One big takeaway from last month’s trailer reveal for DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront was the unyielding commitment to Lucasfilm’s original trilogy. From the brightly-lit forests of Endor to the snow-stricken hills of Hoth, the attention to detail was almost unparalleled, and there’s already a crackle of excitement around the Star Wars faithful ahead of the title’s arrival in November.
But DICE is working to ensure that fans are excited about more than just visuals; in fact, just yesterday the studio unveiled a new mode that will be included in Battlefront. Entitled Fighter Squadron, this feature will allow players to engage in high-octane dogfighting above the alien planets. It was first glimpsed very briefly in that aforementioned reveal trailer, though Niklas Fegraeus – Design Director at the studio – recently touched upon the airborne mode.
“You could see a tiny snippet of this in our trailer where you saw the Fighter Squadron mode, where you engage in huge Starfighter battles over canyons big enough to be truly epic. Then, for those not in the mood for large scale battles, we have created Missions where players can, for example, take on armies of AI or test their piloting skills. All our Missions can be played either alone or cooperatively, making them perfect for some quick Star Wars action when you have a friend over.”
We already knew that players will have the opportunity to pilot X-Wings and TIE Fighters in the final build – not to mention piloting AT-ATs and AT-ST – so it’s nice to hear that DICE is building a game mode tailored specifically to this playstyle. A good thing, really, considering how limited Battlefront‘s single-player component is shaping up to be, and we’re holding out hope that the shooter’s multiplayer is choke full of content to compensate.
Expect more news pertaining to a galaxy far, far away – and of course, Star Wars Battlefront – when EA hosts its E3 press conference on June 15. As always, we’ll have a full rundown of the event as it happens.