Recently I saw a game advertisement that gave me chills. I viewed a 40 second long teaser for the third Star Wars Battlefront, which seems to be a reboot of the series.
The game was announced at the E3 conference earlier this year, and is to be developed by DICE studios – the same people who brought us Battlefield, Medal of Honour and Mirror’s Edge among various other gems.
The developers have confirmed that the game is not necessarily a sequel to Battlefront 2, but will rather be their own interpretation of what Battlefront is all about.
“This is DICE’s interpretation of what Battlefront should be. That’s the best description you can have,” said EA Games boss Patrick Söderlund. “There are absolutely things in the previous Battlefront games that you’ll recognize and remember, but DICE wants to put its own flavour on it. That’s the only way we can do it. Hence why it’s called Star Wars: Battlefront, without a 3 at the end. We want to say it’s something new. But again, it’s going to be very Star Wars and very cool.”
That’s definitely enough to get me excited. Battlefront 2 was released more than eight years ago, and most Star Wars fans has been eagerly biding their time for a sequel ever since.
The Battlefront games were revolutionary in their day, focusing less on the traditional Jedi vs. Sith story, and more on the large-scale battles featured throughout the Star Wars saga. So, for example, one could play as the rebels, and battle imperial forces, or as droids, going to war against clones.
Each side had its own playable vehicles, as well as pre-set classes and heroes.
Heroes were essentially main story arc characters like Yoda, Dark Maul, Han Solo or Jango Fett, which were very powerful and awarded after a certain amount of points had been earned.
In the second game, the gamer actually took control of these characters, whereas in the original they were independent and simply wreaked havoc of their own accord for a short period of time.
At the E3 conference earlier in the year, DICE showed a 40 second teaser trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront. It featured a short, first person clip of a battle on the ice world of Hoth. In the midst of the iconic blizzard, a lone soldier struggles to make his way through wreckage and laser fire, before coming into contact with a hulking, four legged AT-AT.
The most jarring and immediate thing about this ad is its sense of realism. DICE are clearly seeking to break new ground, and are taking a gritty approach to the fantasy universe. With the exception of lasers and robots, the teaser effused a sense of a battlefield; the reality of war.
A release date has yet to be announced, but regardless, the trailer is worth a look for any fans of Star Wars, shooters or gaming generally.
Daniel McDonald
Image credit: Creative Commons
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