Star Wars Battlefront II Preview – A New Hope for the franchise? Plus New Trailer Revealed!

It seems that once the year grows cold comes the Star Wars season. Two years ago we got the rebooted Battlefront in November, and The Force Awakens in December. Last year December gave us Rogue One. This year The Last Jedi (December) follows Star Wars: Battlefront II (November).

Let’s take a look at what kind of battlefield it’s going to be.

 

 

Into the Inferno

 

SW: Battlefront II is coming with a full singleplayer campaign, which is a significant improvement over the famously story-less predecessor. To make things even more interesting, the storyline is going to have a perspective previously unseen in mainstream Star Wars media. Yes, we are going to play as a commander of an Imperial commando unit, Inferno Squad.

 

 

Iden Versio, for this is her name, has received the last order from Emperor Palpatine in the last moments before the second Death Star got Rebel’d up. The specifics of this order remain largely unknown, of course, but what we do know is that the story is going to be canonical. It’s also going to cover the 30-year gap separating the original trilogy from the sequels. At this point it wouldn’t be especially surprising if it turned out that the First Order was a result of Palpatine’s Last Order.

 

The developers have reportedly claimed, that SW: BFII story will convert people to the Dark Side. Which assumes most gamers weren’t DS to begin with. Silly.

 

Either way, we’ll visit a number of planets, including Crait featured in The Last Jedi trailer, a fully-subservient Imperial world Versio hails from, and more.

 

Although Versio is not a Force user, the fans of Mind Tricks and lightsaber can rest easy. It’s been said, that at some points along the way players will get to control characters like Rey or Luke Skywalker. There’s no telling how long and involved these cameos will be, but getting a break from all the shooting might be nice.

 

 

 

Classes are coming

 

Changes are also coming to the multiplayer, and they aren’t going to be insignificant. Among them are classes, which are going to fill some specific roles on the battlefield.

 

 

First up there is the Assault Trooper, your typical grunt with an automatic rifle. Assaults are there to push the frontlines, and they have access to shotguns for some extra short-to-medium range options.

 

Then we’ll get Heavy Troopers, with their cannons and deployable shields. Ideally, they’ll provide suppression and mop up after the Assaults have done their jobs.

 

As an enemy harassment option there are the Specialists, which fill the sniper and scout niches. Equipped with long-range weapons and traps they will probably be a new reason for people to cry about campers.

 

Finally there are going to be Officers, whose role will largely be about providing aid to other troops, including defensive and offensive auras. When needed, they’ll also be able to plop a turret down on the battlefield to plug any gaps left in the defences.

 

 

Special units

 

It seems that in designing Battlefront II EA DICE took a good look at things people disliked about the previous game and decided to improve them. Another such thing was the way you can play special units.

 

 

In Battlefront I you needed to find arcade’y tokens somewhere on the map, which gave you the power to transform. That solution is gone now.

 

Star Wars Battlefront 2 will test you on your skills and commitment to your team before letting you play with the cool toys.

 

The way it’s going to work is that you will accumulate points for doing things which help your team, be it capturing objective, fragging enemies or what have you. The more you get, the better units you’ll be able to respawn as. That of course includes hero units like Yoda, Darth Maul or Boba Fett.

 

 

Space combat

 

As befit a game set in the Star Wars universe, space combat is going to be fully featured from the get go, rather than waiting for green light post-release as it was with Battfront’s immediate predecessor.

 

 

Reportedly steering a craft is going to be a little tricky, especially to people unaccustomed to this kind of three-dimensional controls, but presumably it’s going to be just a matter of getting used to it.

 

And, much like in the regular boot-to-the-ground modes, doing well will get you enough point to spawn as classics like the Millennium Falcon or Slave-1.

 

 

To be continued

 

All things considered, Star Wars Battlefront II is shaping up to be a pretty significant improvement over the previous instalment. Especially the reworked special units acquisition and the introduction of singleplayer campaign are welcome. Presence of distinct classes may appeal to multiplayer veterans and people who previously may have found themselves wishing for a more defined role.

 

The next battle for the galaxy launches on November 17 this year. Is the Force going to be with you?

 

 

And now check out the new Star Wars: Battlefront II launch trailer:

 

 

 

 

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Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.

Born on April 24, 1980.

Val Trichkov (Viral Hide)

Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.Born on April 24, 1980.

21 thoughts on “Star Wars Battlefront II Preview – A New Hope for the franchise? Plus New Trailer Revealed!

  • October 31, 2017 at 5:47 pm
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    I DEEPLY enjoyed the space combat during the beta. In fact, i would buy the game JUST for the space combat and story. It was so much fun, and i was quite good at it immediately lol. I hope we get Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer!!!

    • November 1, 2017 at 12:00 am
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      Yeah, I really liked the space combat too, even a bit more than the ground. It just seemed very polished considering it was still a Beta, also even when players had better cards it didn’t matter that much because the skill of placement, timing, and aim is what determined who lasted the longest and got the most BPs.

    • November 1, 2017 at 6:17 am
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      Ditto on space combat. Took me a second, but I got the hang of it. And the map they had was super fun to play.

      Poe’s X-Wing was pimp, a TIE Silencer would probably be pimper.

      • November 2, 2017 at 5:13 am
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        i think the Empire had a big advantage. they just needed kills, the Rebels needed to work together to do the objectives.

        • November 4, 2017 at 6:27 am
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          Agreed. I completed ONE mission as the Rebels, but it was sooo bad ass when we did. I think it was mostly players not knowing wtf to do.

          • November 4, 2017 at 7:31 pm
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            I actually did win a bunch as rebels, just only about as half as i did as the Empire. more satisfying to win as Rebels, yeah lol.

