Performance Rating
How well does Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection play on the Steam Deck? Read on to learn how performance holds up and what settings you should and shouldn’t use.
Performance
I’ve got some good and some bad news for you. First, the good. Both Battlefront and Battlefront 2 in the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection run near perfectly on Steam Deck. I did end up locking the framerate to 60 as even though it can hit 120 frames per second quite comfortably, when there’s a lot on-screen that framerate drops into the 80s and 90s. On the Steam Deck OLED model you could get away with sticking to a 90 Hertz refresh rate if you want. The frame drops haven’t been so bad that 90 Hertz is off-limits, but I’m a fan of saving as much battery life as I can, and running the game at 60 Hertz is going to do just that.
Admittedly, both Battlefront games shouldn’t be difficult to run on modern hardware. Both were released for PS2 and the original Xbox, so they’re not exactly high-end software. Hell, even the PSP got an excellent version.
Shall we get into the bad? There are some really bizarre choices here. The Steam Deck has its own control menu in Battlefront 2, but you need to manually map the ability to switch between first and third person to a button that’s already in use. I also couldn’t find a way to invert the spaceship controls in-game.
There’s also the issue that there isn’t really much here. The games look the best they have, but this is a barebones port with no in-game settings to tweak. The first Battlefront looks just about better than an emulated version, but it’s aged horribly. Given developer Aspyr worked on Tomb Raider Remastered and went in and added tons of new textures and lighting, Battlefront feels almost rushed by comparison.
I’ve also seen reports of people struggling to get into online matches. From my own testing, this hasn’t been a problem, and I’d put it down to launch issues rather than a fixed problem.
Settings
Normally this is where I’d list all the settings to change to get the best performance. As the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection doesn’t have any real graphical settings, I can’t do that. There are, however, some settings I suggest changing to make the experience a little more intuitive.
Firstly, go and change the camera speed in Battlefront 2. In the first game, the right stick moves as you’d expect. But in Battlefront 2, it’s horrifyingly slow. While you’re there, I’d also suggest mapping one of the buttons to switch between a first and third-person view. You can make do without it, but being able to switch at will means you can see around corners without needing to into the settings menu to switch to and fro.
Over in the Steam Deck quick-access menu, it’s also worth dropping the TDP down to 10 or 12. These aren’t power-hungry games, so the full 15 watts is definitely not needed.
Verdict
I’m having fun playing Battlefront 2 on Steam Deck, and when the 64-player multiplayer works it’s a real joy. But, I’m left with a big old feeling of is that it? While character models still look great to my retro eyes, the textures in the first Battlefront have aged badly, to the point where it’s an eyesore to play. I’d wager most are here for Battlefront 2 with online play, but at $30, that’s a lot for a little package.
In a sale I could easily recommend picking this game up. But for full price, and given how little has changed, and the fact an emulated version does just a good of a job for solo players, it’s hard to make the case for the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection just yet.
Disclosure: Review code provided by PR| To learn more about our review policy click here. | Alternatively, click here to find out why you can trust me.
