Star Wars Battlefront at E3

Powered by Frostbite and developed by DICE, Star Wars Battlefront is promised to be an authentic and unique experience in a galaxy far, far away. From 40 player modes to 8 player small team actions, to dog fighting in X-Wings and TIE Fighters, to single player and split screen modes, authenticity is emphasized on all all models from vehicles to weapons. This is especially important when you can toggle between a first and third person camera on the fly.

As far as gameplay goes, a gameplay trailer was shown off where the Imperial Stormtroopers had to escort an AT-AT while the Rebels had to protect their base, inspired by the Imperial attack on Hoth. While the Empire had access to things like TIE Fighters and AT-STs, not to mention the AT-AT’s significant firepower and ability to direct orbital gunfire on positions, the Rebels of course had X-Wings and Snowspeeders as well as defensive checkpoints. Graphically, the map shown was very impressive, with Imperial Star Destroyers engaging Nebulon-B frigates in the sky and ground based Ion cannons (which can be destroyed) attempting to contribute to the overall fight, to thick black smoke rising from some battle in the distance, it certainly appears as though DICE’s attention to detail paid off.

For those who have played games from the Battlefield series, the gunplay appears similar, with fast time to kills and excellent visuals and audio, not to mention similar animations and a good variety in unique gadgets that can range from rocket launchers to small shields that can absorb orbital bombardments to jet packs and thermal detonators. Unlike the Battlefield series though, where anything that flies is either extremely useless due to its speed or is capable of killing you from across the map thanks to missiles, the aerial vehicles appear to fit a happy medium between the two, possessing respectable firepower but controllable speed.

In an improvement from the old Battlefront series, Force sensitive and lightsaber wielding individuals no longer swing wildly in an attempt to reflect blaster fire or use their Force abilities. Instead, it appears as though you can control when you block and thus who to reflect the blaster fire to, and swinging at an enemy will result in a more fluid animation. In addition, Force push is actually lethal for once and enemies react in a way that is extremely similar to what one would expect from the movies.

At the Sony presentation, it is revealed that there will be a single player and split screen capable co-op mode simply called Missions, as well as Survival, which as the name implies has the characters hold off against AI enemies while they wait for backup.

During Rooster Teeth’s coverage of Battlefront, it was revealed that instead of having traditional classes, you get to choose your mix of equipment prior to the match, and as you play, you get to unlock your equipment for use. In game pickups are also confirmed, which is also how you get to play as the various heroes of Star Wars. Other gametypes include hero exclusive and air vehicle exclusive gametypes, similar to air superiority from Battlefield.

Star Wars Battlefront is slated to come out on November 17.