Star Warfare 2: Payback Review

Games like Bungie’s recently released Destiny may have made the concept of a shooter that revolves around a centralized hub world a mass-marketable approach to game design, but the to the Star Warfare franchise the idea is old hat. In their second installment, Star Warfare 2: Payback, Freyr Games looks to explore this approach even further, with more visual polish to boot. Can it manage to bring more to the table than their freshman outing, or is this a safe retread of familiar territory?

Fans of the third-person shooter will most likely be familiar with the ever-popular “horde mode” made famous by the Gears of War series. At the risk of pigeonholing Star Warfare 2 right out of the gate, it is safe to say that players are certainly going to see quite a few similarities between Gears' multiplayer mode and virtually every aspect of this title. Everything from the camera angle to the swarming waves of generic-ish baddies certainly won’t do much to dissuade such comparisons.

Luckily there's a bit more than meets the eye to Star Warfare 2. For one, all of the gear and weapons can be customized and/or upgraded using either the in-game currency or cash from the player’s wallet.  This is all fine and dandy, but in most cases it feels like the only customization that's necessary is a weapon upgrade here and there. The aim-assist is so “helpful” that all players need to do is aim in the same general vicinity of their adversaries.

Despite the addition of vehicular combat and missions that have several different styles of objectives, nearly every mission still ends up playing virtually the same. It's this lack of variety that holds Star Warfare 2 back. Not that this is always a bad thing, but it is disappointing to see this from a game that was so visually appealing.

Third-person shooter aficionados on a budget will likely find plenty to enjoy in Star Warfare 2: Payback’s free package. Though sadly, most players will find that the action will lose its luster after a few rounds.