Fans attending the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California were treated to a few juicy details regarding EA and Dice’s joint efforts on Star Wars: Battlefront today, marking important details regarding the first game title to come after the Disney/EA 10-year deal.
According to reports from the Associated Press, Battlefront takes place during the original trilogy, bringing players to Hoth, Tatooine, and Sullust, among other planets scattered about the universe. Teams of up to 40 players, representing both the Rebllion and the Galactic Empire will be able to face off either on foot, by air (in Tie Fighters, X-Wings, and the Millennium Falcon), or by any number of famous Star Wars vehicles, including the awesomely-large ATAT. Eecutive producer Patrick Bach had this to say regarding the use of ships in-game:
“We wanted it to feel authentic to this universe. 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.”
As with the previous Battlefront installments, players will be able to unlock the use of iconic Star Wars characters, including Darth Vader and Boba Fett. According to design director Niklas Fegraeus:
“You can storm in as the Dark Lord himself. 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.”
Battlefront will also feature a free level, which will be made available two weeks before the release of The Force Awakens. The downloadable content features gameplay revolving around The Battle of Jakku, highlighting the desert planet shown in the movie’s recent trailers. This events of this DLC reportedly take place directly after Return of the Jedi.
According to Bach:
“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. 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.”
Star Wars: Battlefront is set to release for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on November 17.