  • October 31, 2017 at 5:49 pm
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    Sorry but this kinda reads like an ad :/
    Feedback from the open beta has been that the game is adopting an explicit and unapologetic “pay2win” model, in which you can spend real money to buy things that give you a clear advantage in multiplayer – stuff as blatant as extra damage. I’ll get it and I’ll play it, but this is very concerning.

    • October 31, 2017 at 11:57 pm
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      It’s not explicitly pay to win though. It’s pay to give you a few days advantage until everybody else catches up.

      After a few days or even a couple weeks that paid advantage will be meaningless.

      Then it’s just a matter of skill that determines the best players. People get way too caught up on this pay to win thing when it won’t make a difference in the end.

      • November 1, 2017 at 12:39 am
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        I’m sorry but that’s the definition of pay to win 🙂
        I pay to get an advantage that will take you 10 hours of play time to get. For that 10 hours you play an unbalanced game and by the time you get it I will have bought another thing (because there’s always another thing to buy).
        Now multiply that by the number of players in a match. Basically, you will *always* be playing against someone who payed to have a clear advantage.

        • November 1, 2017 at 6:16 am
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          Not it’s not.

          The definition of pay 2 win is literally purchasing exactly the item you want that will give you the advantage.

          This is gambling. There’s no guarantee that you’ll spend 400 bucks and ever get anything meaningful.

          Absolutely zilch.

          You guys should learn first, react later.

      • November 1, 2017 at 1:50 am
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        You sound like a stereotypical, hardcore shooter player, who always fall back on “get better, noob.” You are correct in that no amount of gear is going to protect you from a high-performing player, but it gives a significant advantage to mid-tier players with more money. Regardless, it’ll all come down to how good the matchmaking is. I hate playing with Mountain-Dew-addled COD kiddies just as much as I’m sure they’d hate having me on their team.

        • November 1, 2017 at 6:14 am
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          No he doesn’t.

          This system gives almost 0 advantage to anyone.

          It’s not as if you can go into their store, and pick out the upgrade you want, and buy it.

          No, you gamble. And this is EA. EA is the biggest dick company ever.

          You shell out 50 bucks for crates, you’ll likely get shit.

          They want people to keep gambling. They’re not going to give people instant bad ass power ups for putting down extra money.

          Need proof? Please see EA’s gambling loot box model in their other online Star Wars game, Old Republic.

          Mind you, there’s NOTHING you get in those loot boxes that isn’t cosmetic. You get NOTHING that benefits your gameplay. It’s Star Wars dress up 100%.

          And guess what? That system is crap. You get so little return on money you spent. And they actually made it WORSE about a year ago.

          I get it. EA sucks hairy nut sack. I won’t defend them as a company. But the EA hate is beyond insane in how people rationalize what will happen in Battlefront II.

          People have wanted to hate this game because “EA” so they will.

          Son is one of the most moderate chill posters on this forum. Which is why he’s a mod now. So telling him he sound stereotypical in any regard makes you a reactionary blow hard.

    • November 1, 2017 at 12:02 am
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      Did you not read the update that EA put out today?

      • November 1, 2017 at 12:40 am
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        I have not, actually. Are they trying to fix it?

        • November 1, 2017 at 1:41 am
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          https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/battlefront/battlefront-2/news/progression-oct-2017

          TL;DR : EA never expected to roll out the monetization strategy as seen in the beta unaltered, they’re looking for the “sweet spot.”

          Crates are their long-tail revenue stream to pay for server costs and content updates, so they’re never going to be totally consumer friendly.

          And being the cynic I am (and having seen this tactic every mobile game soft-launch ever), I firmly believe that the tuning in the beta was extreme on purpose, allowing them to dial back and appear to be on the side of the consumer, at the same time testing the extreme end of player price sensitivity.

          It’s a much better PR strategy to soften a system that’s seen as too predatory, than it is to raise prices later because you’re not making enough money to maintain the game.

          • November 1, 2017 at 2:27 am
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            Interesting, thanks for sharing it. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. As I said, I’ll buy and play it anyways. But a “soft” pay2win tends to still be a pay2win. But let’s see.

  • October 31, 2017 at 8:03 pm
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    Excited for Story Mode … concerned about multiplayer changes

  • November 1, 2017 at 6:21 am
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    I get it. I do. EA sucks. They’re an awful company. They ruin just about everything they touch.

    But I love DICE. Have since BF1942.

    The Internets reaction to this game is beyond insane. I’m sorry, but it’s like listening to Trump supporters go bonkers over CNN for reporting actual facts they don’t like to hear then scream FAKE NEWS for the next forever.

    So you heard it from me first. I ain’t boycotting this shit. In fact, I’m going to Pre-Order it. And I’m doing it because I think a lot of you reading this who are fuming over OMG PAY2WIN LOOT BOXES IN MA STAR WARS GAME I HATE YOU EA are losing their mind just reading my words.

    So eat me $60.00 troll. I’m going to have fun playing an online multiplayer team based Star Wars shooter.

    You can all whine about how much it sucks without having experienced it.

    Peace out.

    • November 1, 2017 at 5:55 pm
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      Calm down and count to 10 American…we argue enough without adding the politics on this site. lol
      My son and I hated the last release of Battlefront after playing the old one for years. With that being said, we are looking forward to this release, like you as well!
      I am in hopes that they heard us cry enough that many of the issues were taken care of. It sure seems that way for now.
      We are extremely excited and can’t wait for ours to arrive! Happy Gaming!

      • November 2, 2017 at 12:03 am
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        It’s a fair comparison. I will chill on politics at your request. If you get 2 we should link up and shoot shit.

        • November 2, 2017 at 3:54 am
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          absolutely!

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