Rapid impressions of the Star Wars Battlefront Beta

Let's keep this one short and sweet, ladies and gentlemen. Perhaps you are reading this having missed the Beta and want quick hits as to how it feels or maybe you want to compare notes with me before the Beta closes.

With that said, here's five things that four hours of hands on time with the Beta taught me:

1. Battlefront is going to be a quick moving game. You feel light, and very quick on the battlefield. Movement is crisp and aiming is snappy.

Laser shots tear around you in the open plains of Hoth, but it feels very right.

This is not a sluggish, cumbersome shooter. It's quick and has an almost arcadey feel, which I mean in the most satisfying way.

2. Flying vehicles feels like it could use some work.

I only had a couple chances to fly on Hoth, but both times, I felt like I was controlling an Oldsmobile on a solid sheet of ice.

Maybe it's because I'm trash at flying, but I didn't feel very confident in my ability to do much of anything aside from slam into the snowy ground.

Again, it could be that I'm rubbish at flying and need more time with it, but first impressions feel a little bit strange.

3. Hero power-ups feel powerful, but I wonder about the balance.

My first time as Darth Vader was met with a quick end. I was less than an hour into the game, so when given control of the infamous Vader, I proceeded to flounder about like an idiot in Hoth's open snowscapes, throwing my lightsaber around like a moron and taking down one rebel before I was gunned down.

The second time, I brought havoc. Charging into a group of seven rebels, I forced choked one and proceeded to slice him with my lightsaber, and repeated that process on two more rebels before throwing my lightsaber to cut down two more and cut one down with a basic lightsaber slash.

It all felt really good, but I saw a couple of Luke Skywalker's get gunned down pretty easily. It seems like the heroes might move too slowly- or at least, that's what I feel like.

Granted, Vader moves pretty slowly, sure. But I couldn't help but feel like he should have more health to compensate. It will be very interesting to see not only which heroes we get in this game, but also, how, if at all, their abilities are altered to allow for discernible differences in how they play.

4. This will be a different breed of online shooter. And I love that.

This game feels nothing like COD, Halo or even Battlefield.

It feels uniquely Battlefront. Sure, as a Dice product, there is some vague deja vu if you've played a Battlefield game lately, but even still, the game is its own. It has its own set of rules and techniques that you likely haven't used in any other online shooter.

I'm still working on grasping all of these nuances, but this game could have easily felt like COD on Star Wars planets, and I can gleefully tell you this is not the case.

5. It's a Star Wars fan's dream.

Isn't it, though? Haven't all of us Star Wars fans dreamed of one day fighting as the desperate Rebel Alliance on Hoth, fighting with all of their might to stop the mighty and horrifying AT-AT's from destroying the shield generator at the end of the slow, churning march forward?

We get only two planets and modes in the Beta, and only a little taste of the options but you have to believe the full game will be full of fan service.

Hoth feels authentic. The graphics are gorgeous in this game and the snow on Hoth feels as if it could give off a cold all its own.

Even things down to how the storm troopers and rebels fall over like sacks of potatoes when shot feel truly authentic.

This is how things would go in the movies, you will continue telling yourself.

As I marched forward with a group of nine fellow stormtroopers on Hoth clad in our winter outfits, we were startled as a TIE Fighter slammed into the ground yards away, creating a huge explosion among the desolate, peaceful snow.

An announcement is made that the Rebels have brought down our AT-AT shields, and we watch droves of them run into the open beside the giant, hulking walkers and open fire on them.

I pull out a thermal detonator and toss it into the mix, killing some rebels and wounding others. As I spray the area with blaster rifle fire and cut them down as they focus on the walkers, I realize this is the Star Wars game I've always wanted.

As a fan of the series, this is what we have longed for.

This game has through the roof potential. If you miss the Beta, don't worry. We don't have much longer to wait and man, it's going to be worth it.