Star Wars Battlefront II
The campaign (which was co-written by Walt Williams, who wrote the highly-acclaimed Spec Ops: The Line) is set right after Death Star 2 explodes, and ends around the time that Starkiller Base does - a story ambitiously spanning almost 30 years. The “point”, according to contributing developer Motive, is to bridge the gap between the original trilogy and the current films, exploring what happens to an Empire without an Emperor. To do that, they decided to let players become the Empire, specifically in the shape of an elite Imperial Commander called Iden Versio, though there will also be segments that have you have you control Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren.
which puts players in the stormtrooper armor of soldiers on the ground in iconic Star Wars battles. And though it’s liked well-enough by players, it had plenty of problems. It got the scope and look of Star Wars down, but it felt rushed to release and thin on content.
It was also sometimes hard to enjoy. Battlefront mostly puts players on huge maps with long sight lines, where half of any battle is actually finding people to shoot — without getting blasted from hundreds of yards away by an unseen member of the opposing team.
Battlefront II is addressing those issues, much to the franchise’s benefit. At EA’s E3 2017 showcase, EA Play, journalists and players had a chance to hop into a match in the new and improved Star Wars title. It’s already clear there’s a lot more depth in gameplay, coupled with at least one interesting, shifting map — Theed, the capital city of Naboo seen in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
2015's Star Wars Battlefront did a damn fine job putting players behind the blasters, lightsabers, and Force powers of their favourite galaxy-saving heroes. But while bringing a towering AT-AT to its knees provided more thrills than anything you could do on Call of Duty's frontlines, the game still left many fans craving more.
its sequel is answering the call, refining and polishing what worked in the original, while piling on more fresh content and new features than you can fit in the Millennium Falcon's cargo hold. Much like the second Death Star, the sequel seems to be going for bigger and better, even requiring the efforts of three separate studios – DICE, Motive, and Criterion – to properly develop it.
Star Wars Battlefront II allows players to experience the untold story of an Imperial elite special forces soldier in an all-new single player campaign. In epic multiplayer battles, players pilot a First Order TIE fighter through intense dogfights in space, and play as ground troopers or iconic heroes and villains, such as Yoda and Darth Maul, across all three Star Wars eras. Featuring new characters created by Motive in close partnership with the story group at Lucasfilm, the Star Wars Battlefront II single player campaign delivers a new story to the Star Wars universe. Taking place in the 30 years between the destruction of Death Star II and through the rise of the First Order, the single player story introduces Iden Versio, the leader of Inferno Squad, an elite special forces unit of the Galactic Empire, who are equally lethal on the ground and in space. In addition to Iden, players also encounter and play as other iconic Star Wars heroes and villains like Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren during the campaign.
The narrative intends to humanise the Empire in ways we haven’t seen before, giving us a glimpse into the world of a seemingly likeable, genuine character who actually believes that the Death Star is a good thing. Iden isn’t intended to be completely without her criticisms of the Empire, but she is supposed to be one of it’s nobler “heroes”, not among the obviously deceptive ranks of the Sith. I suspect it’s going to be an interesting and challenging experience for most of us, seeing the Empire we’ve always known to be ‘Bad Guys’ explored as individual people who just happened to grow up in a culture that taught them to see good in the Empire, and bad in the Rebellion.
Not only will Battlefront II contain a single-player, story-driven campaign – a feature sorely missing from its predecessor – but the fresh tale will serve as official Star Wars canon. Spanning the 30 years between the conclusion of Return of the Jedi and the start of The Force Awakens, the narrative path will fill plenty of gaps, introduce new characters, and allow players to explore a never-before-seen planet.
A few months before the game lands, curious fans can also check out Battlefront II: Inferno Squad, a tie-in novel by Christie Golden, who's penned four previous Star Wars tomes. Serving as a prequel to the game, the book – set in the Rogue One and A New Hope era – will focus on the titular squadron of Empire spec ops soldiers.
Assuming the role of new protagonist Iden Versio, played by True Blood and Sleepy Hollow star Janina Gavankar, fans will finally feel some sympathy for the Empire. While Iden commands the aforementioned Imperial special forces unit, she's not viewed as a villain.
Battlefront II's story depicts the conflict from a fresh perspective, one that paints the Rebels as evil-doing terrorists and the Empire as a law-and-order-loving organisation.
