Star Wars Battlefront is an action game played from either a first-person or third-person view; players can switch whenever they want, similar to the previous games.[9] Players traverse planets from the Star Wars universe, such as Endor, Hoth, Tatooine and the newly introduced planet of Sullust. To navigate the world, players use a variety of vehicles, including both air and land-based vehicles, such as speederbikes and AT-ATs.[10] Battles are planet-based, restricting players from exploring space. The game's weapons, characters, gear and abilities are customizable.[11] As new weapons are unlocked, players have the ability to share them with their teammates.[10]Battlefront will not feature iron sights, but allows players to zoom in for better accuracy.[12]
The game lets players choose to control either a Rebel Alliance soldier or an Imperial Stormtrooper. Other playable characters from the films can also be controlled, such as Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, Leia Organa, Han Solo, and The Emperor.[13][14]Non-playable characters such as R2-D2 and C-3PO make appearances.[15] The game includes cooperative missions which can be played offline but does not have a campaign mode. Players can complete the missions both independently and with bots or another player; the game supports split screen on consoles.[16] The game's online multiplayer mode supports up to 40 players in one match and 12 multiplayer maps will be available at launch. These maps will feature five locations from the Star Wars universe: Hoth, Tatooine, Endor, Sullust and Jakku.[17][18]
In May 2013, publisher Electronic Arts obtained exclusive rights to develop Star Wars games for gaming consoles, and its subsidiaries DICE, Visceral Games, and BioWare started work on Star Wars games.[19][20] DICE first acknowledged the game at Electronic Arts' E3 2013 press conference, along with a teaser trailer.[21] The game is built with the Frostbite 3 engine; studio head Patrick Söderlund stated that the game would be "DICE's interpretation of what Battlefront should be", while still incorporating elements from the previous two games. As such, DICE did not brand the new game as a sequel to Battlefront II, but a reboot of the franchise.[5][22] Söderlund said that the game almost wasn't developed, but that staffers at DICE lobbied to be given the project; he called DICE's development of Battlefront "a match made in heaven".[23]
In June 2014, it was revealed at EA's E3 2014 press conference that the ice planet Hoth and the forest moon of Endor would be playable maps for the game.[24] In late October of that year, it was revealed that the game would be released Christmas 2015, tying in with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[25] In early March 2015, the first gameplay footage of the game was shown at a private retail event and received a standing ovation from the audience.[26] In late March 2015, it was revealed that the game would be shown at Star Wars Celebration 2015 in Anaheim, California.[27] During the Celebration, the first gameplay details and the second trailer was released.[28] The first downloadable content of the game, entitled Battle of Jakku, was also announced during the event.[29]
In April 2015, EA announced that Battlefront would release in North America on November 17 and in Europe on November 20 of that year.[2] It has been stated that the release date for Europe will now fall on November 19.[30] It was confirmed that the game would not feature the Battlelog system, but to use a new system developed by Uprise, an Electronic Arts subsidiary based in Sweden, which has previously worked on the Battlelog system of Battlefield 4.[31] On June 15, further gameplay was shown at E3 2015 depicting the Walker Assault mode on Hoth from perspectives of both the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire using various weapons, items and vehicles such as the AT-AT walker, Snowspeeders and TIE Fighters ending with playable characters Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader engaging in battle.[32] Another gameplay trailer featuring cooperative missions was also shown at the event.[33] An open beta of the game was released for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 8. The beta includes the Walker Assault, Drop Zone, and Survival mission modes.[34] The beta was originally set to close on October 12 but was extended to October 13 for testing of "extreme scenarios".[35] The beta was played by more than nine and a half million players.[36] According to Electronic Arts, it was their largest beta.[37]
Downloadable content
Star Wars Battlefront will feature downloadable content (DLC). The first downloadable content, titled Battle of Jakku, was revealed during Star Wars Celebration 2015 and will be publicly available for download for free on December 8, 2015.[38] A Season Pass was announced on October 12, 2015 and will include 4 currently unannounced DLC packs. An "Ultimate Edition" was also announced which includes the Deluxe Edition version of the game and the Season Pass.[39]
Battle of Jakku
Battle of Jakku is the first upcoming DLC for Star Wars Battlefront, which launches publicly on December 8, 2015. Players who pre-order the game will receive the Battle of Jakku DLC a week earlier, on December 1, 2015. It will be free to all players on December 8, 2015 and will feature two maps set on planet Jakku, preceding the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[40]
Star Wars Battlefront received moderately positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 4 version 78.50% based on 6 reviews and 78/100 based on 11 reviews[41][43] and the Xbox One version 70.50% based on 10 reviews and 73/100 based on 13 reviews.[42][44]
The game's lack of a single-player campaign was criticized.[52] Steven Storm of Ars Technica praised the visuals, stating: "DICE has at least captured the look and feel of Star Wars, perhaps better than any other game with the license before it."[53] He likened gameplay to the "standard Battlefield formula of walk, get shot, respawn, and repeat....".[53]
Projected sales
On May 5, 2015, Electronic Arts announced that the company was expecting the game to sell nine to ten million units before the end of the company's 2016 financial year on March 31, 2016.[54] After the release of the game's beta, the company now hopes the game to sell at least 13 million copies by the end of March 2016.[55]
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