UPDATE: EA has revealed a new official trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront that showcases the game in action.
The graphics are incredible, and DICE is really flexing the new Frostbite 3 engine quite a bit with such photorealistic visuals. The footage highlights heroes, Endor environs, and a brief look at first-person dogfigting that’s straight out of a Star Wars flight sim.
Original story is as follows.
Although Battlefront is just hours away from its official on-stage reveal at the Star Wars Celebration, leaks have sprung up to spoil many of the game’s many surprises.
According to reports published by the Associated Press, Star Wars Battlefront will be filled to the brim with authentic large-scale battles that mirror strategic PVP games like Planetside 2. From the details we’ve gleaned, DICE’s shooter looks to be a full-scale strategic battle simulator mixed with FPS chaos.
The familiar snowscapes of Hoth will be one of the many backdrops for Battlefront’s wide-scaled wars.
Battlefront will feature epic 40 player PVP clashes between the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance, and traditional vehicles like AT-ST’s, X-Wing fighters and TIE fighters will play pivotal roles in combat. Additionally the publication confirmed that ground forces will have extra accessories like jetpacks to aid them in battle.
Different stages will have unique vehicles that reflect the original trilogy, which we’ve recently seen with the speeder bikes on the forest moon of Endor and Snowspeeders on the frozen planet Hoth. Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tattooine will be among the playable stages, along with Sullust and a number of planets players “haven’t ever seen before”.
Heroes are back in a big way, and players can take on the roles of some of their favorite Star Wars alums.
Beloved Star Wars characters like Boba Fett and the Sith lord Darth Vader will return as hero characters, and like Battlefront 2, you’ll be able to play as them. Other than the infamous dark lord and renown bounty hunter we still don’t know what heroes will be included, or how they’ll work–ie their limitations, mechanics, etc.
“You can storm in as the Dark Lord himself,” said DICE’s Niklas Fegraeus.
“You can wield a lightsaber. You can Force choke the rebel scum, which is fun. Basically, you are the boss of the battle. This means that you, as Vader, can lead your team to victory — if you play well.”
But all the action isn’t just reserved for the snowy tundras of Hoth or the sands of Tatooine: the galactic conquests will feature dogfighting in the skies between X-Wings and TIE fighters, bringing in shades of past flight sims like Rogue Squadron and the TIE Fighter series.
“We wanted it to feel authentic to this universe,” said executive producer Patrick Bach.
“You can get into these vehicles, from speeder bikes to X-wings, TIE fighters, AT-STs, AT-ATs. There’s a wide range of vehicles that we wanted to realize. The difficulty with a game is that they need to be balanced with the troops on the ground.”
What about the objectives? Surely wide-scaled wars aren’t just about killing–surely there has to be objective-based missions along the way. Also how will the different styles of combat–in air and on ground–differ?
PC Gamer sat on in a preview of the game running pre-alpha footage, and noted some interesting tidbits. According to their findings, Battlefront has mission-oriented game modes including Walker Assault, wherein players have to take down hulking AT-AT’s.
Vehicles like speeder bikes will play large roles in planetary battles, giving players an advantage while taking on foes and completing missions.
Teammates will have different roles and objectives across these modes. For example some players will be blasting down TIE fighters while ground forces blast down baddies to capture a control point, and ultimately set up satellites to call in Y-Wing bombers to strike down the AT-AT.
It looks like the game will have a dynamic mission structure that strings various objectives to mimic actual war scenarios. We’ll likely see iconic scenes from the trilogy played out–raising energy shields, the classic tripping of the AT-AT’s with tow cable lines–along with unique tactically-sound variations along the way.
Gamers can switch between first-person and third-person views on the fly, and Battlefront will feature online co-op player as well as offline singleplayer action. Players can fight for the Galactic Empire or the Rebel Alliance factions at any time. Split-screen will almost assuredly not be available.
Friends will be able to “swap unlocks” with one another and play together in “carefully crafted missions”, hinting at the possibility of customized missions. It looks like there is no campaign mode this time around, but EA affirms that you’ll be able to play offline, so you’ll be at the mercy of the game modes.
While the rebels fight stormtroopers on the ground, you can take to the skies in an X-Wing fighter to gun down TIE fighters in explosive dogfights.
Unlike its previous Battlefield games, EA isn’t planning on including a Battlelog structure for the new Star Wars shooter. Even still we’ll likely see some sort of in-game stat tracking mechanic at play, perhaps unlockables and maybe even a leveling system. Let’s just hope EA doesn’t decide to slap microtransactions for powerups, guns or even character heroes all over the place.
And that brings up another point…what better way to cash in on the nostalgia factor than charging, say, $5-10 for extra heroes? Pick up a badass in-game Yoda for $10, or maybe even a lightsaber-spinning General Grievous? Kinda scary when you think about it.
DICE has even found a way to directly connect the game to the new Star Wars: Force Awakens film. Everyone who pre-orders the game gets early access to the Battle of Jakku DLC, a mission that takes place during a a pivotal moment in galactic history that predates the film.
Even if you don’t pre-order Battlefront you’ll still get access to the Battle of Jakku DLC on Dec. 8, 2015.
“You never get to see it in the new movie, so it was this brilliant opportunity to recreate the Battle of Jakku, which you only see the remnants of in the movie,” Bach affirmed.”In the game, you actually get to play the Battle of Jakku. It’s the same place from the new movie but 30 years earlier.”
The Star Wars Battlefront release date is scheduled for November 17, 2015 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The game is still planned for its reveal today at 11:30 AM PST / 1:30 PM EST at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California.
