Ever since its official announcement last year, speculation has been at an all time high over Electronic Arts’ revival of the Star Wars™ Battlefront™ franchise—especially with long-time Battlefield developer DICE at the helm. The multiplayer potential for this game is immense, especially considering how addictive the previous titles were under the guidance of Pandemic Studios.
For now, there are a few must haves on our Star Wars™ Battlefront™ wish list.
Space Combat
Previously, most of the Star Wars™ Battlefront™ action takes place on the ground, with Stormtroopers, droids, Rebels and other soldiers battling in a number of scenarios on different planets. However, there have been scenarios with space combat, including X-Wings, TIE Fighters and other vehicles.
While DICE is usually known for doing first-person shooter games, there’s no question that the team could bring this style of action back with the new Battlefront™. Seeing epic space battles with multiple players would be nothing short of awesome, especially with a mixture of older and newer vehicles, such as spacecraft debuting in next year’s Star Wars™ Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
Galactic Conquest
One of the better features introduced in 2005’s Star Wars™ Battlefront™ II is Galactic Conquest, which takes a Risk-style approach to securing quadrants of the galaxy. Players guide a number of fleets from planet to planet, eliminating enemies and eventually gaining control of them. The more space they conquer in the area, the more powerful they become—and the more enemies rise up to try and take it back.
In addition to a worthwhile campaign, Galactic Conquest also came with a number of benefits, including earning credits that allow you to purchase new items for your fleet, as well as secondary support and new character classes.
This is a great mode in the Battlefront™ series, and seeing its return would be cool—especially if EA finds a way to make it online compatible, so friends can challenge your control over certain parts of the galaxy. No one gets to stay on top of the Empire forever.
A Mix of Old and New Content
Obviously, we’d have to see Stormtroopers, ships and characters from the previous films for nostalgic purposes. After all, nothing beats running through the halls with Han Solo or Darth Vader, laying waste to enemies while staying alive as long as you can.
That said, EA also needs to leave room for new content from The Force Awakens. Mixing that with some of the classic characters would introduce a dynamic fans of all ages would enjoy. Can you imagine Yoda squaring off against that new Sith? That’d be crazy.
For good measure, let’s see that soccer ball droid put to good use. It can probably run around as a secondary scout, shooting enemies up-close before enabling some sort of self-destruct that would take a few enemies along with it.
Bring on the Classes
Before its abrupt cancellation, Star Wars™ First Assault was set to introduce unique first-person shooting to the series, with a number of soldier classes available, ranging from combat to sniper. EA should apply these classes to Star Wars™ Battlefront™, providing a number of possibilities to players depending on their skill sets. Up-close combat types would be great for straightforward firefights, while snipers would be able to dish out justice from afar.
In addition, it’d be great to see specialty characters make a return, as they did in Star Wars™ Battlefront™ II. Introducing Jedis to the fold—from old favorites like Obi-Wan Kenobi to new introductions such as Sith villain Darth Maul—would be awesome, and we could also see Chewbacca or even a Rancor.
Stable Servers, Please
Finally—and we can’t stress this enough—DICE and EA need to make absolutely sure that the servers are up to speed with Star Wars™ Battlefront™. From what we estimate, this game’s likely to come out around the same time as The Force Awakens, which means it will be a hugely popular. With that, EA needs to make sure it doesn’t repeat the woes of Battlefield 4, and that everything is secured and in place by the time the game releases.
With that, here’s a suggestion—go with a public beta. That’s what Microsoft is doing with Halo 5: Guardians later this month, allowing players to test out new features and making sure that everything’s up to speed with its servers so it doesn’t repeat the mistakes of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Launching a beta during the summertime—probably after the release of the next Force Awakens trailer, or around E3—would be perfect. Plus, it would generate huge excitement for the game. Nothing wrong with that.
Star Wars™ Battlefront™ will release next year for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
