Star Wars Battlefront will give players the option to remove the helmets from their Stormtroopers, and fans aren’t happy about it.
There are plenty of character customization options available in Battlefront (as you can see in the video below), though you’d imagine that very few would be available to those playing as the Empire, in keeping with the uniforms they were depicted wearing in the original trilogy. However, developers DICE have decided to overlook this facet of the films, giving players the option to completely remove their Stormtrooper’s helmet and wander around the likes of Hoth and Endor with their character’s face on show.
Stormtroopers were not depicted without their helmets in the original trilogy, which is the time period in which the war depicted in Battlefront takes place. However, in Battlefront players will have the ability to remove their helmets whilst fighting, changing the appearance of their soldier.
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While EA had previously stated that players would be able to take their Stormtroopers’ helmet off in order to customize their character, many assumed that this would mean they’d only be able to do so pre-game, and not have the option to remove the helmet altogether whilst playing a game. It’s certainly a strange addition to the game considering how faithful DICE appear to have been in regards to the original trilogy, and while it won’t have any impact upon gameplay whatsoever, it’s still garnered some criticism.
A NeoGAF user wrote of the change: “I think it’s fucking stupid… can’t believe taking your helmet off was the only cosmetic alteration they could think of beyond “all black” or “Endor dudes.” Another wrote: “The evil army kind of loses its intimidation factor if only half the troops are wearing their helmets into battle.”
Though the Empire began employing the services of non-clone Stormtroopers prior to the events of A New Hope (as depicted in the Star Wars: Rebels show), and are even shown without their helmets, in the original trilogy all Stormtroopers are wearing helmets at all times. Given that DICE has stayed true to the original trilogy with the visual direction and audio design of the game, it’s certainly a curious decision.
Editor’s Note: This post was altered to rectify a false statement, in which we claimed that the Empire did not employ non-clone Stormtroopers until after the events of the original trilogy. This was incorrect, as it’s shown in Star Wars: Rebels that the Empire did begin to employ Stormtroopers outside of the clone army prior to the events of A New Hope. Thank you to Tyralun for the correction.
