The saga continues! After the day of the leaked reveal trailer, EA and DICE officially reveal the next game in the Battlefront reboot series – Star Wars Battlefront II is currently scheduled for a November 17, 2017 launch date.

Taking a cue from the criticism the first game received, Battlefront II is going to feature a full-length single-player campaign this time around. You will step into the shoes of Imperial Special Forces Commander Iden Versio as she attempts to tear down the Rebellion. The story will be penned by Walt Williams (of Spec Ops: The Line fame) and former IGN editor Mitch Dyer. Since Battlefront II is going to be considered canon, I’m expecting some crazy plot developments to unfold throughout the game’s campaign!

Of course, they’re not forgetting about the massive multiplayer battles! Once again you’ll be able to join up to 40 players in huge battles from locales any Star Wars fan will be able to recognize. DICE is also hinting at giving players a little more control over progression this time around, implying that there is going to be many more customization and progression choices for your individual classes.

In addition to the tried and true 3rd person shooter ground battles, you’ll be able to wage war in space, piloting many of the iconic Star Wars ships including fan favorites like the Millennium Falcon and even Luke Skywalker’s own X-wing! These space battles sound like they’re going to be a separate mode from the regular matches, as they will be playable with up to 24 players.

Perhaps the most groundbreaking news that has been revealed thus far was the announcement that Star Wars Battlefront II will not have a season pass. Fans rejoice! Or at least remain cautiously optimistic. Creative Director Bernd Diemer has stated that there will be no season pass for the game, but instead they will opt for “something better”. What that means is anyone’s guess, but at least we can be happy that there won’t be another fee when the game launches. Season passes seem like a good way to save money, but there’s still one big problem with them: you never know what you’re going to get down the line, if anything.

One of the biggest complaints about the first game was that it was just really barebones. Since there was no single player campaign, you were stuck with the multiplayer mode which offered very few maps. This problem was compounded by the game’s season pass. If you didn’t have the season pass, you were missing out on a lot of stuff. Getting rid of it is a step in right direction, but I’m curious as to what they’re cooking up to replace it. I hope they go in the way of Titanfall 2, where all future DLC was free and the only paid DLC were cosmetic things.

As a fan of the original Battlefront games way back on the PS2 and Xbox, I was really looking forward to the reboot. I played the beta briefly and was a bit disappointed with how claustrophobic the maps felt and the odd vehicle token system. I wanted to like it but the feeling just wasn’t there. But with all of this emphasis on day one content for Battlefront II, it looks like EA and DICE have learned and are going to try to win us back. Here’s hoping.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here