On her home planet of Vardos, a sort of Imperial utopia created specifically for the game, Iden is beloved and respected as a hero. Her plan to "avenge the Emperor" is ignited when she witnesses the destruction of the second Death Star by the Rebels. If this neat narrative twist resonates as its creators intend, fans should expect to see Iden action figures being sold right alongside Leia, Rey, and Ahsoka toys.
While Battlefront II's heroine isn't considered a bad guy, she is incredibly badass. Sporting a menacing black pilot's uniform and some mean blaster skills, she's as comfortable in the cockpit of a TIE Fighter as she is on the battlefield. Trained in land and space combat, espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and Empire technology, she makes the other game's super-soldiers look like schoolyard bullies.
Perhaps coolest of all though, the capable hero commands a companion droid deployed from her backpack that could teach R2-D2 a few things about hacking security systems and frying foes. This robo-buddy, as well as Iden's weapons, gear, and skills, can also be enhanced along a yet-to-be-defined RPG-flavored upgrade path.
Visually stunning and packed with cinema-rivalling action, Battlefront's multiplayer mêlées allowed Star Wars fans to live out some of the sci-fi saga's most thrilling moments. Still, its lacking content and minimal depth left more seasoned online competitors as disappointed as a Wookiee defeated at Dejarik.
The sequel's multiplayer modes will span all eras, so characters and heroes from the original trilogy, prequel films, and new movies are all on the roster. This means, for example, Clone Wars supporters could join the fray as a Battle Droid, while fans of The Force Awakens can suit-up as a First Order Stormtrooper. Those who prefer wielding the blasters and lightsabers of their favorite characters can earn the ability to play as Luke, Vader, Darth Maul, Yoda, Rey and Kylo Ren.
Additionally, players will be able to pick from defined classes – much as they can in other online games – and follow a career path that allows them to become proficient in their discipline of choice. This added depth will see users progress their avatars and mould their play-styles via weapon, gear, and ability mods.
While its predecessor was light on proper space combat, Battlefront II plans on staging plenty of its seat-of-the-pants dogfights among the stars. You'd have a better chance grooming a Wookiee than getting deep-diving details on this element, but we do know Criterion Games – the studio behind the immersion-ratcheting Rogue One: X-Wing VR Mission – is solely dedicated to making it cool. Furthermore, all ships, regardless of what atmosphere they're cruising in, will feature an upgrade path similar to that of the class-based characters.
Hero ships like the Millennium Falcon and Slave I can also be piloted and enhanced, and will play a more pivotal role than they did in the last game. New spacecraft, including the The Force Awakens' version of the Falcon, complete with rectangular radar dish, will also be available for a spin around the galaxy. The absolute coolest new mode of transportation, however, is the Tauntaun. That's right, Hoth's tusked, heavy-breathing beasts can now be mounted and ridden into battle.
While the first game often felt haphazard, Battlefront II seems to be placing more thought into its mechanics. Players can choose from one of four character classes each time they spawn into the game, and those classes have different traits. Where the last game was primarily about unlocking different blasters and “Star Cards” — special abilities like wielding a rocket launcher or throwing a thermal detonator — Battlefront II lets you specialize your gameplay from the jump.
Each of the classes lets you think about how you can help your team, rather than just handing you another generic body to chuck into the fray. Specialists lay down traps and snipe at enemies. Assault characters are front-line fighters who carry explosives and mid-range blaster rifles. Heavy fighters wield big guns and have personal, forward-facing shields to let them wade into battle. Officers lay down turrets and buffs that give other players a boost.
Battlefront II uses these elements to push team-based play in ways the last game struggled with. When you’re killed, you’re placed into a squad of other players (somewhat similar to the last game’s random-feeling “partner spawn”), and the game attempts to put you all together every time you drop back in. That means you’re always with a team, and you can see what classes your teammates are bringing to bear — giving you a chance adjust your own so you can help out.
Specializing the helps bring back the teamwork present the Battlefield series that was lost in Star Wars Battlefront. The first game offered too few options, and it took a long time to unlock and learn the various weapons that eventually became available. In Battlefront II, you’re able to mix up gameplay and specialize right away, and that’s to the game’s benefit.
