EA shows off Star Wars Battlefront footage at fan convention
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, 04-25-2015 at 04:30 PM (1166 Views)
Nearly ten years after the series went dormant with Star Wars: Battlefront 2, a new shooter set in the Star Wars universe game series is set to hit the PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on November 17.
At the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, members of the DICE development team showed off a pre-alpha trailer for the Frostbite engine-powered game, which is simply being called Star Wars: Battlefront. While the footage didn't show off much direct gameplay, the whole thing was reportedly rendered in real-time on a PS4.
The in-game footage displayed the team's use of photogrammetry to render models directly from pictures of the actual models used in the movies rather than 3D figures created whole cloth by digital artists. The development team said they took trips to shooting locations for the original Star Wars films and referenced materials from the libraries at Skywalker Ranch to add further to the authenticity to the source material. Skywalker Sound will be providing the audio for the game.
As far as gameplay, players will be able to can take part in story missions, either solo or with a co-op partner, and online multiplayer shootouts with up to 40 people, all from either a first- or third-person viewpoint. On-field power-ups will let players transform into well-known characters like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Boba Fett. Vehicles like speeder bikes, snowspeeders, X-wings, TIE Fighters, AT-ATs, and even the Millennium Falcon will be pilotable, but those vehicles unfortunately can not be taken out into space—this is a strictly planet-based affair.
The new Battlefront takes place during the time of the original film trilogy, across familiar locations like Hoth, Endor, and Tatooine, as well as the newly explorable planet Sullust (which is based on the Icelandic countryside). As a tie-in with the upcoming Force Awakens movie, players will also have access to a free bit of DLC detailing the "Battle of Jakku," which takes place decades before the events shown in the film's new trailer. Players that pre-order the game will get that DLC mission on December 1, while everyone else will get it December 8.
The new Battlefield was originally announced at E3 2013 and was shown in slightly more detail at last year's show, but EA and developer DICE have been relatively silent regarding the details of the game until now. Back in December, DICE said it was "not moving onto future projects," including Battlefront, until it fixed nagging server issues with Battlefield 4.
Battlefront is the first game in a previously announced ten-year deal giving Electronic Arts the exclusive rights to all Star Wars-based games.
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