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Star Wars: Battlefront information and screens pour out ahead of gameplay reveal

The Star Wars: Battlefront media embargo was set to lift at 10:30am PDT (1:30pm EDT/6:30pm BST) today, the same time that the gameplay trailer is due, but a leak from some outlets (such as AP) have prompted EA to lift the embargo early.

With this emgaro lift comes a ton of news and new images! For starters, as reported yesterday, Battlefront is confirmed to be heading to Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on Tuesday, 17th November 2015. Battlefront will feature 20v20 PvP matches and allows players to play as Darth Vader. For the details on that and more, here’s a summary:

  • Takes place during original film trilogy and coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC on November 17th.
  • 20 vs. 20 multiplayer matches consisting of shoot-outs between Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire forces. Maximum of 40 players and a minimum of 8.
  • Locations include Endor (woods), Hoth (snow), Tatooine (sand) and Sullust (lava).
  • Example of gameplay shown was a re-creation of Return of the Jedi’s ‘Battle of Endor’. Featured jetpack-equipped rebels taking on Stormtroopers who charged at them on foot, on speeders and within walkers (including a AT-AT war machine).
  • Air battles – players can fight in TIE Fighters, X-wings and the the Millennium Falcon. DICE developers haven’t expanded on how ground and air battles will alternate. The game won’t feature space battles/the ability to get in an X-Wing and fly to outer space, but will instead focus on atmospheric dogfights.
  • “Battle of Jakku” DLC (free) coming December 1st for those who pre-order – Set on a new location featured in The Force Awakens, Jakku. The DLC will explain the crashed star destroyer shown in the The Force Awakens trailer. The DLC will be available on December 8th for those who don’t pre-order.
  • Like Battlefield, players will earn experience points for each kill, which is shown on the HUD.
  • A revel trooper calls in 2-3 Y-Wings which fly overhead and destroy a walker which explodes immediately.
  • Players can change from first-person to third-person at any time during gameplay.
  • Demo ends with Darth Vader approaching the rebel players.
  • Players can discover power-ups within the environment which are represented as glowing blue icons. Power ups mentioned include rocket launchers, shields, and the ability to control a walker.
  • Players can also play as characters such as Boba Fett and Darth Vader by collecting power-ups.
  • Mode demoed was Walker Assault which is a 40-player mode (20v20).
  • The game will support two-player co-op player via splitscreen. Two players can also join online and enable a feature called ‘Partner’ which allows the players to share gear (e.g. an experienced player would be able to help out a newcomer), spawn at their Partner’s death location, and be near each other as much as possible throughout the match.
  • Battlefront Missions – this is the single player part of the game, but not much has been revealed.
  • The game will use Dolby Atmos, allowing for dynamic and thunderous audio for surround sound setups.
  • The trailer will not only show bits from the aforementioned demo, but also preview a rebel encampment on Hoth, an aerial battle on Tatooine, Boba Fett using a jetpack, a star destroyer gliding over Endor (not all rebel soldiers are human, perhaps indicating a character-type select option), and a rebel soldier taking out an AT-ST with a rocket launcher.

“You can storm in as the Dark Lord himself. You can wield a lightsaber. You can Force choke the rebel scum, which is fun. Basically, you are the boss of the battle. This means that you, as Vader, can lead your team to victory — if you play well.” Niklas Fegraeus, DICE design director

 

“We wanted it to feel authentic to this universe. You can get into these vehicles, from speeder bikes to X-wings, TIE fighters, AT-STs, AT-ATs. There’s a wide range of vehicles that we wanted to realize. The difficulty with a game is that they need to be balanced with the troops on the ground. You never get to see it in the new movie, so it was this brilliant opportunity to recreate the Battle of Jakku, which you only see the remnants of in the movie. In the game, you actually get to play the Battle of Jakku. It’s the same place from the new movie but 30 years earlier.” – Patrick Bach, DICE executive producer

Check out 6 screenshots below and stay tuned in less than an hour for the official gameplay trailer! Head over to Game Informer for their full detailed impressions on what they saw.

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