DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront Maps: Guesses And Hopes
A few days ago, I wrote a little article on what to expect from Battlefront. In that article, I mentioned that, based on an estimate of what LucasArts and DICE have produced in the past, we could expect as few as 9-10 maps and as many as 15-16 maps for the newest installment in the series – all on the disc alone. Given DICE’s access to the LucasFilm archives and their decision to study the environments of the various filming locations up-close, we could very well be in for a wide variety of unique settings in this long-awaited reboot. Here are my guesses as to what worlds will be present in the game, going through a list of every planet featured in the movies and taking a couple of guesses at what EU content (if any) will be used.
For this article, I’ll presume that the game will be closer to the greater estimate (15-16 land maps) over the lesser estimate (9-10 land maps) for reasons I already covered in the previous article. I’m not talking about space maps in this article, as space is generally wide, open, and devoid of features – meaning that they would take considerably less time to program. We already know that Hoth and Endor are in the game for sure (likely with new landmarks this time around), as evidenced by the E3 2014 trailer, which bumps two of the hypothetical maps off of the list. Both of these are from the Original Trilogy, and since Prequel Trilogy content has yet to be announced, I’ll discuss the planets from those movies first.
Tatooine is such a staple for the franchise that mentioning it under speculation almost seems silly. The planet that is farthest from the bright center of the universe has appeared in five out of the six films in the Original/Prequel Trilogies, and it’s strongly implied that it’s going to appear once more in Episode VII. Counting DLC, it was the only planet in Battlefront I that had three separate maps for it, and in Battlefront II, it was the only planet that multiple land maps for it at all (other than the DLC-exclusive Rhen Var and Yavin IV repeats from the first game). DICE could go three-for-three and possibly do at least a pair of maps for this game. The first would probably be Mos Eisley, as environments tailored for urban warfare seem to be a strong suit for DICE, and the footage of the planet that appears in the Special Edition of the Original Trilogy could be beneficial for mapping certain areas of the city. As for the other map, I could see it being something akin to the “Dune Sea” map from Battlefront I, albeit on a larger scale – the Sarlaac and a Tusken Raider camp would be a given. In addition, things like Jabba’s palace, Jabba’s sail barge, some Krayt Dragon bones, and even a moisture farm could bring life to the arid sands of the desert while alluding to the surprisingly rich history that the planet has.
Alderaan was never really shown outside of a brief appearance in Episode III, so it’s doubtful that a map based on the peaceful planet would appear in the game. However, the thing that blew it to shreds is definitely on the table. The map of the Death Star I that appeared in Battlefront II was definitely a large and varied one, and it certainly had almost all of the landmarks in it that made it so memorable in the movie. However, it lacked content from the Death Star II, such as the Emperor’s Throne Room, and that’s something that DICE could integrate into the map. I don’t think that we would get two separate new maps based on both incarnations of the superweapon, so one that combines the most memorable features of both has a better chance of being made… Unless they go with just making a new map for the Death Star I, which would work, but it would be a bit disappointing.
Yavin IV would be an interesting choice to cover, as while it was shown in the movie, we didn’t see a whole lot of it outside of the base. Nonetheless, it is important to include in the game considering it was the site of one of the greatest victories of the Rebel Alliance, which was followed up by an evacuation once the Empire caught wind of their exact location on the planet. Content from the Star Wars Legends line would greatly help in expanding the environs of the planet, such as the temple featured in Genndy Tartakovsky’s animated series, and expanding upon the interior of the Rebel Base would also be important – the base looked large from the outside in both Battlefront I and II, yet the only thing that was inside was a small computer room and a hangar.
Dagobah is an important world to the story of Star Wars due to serving as Yoda’s hiding place and training grounds for Luke. However, I could see this world being on the cutting room floor for DICE – no real conflict ever takes place there, even in the Legends continuity. While it would make for a neat treat for fans of Episode V, it doesn’t seem like there’s a story to tell here. However, the next world on this list can make up for the lack of action on Dagobah.
