June 19, 2015 by Paul Curtin
With no Battlefield launching this year, EA is banking on Star Wars to take the battle to Call of Duty this fall. We got our hands on the same multiplayer demo that was shown in EA’s trailer at their E3 media briefing and can confirm it plays just as good as it looks.
Battlefront is without question looking to be the most faithful film-to-game adaptation ever. DICE’s incredible Frostbite engine fully brings the Imperial vs. Rebel battle on the planet of Hoth to life. Along with visually stunning character models, animations, and objects that have been 3D-scanned from the original props held currently at Skywalker Ranch, DICE has done a spectacular job with the audio and video design that helps immerse the player in intense battles. Blaster shootouts, gigantic AT-ATs stomping around the map, and fighters whipping through the air chasing after one another in wild dogfights all feel authentic and true to the franchise’s Episode V roots.
As showcased in the trailer, Battlefront can be switched at any time between first- and third-person view. Being a fan of third-person shooters, this option is a nice addition; however, trying to hit players on the other side of the battlefield was a bit of a challenge that the first-person view helped make easier. With how beautiful all the sights and sounds of Battlefront are, not playing in first-person feels like a bit of disservice to the idea of trying to immerse players in the shoes of the Imperial and Rebel forces. To keep the battle constantly going, weapons also never run out of ammo and instead just overheat and use an active-reloading mechanic to cool guns down faster.
From the respawns that start inside snowy bases that lead you out into the blinding light of a snow-covered battlefield to massive explosions that look and sound straight out of the 1987 classic The Empire Strikes Back, everything we saw and heard has us excited to play again. And although we unfortunately did not see any sweet Jedi lightsaber battles go down and weren’t able to take down the AT-ATs as the Imperials, we can confirm everything else in the E3 trailer is possible and plays just as fluidly in hectic 20 vs. 20 battles consisting of AT-ATs, Y-Wing bombers, orbital strikes, and more.
Star Wars Battlefront is set for release on November 20, 2015, for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
