''Star Wars: Force Arena'' (known initially as ''Star Wars: Battlegrounds'') was a 2017 ''
Star Wars''-themed
player versus player
Player versus player (PvP) is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between human players. This is often compared to player versus environment (PvE), in which the game itself controls its players' opponents. The terms are mos ...
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to p ...
mobile game from
Netmarble Games
Netmarble Corp. ( Korean: 넷마블 주식회사) is a South Korean mobile game developer. It is South Korea's largest mobile-gaming company which was founded in 2000 by Bang Jun-hyuk.
Overview
Netmarble developed ''Lineage 2 Revolution'' in 2 ...
and
Lucasfilm, involving characters and military units that appeared in all major ''Star Wars'' film installments released before 2019. Players command various Star Wars military units in a
card Card or The Card may refer to:
* Various types of plastic cards:
**By type
***Magnetic stripe card
*** Chip card
*** Digital card
**By function
***Payment card
****Credit card
**** Debit card
****EC-card
****Identity card
****European Health Insur ...
-powered
multiplayer online battle arena
Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that ...
(MOBA). It was released on January 12, 2017 for
Android and
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
.
It generally favorable reviews according to review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
. On the game's first anniversary it had reached 6.5 million players. Servers were shut down on January 12, 2019, and the game was removed from digital storefronts. Critics gave high marks for the game's graphical and sound presentation. Gameplay reception was mixed. Reviewers generally praised the MOBA aspects of the game, but were more critical of card collecting aspects. There was also division in regards to digital purchases. Some critics felt no need to spend money on the game, while others noted it suffered from
pay-to-win
Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
mechanics prevalent in mobile games.
Gameplay
Early versions of ''Force Arena'' were set in the
Rebellion era of the ''Star Wars'' storyline, until an update on August 14, 2017 added content from the
Clone Wars Clone Wars may refer to:
Star Wars Film and television
* ''Star Wars: Clone Wars'' (2003 TV series), an American animated television series set in the ''Star Wars'' galaxy
* ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' (2008 TV series), an American 3D CGI anim ...
era and a November 9, 2017 update included the
New Republic era. Players control customized squads of characters and vehicles in a
card Card or The Card may refer to:
* Various types of plastic cards:
**By type
***Magnetic stripe card
*** Chip card
*** Digital card
**By function
***Payment card
****Credit card
**** Debit card
****EC-card
****Identity card
****European Health Insur ...
-powered
multiplayer online battle arena
Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that ...
(MOBA) environment in the vein of ''
Clash Royale
''Clash Royale'' is a free-to-play real-time strategy video game developed and published by Supercell. The game combines elements from collectible card games, tower defense, and multiplayer online battle arena. The game was released globally ...
'',
where the goal is to destroy the enemy squad's
automatic defense turrets and
shield generator to open their base to an
airstrike. The myriad of playable squad leaders and unique assistants not only include characters that appear in the films, but also characters who appear in spin-off films, TV series, and
Marvel
Marvel may refer to:
Business
* Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company
** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment
** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe
** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics
* ...
-published
comic books, like ''
Rogue One
''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (or simply ''Rogue One'') is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. The screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy is from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. It was produced by L ...
'', ''
Star Wars Rebels
''Star Wars Rebels'' is an American 3D animated science fiction television series produced by Lucasfilm Animation and set in the ''Star Wars'' universe. It takes place over a decade after '' Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' and progressing ...
'' and ''
Star Wars: Princess Leia'',
as well as ''
Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', the
''Star Wars'' sequel trilogy and ''
Solo: A Star Wars Story''
Every squad is headed by a leader character, which has a special ability that the player can reuse at will
after a certain amount of time passes, as well as some passive abilities.
Many leaders also each have a unique counterpart, which may be a side character or even a spacecraft strafing run, which can only be used with the character with whom they are paired. When a leader is defeated, they will
respawn
In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item or NPC. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives. Despawning is the deletion of an entity from the game ...
near the shield generator after some time passes, during which the player is unable to deploy any cards. The respawn time penalty also increases for each subsequent defeat, up to a maximum of ten seconds.
Development and legacy
''Star Wars: Force Arena'' was developed by Korean studio
Netmarble Games
Netmarble Corp. ( Korean: 넷마블 주식회사) is a South Korean mobile game developer. It is South Korea's largest mobile-gaming company which was founded in 2000 by Bang Jun-hyuk.
Overview
Netmarble developed ''Lineage 2 Revolution'' in 2 ...
and published in conjunction with
Lucasfilm. It was announced in November 2016,
The game received a soft launch on
November 4
Events Pre-1600
*1429 – Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War: Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.
*1493 – Christopher Columbus reaches Leeward Island and Puerto Rico.
*1501 – Catherine of Aragon (later Henry VIII's ...
, 2016 in Australia and Singapore, where it was released under the title ''Star Wars: Battlegrounds''.
The game was later showcased in November at
G-Star
G-Star (sometimes also written G*STAR, G★ or G★STAR; ) is an annual trade show for the video game industry presented by Korea Association of Game Industry and Busan IT Promotion Agency in November. Originally held in the Seoul Capital Area ...
2016. A full release followed on January 12, 2017 for
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
and
Android.
For
Star Wars Day 2018 two 40th anniversary characters were released based on
Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph Angus McQuarrie (; June 13, 1929 – March 3, 2012) was an American conceptual designer and illustrator. His career included work on the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy, the original ''Battlestar Galactica'' television series, the film ''E ...
's concept art: Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. On December 19, 2018, it was announced that the game would be shutting down on March 18, 2019. The game was no longer available for download after January 17, 2019,
and the game shut down as scheduled.
Reception
''Star Wars: Force Arena'' received generally favorable reviews according to review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.
On the game's first anniversary the developers revealed that the game had reached 6.5 million players.
Gameplay aspects received mixed impressions from critics. Reviewers generally praised the MOBA aspect of the game. iMore's Luke Filipowicz stated that "I always felt I had the opportunity to win, even in the matches where I would get trampled by my opponent."
Android Central's Mark Lagace similarly lauded the battles, noting "the strategy and action it delivers in battle is as good as it gets."
Harry Slater of
Pocket Gamer noted that the three minute timed rounds lead "to some excellent, frantic battling."
Other critics gave high marks for the game's short battles.
Inversely the star card mechanics were often a point of criticism. Lagace noted that when aside from the MOBA battles ''Force Arena'' "is but another card collecting game."
Some critics took note that the game did not require players to purchase cards with real-world currency in order to succeed. "I never felt the need to make in-game purchases" noted the reviewer from
Yahoo! Life.
iMore's Luke Filipowicz disagreed. "If you want to reach the top of the leaderboard, you'll have to spend money", he stated in his review.
The graphics and sound were universally praised by reviewers.
GameZebo's Nick Tylwalk noted that "graphics are super sharp, especially impressive on the leader characters, and the music and sound effects are instantly recognizable."
This sentiment was echoed by other critics. Android Central's Mark Lagace stated "Nailing the look and feel of Star Wars is important for fans, and this is easily the best-executed I've seen and heard on mobile."
iMore's Luke Filipowicz appreciated that character designs are crisp and distinct, and that it was easy to differentiate between units on the battlefield.
References
External links
*
*
{{Star Wars games
2017 video games
Android (operating system) games
IOS games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Netmarble games
Force Arena
Strategy video games
Video games developed in South Korea
Video games featuring female protagonists