Bespin’s Cloud City was strangely absent in Battlefront II (except for Xbox Live users who got to download a patch of maps from the first game), in spite of having a big impact of the plot (Han gets turned into a Popsicle there, and Luke finds out he has some serious daddy issues after becoming an amputee). That being said, the level for it in the original game felt somewhat cluttered and disorienting, like a couple of maps were mashed together and merged into a single file. A better Bespin map should be more spread out (like Battlefront: Elite Squadron’s level is) instead of crammed together, while including several layers to the environment (the carbonite chamber could be underneath the cityscape, for instance, while the majority of the action takes place on the rooftops and inside the buildings).
Coruscant is an important planet for appearing (however fleetingly) in the Special Edition of Return Of The Jedi – and it’s also the first planet on this list from the Prequel Trilogy that I’ll discuss. Coruscant may be the only planet besides Tatooine that I could see as having two levels dedicated to it. Firstly, the Jedi Temple would need to be remade for this game, as the temple itself is much more spacious in the movies than it is in Battlefront II. A remake of the map could cover a greater area, including the spires atop the building and possibly multiple floors. The other map that could be made for the planet would have to cover the city streets, drawing influence from the chase scene in Episode II and the dozens of landmarks that the planet has. The various appearances of the planet on The Clone Wars could also be helpful for designing the terrain of this location.
The interior of Theed Palace is a must for this game – after all, a battle on a planet where every day looks like a picnic would get aesthetically dull kind of quickly. However, the interior of the planet’s key attraction is something that has an elegance about it – which makes it all the more entertaining to demolish in fighting to take control of it. In addition to the interior, the courtyard could and hangar could allow players to catch glimpses of the outside world before being drawn back into battle. The main attraction, of course, would have to be the plasma refinery complex, where the famous “duel of the fates” took place. As long as DICE keeps out the awkward-looking Shaaks and irritating Gungans out of the picture, they can’t go wrong with this level.
Aside from Coruscant, Kamino is the most important planet introduced in the Prequel Trilogy, as it gave us a definitive answer to that one question we always asked (“Mommy, where do Stormtroopers come from?”). It’s also one that had a battle featured in The Clone Wars, served as the birthplace for Boba Fett, and posessed a unique visual dynamic (dreary oceans with a sturdy on the outside, sleek and flashy halls on the inside, and with and a large training facility that would actually make you want to join the army at the center of it all). I believe the interior of the planet is what could serve as the focus of the level; as cool as the outside of the planet looks from the outside, there’s not a whole lot of variety to it appearance-wise. Nonetheless, both parts would look great in the Frostbite 3 engine.
Geonosis is another big one that needs to be expanded on – namely, it needs to include the huge arena present at the beginning of Episode II’s lengthy climax. That being said, a simple open-ended arena with little cover wouldn’t translate well in a shooting game, so it should probably be a landmark – the real action, of course, would take place in the barren fields of Geonosis – and possibly within and below the various rock formations. Combining the maps from Battlefront I and Battlefront II as a frame of reference could be helpful in figuring out how the world could work on next-generation consoles. In general, though, DICE should probably take after the map in the original game over the map in the sequel – a greater level of strategy was needed to play the level, which made it one of the more engaging maps in the series.
Kashyyyk is another important one, being one of the first planets featured outside of the movies and serving as the home of the Wookiees. It should take more after the Normandy-esque beachfront from Battlefront II over the small villages from Battlefront I if DICE’s focus is to keep in line with the films themselves. A wider battlefield is also important to this location, not to mention the inventive ways that Wookiees use trees, which were understated in all of the previous maps. In general, the environment needs to really show off the Wookiee-made materials around the forest, including the households. Plus, it would be neat to fly around in one of those Fluttercrafts (yes, that is seriously what they’re called).
