It received generally favorable reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. 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 mechanics prevalent in mobile games.
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.[6] 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 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.[7]
Star Wars: Force Arena was developed by Korean studio Netmarble and published in conjunction with Lucasfilm Games. It was announced in November 2016,[5] The game received a soft launch on November 4, 2016, in Australia and Singapore, where it was released under the title Star Wars: Battlegrounds.[8] The game was later showcased in November at G-Star 2016.[9] A full release followed on January 12, 2017, for iOS and Android.[3][10] For Star Wars Day 2018 two 40th anniversary characters were released based on Ralph McQuarrie's concept art: Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.[11] 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,[12] and the game shut down as scheduled.
Star Wars: Force Arena received generally favorable reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[13] On the game's first anniversary the developers revealed that the game had reached 6.5 million players.[16]
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."[7] Android Central's Mark Lagace similarly lauded the battles, noting "the strategy and action it delivers in battle is as good as it gets."[6] Harry Slater of Pocket Gamer noted that the three minute timed rounds lead "to some excellent, frantic battling."[15] Other critics gave high marks for the game's short battles.[14] 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."[6] 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.[17] 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.[7]
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."[14] 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."[6] iMore's Luke Filipowicz appreciated that character designs are crisp and distinct, and that it was easy to differentiate between units on the battlefield.[7]
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