What I’d Like to See Come to Star Wars Battlefront
Like many of you, Star Wars: Battlefront has captured my heart in a way like no other, encapsulating all the wonder of the movies and replicating my childhood in video game form. Within a couple of hours of playing, I had already flown an X-Wing, shot an Ewok and taken out an AT-ST; however, the defining moment that cemented its hold on me came in the form of an epic showdown on Endor.
I was playing a match of Supremacy (pretty much the only mode I play) and in the heat of battle, I found a hero power up which allowed me to become Darth Vader for the first time (and only time so far). As I took down my fair share of rebel scum with saber throws and force chokes, a notification popped up letting me know that one of the opposing players had become Luke Skywalker. My heart began to race, my blood began to pump and the only thing I wanted to do was find him and kill him. I searched the map for him – Stormtroopers and rebels fought around me with blasters firing and thermal detonators exploding in abundance. I swatted anyone that got in my way like flies, until, there he was – Luke Skywalker in all his glory.
We exchanged blows – his lightsaber bouncing off mine and mine off his. I used the force to stunt his movement, but he kept coming back with focus and determination. As my life deteriorated, I thought that all my effort would be for nothing, and then, as he jumped towards me to plant his final strike, I swung my lightsaber above my head and struck him with it – stopping him in his track and killing him. It may not have been canon, but the satisfaction, joy and wonder I felt hasn’t been that grand since I took down my first boss in Bloodborne.
With all of the fun I’m having with Battlefront so far, it got me thinking as to where else the game could go, what other heroes and villains I’d get to be and what else would I want from the Season Pass. The general consensus among Star Wars and video game aficionados is that there is a lack of content in the game and not enough to keep people playing for the months to come. I feel the game has enough to keep you entertained for now, but like our review, longevity may be an issue.
We all know there is a Season Pass that accompanies Star Wars: Battlefront, and recently EA released some information about what it would include.
- 20 new pieces of galactic tech including weapons, vehicles, and Star Cards
- 4 more heroes and villains to play as or fight against
- 16 additional multiplayer maps featuring new locations
- 4 exciting new game modes
- Two week early access to all four expansions
It was also recently revealed that you would be getting plenty of free content as well, including new Star Cards and maps, which is either a response to the criticism or something that has always been part of EA’s game plan; either way, there is plenty more coming to Star Wars: Battlefront.
I started to think about where they could go with this; they have such a wealth of content to choose from and dipping into the Star Wars vault could result in many different possibilities. Will they eventually dip into the prequels, regardless of the general negativity towards them? Are they going to explore the non-canonical mediums like the books or the other video games like KOTOR or Dark Forces? How much of the new content will look to the future of Star Wars i.e. The Force Awakens and Rogue One? I won’t lie; the prospects got me far too excited so I decided to share some of my thoughts with you. Not including the free Battle of Jakku DLC (which sounds awesome by the way), here are some of the things that I’d love to see come to Star Wars: Battlefront in the future.
The Star Wars Prequels
Love them or hate them, Episode I –III exist and nothing is going to change that. I’m not going to lie, much in these films, there was, that I really didn’t care for: the need to quantify the force by introducing midoclorians, dwelling too much on its politics and Jar Jar Binks to name a few. Despite all of their flaws, some things from the prequels could work pretty well in Star Wars: Battlefront.
Star Wars canon isn’t particularly adhered to in Battlefront, so it shouldn’t matter too much if one character appears where they shouldn’t (within reason at least), although if prequel characters do appear in Battlefront, they should only really appear in the prequel expansions. I wouldn’t want to see too many characters from the prequels, but there are four that if they did pop up, I wouldn’t complain.
Darth Maul and General Grievous would definitely work as villains. There are others that could show up (Count Dooku, Jango Fett), but these two made the most impact, and with their lightsaber modifications and skill set, playing as one of these villains would be fun. Darth Maul has great athletic ability and Grievous has a mean selection of fallen Jedi’s lightsabers at his disposal, so to play as these would be great. As for the heroes, there are two obvious choices: Mace Windu and Jar Jar Binks (only kidding, it’s Qui-Gon Jinn). Having these two Jedi wouldn’t feel too dissimilar from playing as Luke Skywalker, so their inclusion may not happen, especially as there are so many different characters in the Star Wars Universe that would be better to play as.