The idea of having a sinkhole planet is allows one of the most unique and unusual planet designs in the Star Wars movies, but what’s especially important about it is that it’s the planet where the decisive battle that ends the Clone Wars takes place. There isn’t a whole lot to mention with this one beyond the usual requests – make it bigger and expand upon the environment that was shown in the movie. It’d be cool if General Grevious’s escape vehicle was visible here, along with the Varactyl that Obi-Wan rides. A neat concept that they could integrate into the game (which was absent from the film itself, but planned) was the Nos Monster, which would have attacked Obi-Wan.
This is the world that I definitely want to see return the most – after all, how many third-person shooters do you see having a lava level? This is one that would definitely set Battlefront apart from the crowd due to the sheer variety of things present in the location – you’ve got volcanoes, beaches of brimstone, machinery that’s ready to fall apart, and plenty of platforms over the molten rivers. What I personally would like to see is much more of the area where Anakin and Obi-Wan fought integrated into the level – which is to say, the land outside of the factory. It’s almost a shame that there wasn’t an actual war sequence here in the movie – it’s probably the best digital world that George Lucas was ever responsible for.
There were quite a few planets represented in Star Wars Battlefront II that were featured in spite of having little impact on the plot itself. Two of these – Felucia and Mygeeto – were related to the Order 66 sequence, and the base on Polis Massa was also included in the game. There were other planets featured in the Order 66 scene (Cato Neimoidia and Saleucami), but I do not believe that any of the planets featured in this scene would appear in the game due to their lack of impact on the plot (save Polis Massa, which itself is unlikely to appear due to a lack of conflict on the planet). I could see any of the Order 66 planets appearing as DLC, but Polis Massa almost seems too quiet and uneventful to include again (at least not until DICE gets signed on to do a sequel, though even then, EU planets would probably warrant a higher period of development time).
As far as on-disc content goes, I believe that the following worlds will be represented in the game: the Death Star, Tatooine (two maps), Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin, Endor, Naboo, Coruscant (two maps), Kamino, Geonosis, Kashyyyk, Utapau, Mustafar, and a planet from Episode VII – a ripe total of 16 land maps (and of course, Dagobah could always replace one of the Coruscant or Tatooine maps). The reason that I believe that there will be an Episode VII level is that for one, the development team at DICE has access to knowledge relating to the movie (as I mentioned in the other article), and that both Battlefront I and Battlefront II were used to promote the many planets of Episode III. Given that this game has been anticipated for the same amount of time that it took for Episode VII to officially enter development, and that the game is explicitly meant to serve as a tie-in for the movie, there’s no reason to forsake the tradition of teasing a new planet in time for the movie to come out.
Of course, then there’s the matter of Downloadable Content, which this game will undoubtedly have. Listing every single world that could possibly appear in the game would take all day, so I should simply outline what the plan might be – 5 DLC packs, as is standard for DICE’s recent Battlefield games. I believe that one DLC pack will feature maps from the original games –I’d imagine that these would be included based on popularity, so Rhen Var: Harbor, Bespin: Platforms, Kashyyyk: Docks, Tatooine: Dune Sea, and several others could potentially make a comeback. As far as new movie-based maps go, I believe that Dagobah would work better as DLC than an on-disc level, and that Cato Neimoidia, Felucia, and Mygeeto would all work well (as all but one have been featured previously in Battlefront II, and Cato Neimoidia is an important Separatist planet).
The next pack might focus on planets that were important in The Clone Wars could make appearances in DLC (namely key ones like Moraband/Korriban, Mandalore, Dathomir, Umbara, Kadavo, and Ryloth). I think that it’s almost certain that content from Rebels could also show up in another pack (Lothal is the only planet that we know of so far, but by the time the game is out the show will be in its second season – counting DLC release time, content from the third season could be teased – by which point tons of new planets will be featured).
