A reader concludes his look back at classic moments from the outgoing generation, including Walker Assault from Battlefront 2 and GTA Online.
Click here for part 1, featuring games including Horizon Zero Dawn and Red Dead Redemption and click here for part 2, featuring the likes of The Witcher 3 and Metal Gear Solid 5.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 – Walker Assault
There are not many games that give you the opportunity to relive a moment from a film, mainly due a lack of tie-in games (for better or worse), and a reputation for low budget and low quality experiences. Despite the critical panning that Battlefront 2 received upon its release, and its subsequent rebuild, to eliminate loot boxes, Battlefront 2 excels in atmosphere and its recreation of Star Wars.
Specifically, it’s most famous battle: Hoth. I must admit that I’m more Star Trek than Star Wars, but the walker assault mode is great fun regardless. The sense of scale you feel when running beneath an AT-AT with blaster fire wooshing past as you avoid being hit is lifted straight from the films.
Adding to that are moments such as piloting a snowspeeder and trying bring down an AT-AT using the rear cable, or running for safety as Darth Vader appears on the battlefield to re-enact the hallway fight from Rogue One on your teammates, really is a must for any fan.
GTA Online – The Doomsday Heist
Can you believe one of the besting selling games, even today, is an Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 title? This is largely due to GTA Online, which is soon to be released as a standalone title. Much like Battlefield 2, the launch of GTA Online was not smooth. Due to some server problems accounts were consistently being lost, meaning players had to start from scratch every time they logged in.
Over time these issues were ironed out but it wasn’t until the introduction of heists that the game really came into its own, and the pinnacle of these activities is The Doomsday Heist. This heist is still the most complex and features multiple acts, all with their own set-up missions and unique vehicles.
The vehicles are a particular highlight, as you get to fly the DeLorean after a plane and drive James Bond’s underwater Lotus after a submarine, even the jetpack from San Andreas makes an appearance. Personally, I’m not sure the end pay-out is enough considering this heist can take a day or three to complete, but the journey is definitely worth it.
Batman: Arkham Knight – being Batman… again
Even today, I feel the combat system in the Arkham series is still the best ever made and for me a massive shame that the up and coming Gotham Knight seems to have done away with it. The combat relies on timing to take down enemies, with every incoming attack something you can counter in one way or another and the use of gadgets for when fists are not an option.
Before long you will be taking down mobs of 10 to 20 henchman or more without even a scratch on your cowl. Arkham Knight also saw the introduction of a drivable Batmobile for the first time and although the Batmobile missions can be very repetitive it was a great experience to drive around the streets of Gotham, eject from the vehicle, glide into a group of enemies and take them down all in one fluid motion.
The DLC also added some great challenge races, using the different Batmobiles from the films as well as challenges to test your fight skills, which is a great mode to play ‘pass the pad’ with friends as you try and topple each other’s score.
So there you have it, thank you for reading my trilogy of highlights from the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 era. If you are interested, I have mentioned some other great moments in a co-op feature a few weeks back (found here and here) but thought it best not to repeat any of those.
Writing a Reader’s Feature is something I have wanted to do for a long time and have really enjoyed doing them so far. If you have any suggestions for Reader’s Features and don’t intend on doing one yourself please feel free to leave some suggestions in the Underbox. Thank you also to the Underbox comments, it’s a really supportive community we have here and it’s great to be part of it.
By reader Hollinho
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email [email protected] and follow us on Twitter.
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