reviews despite the full title being available to the public.
"This is absurd. We know it, and we believe EA knows it as well. EA has run Access long enough to plan around it, and has repeatedly demonstrated as much." He writes.
Controversy aside, let's see what some of the early feedback on the game is looking like.
Kotaku's Stephen Totilo says that Battlefront's multiplayer component is very fun, but worries whether or not there's enough content here to satisfy diehards.
"I can't tell if there's enough to the game, though, even for Star Wars superfans. There aren't a lot of maps, and that could wind up causing the game to quickly grow stale." He writes.
Single-player has never really been the Battlefront franchise's calling card, but IGN's Mitch Dyer says that the new installment's 1-2 player survival mode is an 'unexpected success.' However like Totilo, he voiced concerns about the replaybility and longevity of the mode writing that, "There aren't many compelling reasons to replay a Survival mission you've finished."