There aren’t many worlds from the prequels that I’d be interested in seeing; however, Geonosis from The Clone Wars would be a solid choice if anything from the prequels was going to make it into Star Wars: Battlefront. The events in the Battle of Geonosis led to a great war between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic (The Clone Wars). Granted, the planet’s surface is similar to Tatooine, but its harsh weather conditions and constant sandstorms would help diversify gameplay and cause players to think differently when traversing its troublesome landscape.
‘War’ would be a game mode that pitted two teams against each other in the Clone Wars and would see each team battle it out until there was only one team left standing. Vehicular combat would exist across a much larger playing area. Each player would have three lives, and as soon as you lost your final life it would be game over. You’d still be able to watch the rest of the match unfold and if you found your side to be victorious, a win bonus would be granted along with additional points for kills and other goals reached.
‘Order 66’ would another be game mode that would take place on a smaller scale; maybe on Geonosis or Utapau (the planet on which Grievous met his demise in Episode III). It would see a team of 20 Clone Troopers (or Stormtroopers if the game isn’t planning on deviating from the Republic – Imperials formula) take on a team of 4 Jedi. The Jedi team will have all their force powers and the Clone Troopers will have all their fire power – each team battling it out until one succeeds. If you remember, Order 66 was used by Emperor Palpatine to rid the galaxy of the Jedi Order, masquerading as a government order for if ever the Jedi committed mutiny against the Galactic Republic. Many Jedi died, with only Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi surviving (and Kanan Jarrus if you’re watching Star Wars: Rebels).
To involve the prequels too heavily in Battlefront would probably be a bad idea, mainly because there are many other places and events that could be used as a good foundation for future content, but I think it would be unfair if none of the prequels were used in some way, especially as many Star Wars fans (particularly younger fans) have been exposed to these first – just stay away from Naboo and the Gungans.
The Original Trilogy
It’s quite clear that the game has taken the majority of its content from Episodes IV – VI and that is all I ever wanted. Running around the hangars on Hoth, riding a speeder on Endor and finding cover under the Jawa’s sand crawler has brought many a smile to my face, but there is still so much more that EA can do with the original trilogy that it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.
I know that EA has said space battles will not feature in Star Wars: Battlefront, but there would be no greater honour that piloting an X-Wing and being given a chance to fire a proton torpedo into the Death Star’s exhaust port and blowing it up. I’m almost 100% sure that the Death Star will provide a couple of gameplay modes, even if it doesn’t feature space battles. In ‘Use the Force,’ players are forced to fight in space combat, where the Rebel Alliance and the Imperials battle to stop either reaching their goal. The Rebels must blow up the Death Star and the Imperials must destroy the Rebel base on Yarvin 4. Once the Rebels destroy five advanced TIE Fighters, they are given an opportunity to enter the trench on the Death Star, where they can fire into its exhaust port. Likewise, if the Imperials manage to take out Luke and his team (Wedge, Darklighter and the rest), they are given the chance to fire at the Rebel Base.
The Death Star can also be used as a map for Supremacy, where by each team has to capture points on the different levels of the space station. It would be a better setting to see Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader in, but it would also provide a more intimate environment with a tenser atmosphere and variety in hiding places and locations from A New Hope (Falling into the garbage disposal?).
Cloud City is another interesting setting and could also accommodate a new game mode. ‘Save Solo’ would see two teams battle it out inside the gas mining colony – the Rebels need to save Han Solo from being frozen in carbonite and the Imperials making sure it went ahead. You’d also be able to call on new hero, Lando Calrissian to help. He’d have similar abilities to Han Solo and would only be used for the Rebels (even though he technically betrayed them in Empire Strikes Back).
‘Rancor Hunt’ would work similarly to Evolve, where a team of you have to take down a rancor and one person gets to control the rancor. How much fun would it be to swat away, devour and all-out decimate a pack of rebels or imperials with the touch of a few buttons?
On the subject of heroes from the original trilogy, I’d love to see Chewbacca as a playable hero, along with appearances from Yoda, R2-D2, C-3PO and Obi Wan Kenobi. It would make sense that Obi Wan will be playable as a hero, but Yoda and the droids could be more beneficial as support. R2-D2 and C-3POcould provide special information on certain item’s locations on the map i.e. where a hero power-up is or the closest X-Wing’s location and Yoda could give you timed invulnerability to blaster fire by way of harnessing the force. As for the villains, Jabba could give you special abilities that you can’t find on the map and Dengar and Bossk could provide 10-second assistance at your side to destroy the enemy.
