Star Wars Battlefront 2's Patch 2.0 addresses many sins

Just last week, Alice reported that the much-maligned (and not without reason) Star Wars Battlefront 2 was seeing a rework coming to its loot crates. Now that the update has landed, it's clear to see that was a little bit of an understatement.

In short: Loot crates are largely banished, containing only cosmetic items and purchased solely with in-game credits. Every character and unit is unlocked from the start. Star Card progression is level-based, per class/hero/unit. Real money can only be used to buy cosmetic gubbins that can also be earned through in-game currency and more besides.

The appropriately named Version 2.0 (on account of this being The Do-Over) comes with some impressively lengthy patch notes. The biggest change is absolutely the removal of character and vehicle unlocks. Now if you want to play as Darth Vader, all you have to do is prove your worth and kill a bunch of people before someone else on your team does. This seems a pretty appropriate way to become a Sith, come to think of it.

Also coming in this update is a new (small) map returning from the original Battlefront. Bespin (pictured up top) is a scenic and relaxing place to shoot your friends, and is available in the (now far more tempting) Heroes vs Villains mode, as well as Blast and Arcade. As for Arcade mode, while Star Cards and their upgrades are now unlocked through play, the effective level of all cards is automatically maxed when playing solo.

Beyond that, a lot of rebalancing has been done, including tweaks to the objectives of many missions in Galactic Assault mode. This is apparently the start of a series of planned updates to hammer the game into a more publicly palatable state, so expect other major changes in the future as they prepare the game for its next season of actual content.

While these changes obviously won't please everyone - especially those unhappy with the very concept of the hero system in the game, and the idea of gradually unlocking more powerful perks - this does bring the game far more in line with what people wanted from it at launch.

Accompanying this massive update is a major discount on the game. At 60% off, that brings it down to a quite reasonable £22 on Origin, and keep in mind that any additional map packs or characters are going to be free, with the game moving to a supported-by-cosmetics model.

Not so much a pro tip as a general piece of advice for new players: If you're having trouble dealing with enemy heroes and vehicles, nothing quite beats a Heavy with the Explosive Rounds card. Those shots are fast, accurate and will take off half of Kylo Ren's face in one hit, and he'll often be too surprised by the damage to dodge a second. Go blow up a Yoda for me.