BATTLE STATIONS
The newest Battlefront game hurls you into a galaxy far, far away…
he makers of Battlefront are well aware of what everyone who sees
The Force Awakens wants from a Star Wars game this year – spectacle: A-Wings circling TIE Fighters in the skies above Hoth, darth Vader cutting down Rebels and Imperial Walkers being ambushed by snowspeeders…
Battlefront has clearly been made to please Star Wars fans rather than Call Of Duty players, which is a wise move. “We are trying to provide for Star Wars fans across the board, that’s what this is about: flying X-Wings, being a Jedi, being Stormtroopers and so on,” says design director niklas Fegraeus. “But at its heart this is a Battlefront game, which means that it’s a first-person shooter, and kind of a third-person shooter, which is another important aspect of the franchise. So we are trying to mix the things that are the most important for those audiences, and trying to make a game identity out of it.”
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This is, essentially, a very simple game of Rebels vs Imperials, with no choice of classes like in the mid-noughties Battlefront games, and instead of giving the player an expansive arsenal, everyone carries a blaster. Other weapons, like sniper rifles, are used as bonus abilities. The maps are set across the rocky, volcanic Sullust, Hoth, endor and Tatooine, and each is designed to offer varying playing experiences based on the terrain. “different planets have different identities and structures. If you look at Hoth for example, you have very large snow surfaces, then on endor there’s trees and rocks all over the place.”
even if it’s a little simple to play, the action looks extraordinary: the Battle of Hoth has never looked this pretty, to the point where it’s easy to forgive the blatant continuity error of Luke running around Hoth with a green lightsaber. With a mode dedicated to fighter combat, too, this is more or less what a big
Star Wars game should be with Episode VII just a month away. Samuel Roberts