I would certainly hope that the penultimate pack brings in some famous locations (that were either only mentioned in the movies and that appeared in Legends) into the new Canon, like Raxus Prime (a junk planet), Nar Shaddaa (a planet overrun by the criminal underworld), Corellia (Han Solo’s home world), or Tython (the home world of the Jedi). The final pack would have to include some locations from existing planets that weren’t covered in the main game – possibly teasing a planet from either the first spin-off movie, or even an Episode VIII planet. Again, this is all based on the assumption that DICE will follow their Battlefield precedent, which is a definite maybe at this point.
In general, the future of the Battlefront series can allow it to go in virtually any direction. Since this will undoubtedly be the largest game in the series, there’s a lot to be excited for and a variety of content that could make it into the game. What worlds do you want to see in DICE’s Battlefront? Should the series stick to recreating battles from the films, or expand beyond the movies? Discussion is always welcome.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
So technically, Yoda’s landing ship is still on Dagobah
I don’t see why it would have disappeared.
Wouldn’t it be cool to have maps similar to what we saw in the e3 preview of “No Man’s Sky”? As in planet-to-space combat? It’s not too far fetched only because in the battlefield series we have the fighter jets flying around the large atmosphere. And as we know it’s coming from the same developers and stuffs. Maybe they can expand the maps and make this really freaking cool! My hopes are so high for this game!
I actually argued against that in the previous Battlefront article I wrote – it was too ambitious for the console generation that Battlefront III was intended to release for, and was part of what did Free Radical in. I would rather see it implemented once DICE has a solid handle on both land and space battles – then crossing them over could be on the table.
I’m really am hoping for a number of different game modes, especially some 1v1/2v2 etc jedi fights. That’d be so sweet. Variation is good. Perhaps even some 32v32 Jedi/Sith battles. Jedi Civil war anyone? A man can dream…
I was playing Battlefront 2 this evening. It’s so awesome, I never get tired of this game. But the lack of more maps sucks. I want to see more planets in the new Battlefront like Kuat, Ryloth, Cato Neimoidia. More and bigger space maps, etc.
this may be the most obvious article I have ever read- there wasn’t one surprise in it.
This was mainly written as a follow-up to the first article I wrote, which I linked to. If you want surprises, perhaps you might want to take a look there.
Besides, I technicaly told you what you were in for in the opening paragraph – I’d be looking at the worlds of the Star Wars films, and see which ones would most likely make it into the game.
Nonetheless, I don’t have a lot to work with here – once DICE gets around to revealing more information about the game, I can go to less “obvious” places.
What I hope most of all is the return of bots! Bots singlehandedly made me love BF1-2. Because you could strap into any SW vehicle and go to town.
Against humans 24/7 can be rough if you just want some undisputed fun. EA doesn’t normally do bots and that has me worried it’s in danger of not returning. Only Bad Company ever featured a co-op mode with bots.
Under my dream category for Battlefront… an EPIC single player game. I find the prospect of a SW campaign way more interesting than anything Battlefield could come up with. I know it’s unlikely and not what the fanbase wants but I’d be pretty stoked!
I’m just hoping that it’s not “Galactic Conquest” based again. And I’m assuming there will be bigger maps which will be amazing. So excited that DICE is making Battlefront.
I have 2 ideas, would like to know what you guys think : 1. Certain maps or events (since this would require a bunch of people) were space and ground game would go at once, here’s the deal, ground would be like a conquest game where one team attacks another base and needs to secure multiple objectives, or a simple conquest with maps and both team attacking, while in space depending on who wins the battle by let’s say controling areas/ships or something like that would provide ground support or a certain advaantage in their game, and same for the ground like controlling a certain point would allow anti air guns like in Empire strikes backs to support space battle. 2. A map space with a lot of debries/asteroids so that I would require a minimum skills to pilot in such areas, like open destroyed ships were we could fly through it things like that. There 🙂
As long as it is not just fucking Battlefield with laser guns.
DICE said that they’re not going to do that so much as reinterpret LucasArt’s Battlefront to a new generation.