FINALLY!
The long, long, loooong anticipated new entry in the popular Star Wars Battlefront series is coming on November 17, 2015! This week has been a whirlwind of Star Wars news coming out of Celebration in Anaheim and accompanying the new trailer for The Force Awakens we got a taste of whats to come from EA and DICE’s game.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwWLns7-xN8&w=560&h=315]
What We Know (So Far)
- Releasing on Xbox One, PS4, and Windows
- The game will feature up to 40 players in a single match
- First or third-person combat
- Built on Frostbite 3 engine, the same for Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline, amongst others
- DLC releasing in December featuring the Battle of Jakku
In the trailer we obviously see in engine footage, which is not the same as gameplay footage but that’s okay with me. They wanted to give the vibe, not the game itself, with this reveal trailer. Releasing on only the current gen consoles does give me hope and faith in the team, for whatever reason. I think it has to do with the faith of the company in their game that they don’t feel the need to pitch it to every console for sale at GameHut, it’ll sell and if need be it will move the consoles too.
The 40 players in a match is incredibly exciting. It’s not Star Skirmishes after all, it needs to have the scale of the battles we saw in the films and then some! As the footage shows, the battles of Hoth and Endor weren’t settled in 5 v 5s. Being built on the Frostbite Engine just makes sense. If you remember way back when, before Battlefront there was a fanmade mod (well several) for Battlefield 1942 converting Axis and Allies into Imperials and Rebels. For the series to come full circle and get handled by the folks who put together that original title is exciting.
Other than that we have also heard what the first DLC is to be: Battle for Jakku. Now, I’m still wearing the tin foil on my head about Jakku vs. Tattooine (I mean, remember how Cumberbatch was playing a guy named “John Harrison, but for real guys totally not anyone else we swear!”) but if everything is on the up and up then this map might be the lead in to the new trilogy. Star Wars games launching near films have criss-crossed with the film’s plot often enough.
With only 8 months til The Force Awakens and 7 until Battlefront drops, we’re sure to hear more and you know I’ll be keeping you posted.
English