EA can only do so much, but there are still lots of things to choose from and anything from the original trilogy that isn’t already in Star Wars: Battlefront will be a much welcomed addition. With the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a logical move would be to put a substantial amount of focus on it for Star Wars: Battlefront, mainly because the look and feel of J.J Abram’s movie seems to fit well with the aesthetics of Episodes IV–VI.
The Force Awakens
It’s not long now until the world finally gets to watch The Force Awakens, and even though we aren’t really aware of the films main plot, I’m sure you’ll get to see most of its characters, tech and locations in Battlefront. I predict that after a week of the film’s release, EA will announce The Force Awakens expansion pack as the game’s first of four expansions. We already have Sullust as one of the game’s maps, and The Battle of Jakku free DLC is releasing soon, but in terms of new worlds from The Force Awakens, I wouldn’t be able to say having not seen it yet.
I think it’s a given that Kylo Ren, Finn and Rey will become playable heroes and villains, with Poe Dameron, Captain Phasma and BB-8 all making appearances in some capacity; I’m also convinced you’ll see Poe’s black and orange T-70 X-Wing fighter in the game too.
From the three trailers and never-ending TV spots that are flooding the internet, we’ve all been given lots of footage of what to expect from the new movie. For now though, we’ll just have to speculate about the new locations and technology; it won’t be long until we are all in the loop and the great mysteries of The Force Awakens (who is Kylo Ren? Where is Luke Skywalker?) will be revealed.
Everything Else
There are hundreds of other stories that have been told in the Star Wars universe, but most of them aren’t canon. I don’t know whether EA will take this into account, but casting their net too far into these mediums won’t really translate or work particularly well. Out of all the books, games, comics and TV shows, there are only a handful that I’d really consider using. Firstly, the siths in Bioware’s Knights of the Old Republic were excellent characters and to see them in Battlefront would be awesome. Darth Malak and especially Darth Revan would look great on current gen, but I’d understand if we never saw them; being tied to Bioware could result in rights being bought etc., meaning more hassle than it’s worth. Also, these siths existed many years before the events of The Phantom Menace, so finding a way to necessitate them in Battlefront could provide quite a challenge.
Star Wars: Rebels may be able to work, but given the animation style being significantly different to the realistic model builds of Battlefront, this also could provide a challenge – seeing Ezra, Kanan Jarrus and Sabine Wren would be cool though. The Clone Wars animated series would also suffer similar problems, but again, seeing Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: Battlefront would be refreshing, mainly as she is a hugely popular character and would add to the almost non-existent female roster of heroes.
Next year, the first Star Wars movie to not continue main plot will be released in the form of Rogue One. Whilst plot details are few and far between, I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see some free DLC revolving around this movie, even if it is only some star cards featuring tech from the movie available to use and equip.
Have I Missed Anything?
Of course I have. Dagobah and Kasshyyk. Mos Eisley and Corusant. Greedo and Bib Fortuna. Watto and Salcious B. Crumb. Characters, worlds, modes, weapons, vehicles and technology that I want to see in Star Wars: Battlefront will be different to what you may want to see, but that’s the joy of wondering and imagining. We all have our own favourites from the movies and the universe that it would be impossible to fit everything into Battlefront – it’s always fun to dream.
I have no qualms about the gameplay or mechanics in Star Wars: Battlefront, but there is something I think would make the experience even better, and that is more NPC interaction and environmental interference. How cool would it be for a Wampa to come from out of nowhere and attack you on Hoth? Or maybe a bunch of Sand People appearing on Tatooine and causing problems for both the Rebels and Imperial soldiers? Battles over Sarlaac Pits? Sandstorms, blizzards? We see the occasional tree fall over in Endor, but more danger from the game’s many environments would work really well.
No matter where EA go with the future of Star Wars: Battlefront, I have full confidence that they’ll continue with their fan service, giving every demographic of Star Wars fan something to enjoy. As long as I get to continue to fight in the Star Wars, I’ll be as happy as a womp rat in mud.
