A terrible release all around. The core gameplay is still fun, but that's due to the work Pandemic did 20+ years ago. All Aspyr did was AI upscale the textures, add a few reflections to surfaces, and port former Xbox exclusive content to PC. Unfortunately, they screwed up nearly all of this. Thanks to the new textures, the game now requires 60 GB of storage space - that's 10 GB more than the 2015 Battlefront with all DLCs requires! Additionally, the new reflections look weirldy out of place in most locations.

Battlefront 2 now uses the menus of the console versions which look better, but also cut some of the more advanced functions of the original PC version. Multiplayer is straight up awful, even before you get to the gameplay part. The quick match functionality tries to connect you to password protected servers, meanwhile the server browser tended to not load at all for me most of the time.

There are bugs and issues no matter where you look - keep in mind I found everything I list here in less than an hour of playtime. Certain guns clip through the screen, cutscenes show heavy artifacting, even the movie clips that loop in the menu backgrounds are compressed to hell and back. Oh, and sometimes the game will just produce an ear shattering audio error sound - hope you're not playing with headphones!

I have seen this called a cashgrab and I disagree, because a cashgrab would actually make Aspyr money. I have refunded my copy, and I'm assuming others will do the same. As of right now, I see no point in playing this over the originals. Both are available on PC with functioning multiplayer support and tons of mods. In a year or so, this Collection might be patched to a point where it's worth buying, but considering the blatent lack of competence Aspyr has displayed time and time again, I wouldn't bet on it.

Reviewed on Mar 15, 2024


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