NEWS
by Ewan Wilson
Star Wars Battlefront unleashed
The force has well and truly awakened in 2015. Alongside the space opera directed by J.J. Abrams, there will be Star Wars Battlefront: DICE’s epic action shooter coming later this year. A new trailer for the game was revealed today, and whilst an exciting spectacle, and apparently completely in-engine, it's never going to look that good in motion! I’m not one to doubt the power of DICE’s Frostbite engine, but Battlefield 4 and the recently released Hardline look nowhere close. What the trailer does do is a give a good indication of the kind of places you’ll be battling it out in (Endor and Hoth, again) as well as some of the equipment and vehicles. Noticeable are the personal force field, jetpack and Y-Wing starfighters.
Additional details that come alongside the teaser trailer are DICE’s statement that the game will support up to 40 players (less than Battlefield, more than the original Battlefront). Somewhat more disappointing is the confirmation that we won’t see space battles this time round. DICE have instead said that they want to “focus on epic planetary battles”. This is all the more disappointing considering battles covering both space and ground were one of the big innovations Free Radical envisioned for their cancelled "Battlefront 3". There may be X-Wings and Tie Fighters, but they’ll be without the usual black back drop.
The Battlefront series, which has been out of action for some time, has always been indebted to Battlefield – so it makes a lot of sense that the new edition is developed by DICE themselves. Star Wars-themed spin off, perhaps, but there’s still things to be excited about. I’m looking forward to spinning cable round an AT-AT’s flimsy robotic legs; it certainly beats handcuffing people in Hardline!
Star Wars Battlefront is due to release on November, 17.