Star Wars Battlefront 2‘s reveal trailer has been leaked, with the footage originally scheduled to premiere during Saturday’s Star Wars Celebration event in Orlando, Florida.
With DICE’s first crack at the Battlefront whip having been competent but somewhat disappointing, the developer looks to rectify the mistakes they made the first time around and deliver a much better Star Wars experience. This first trailer may not show off the game in great detail, but it does provide a few hints as to the direction DICE is headed in for the sequel:
Here’s what we’ve learned about the game thus far:
Yes, Star Wars Battlefront 2 will feature the prequel trilogy
The trailer states that Battlefront 2 will span “all eras” of the Star Wars universe, meaning that the prequel trilogy will be included this time around, along with battles from Disney’s new trilogy. Darth Maul, Episode I‘s antagonist and a mainstay of the Clone Wars animated series, is featured prominently in the trailer, along with Old Republic and Separatist ships. There’s no signs of the Clones or Droids, but we imagine they’ll be making an appearance, too.
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The prequel trilogy may not have received the same level of adoration as the original Star Wars films, or even recent releases such as The Force Awakens and Rogue One, but many fans still wanted to see its sprawling battles included in Battlefront‘s sequel. While the reveal trailer doesn’t appear to feature any locations from the prequels, it’s a safe bet to assume that they’ll be in there and that we’ll finally get to shoot our blasters in the likes of Kashyyyk, Naboo and more.
An original single-player campaign with an Imperial heroine
We already knew that Battlefront 2 would feature a single-player campaign, but the reveal trailer has indicated that it will be an original story told from the point of view of an Imperial heroine. Though the Empire are very much the bad guys in the Star Wars saga, The Force Awakens has taught us that those who don the iconic Stormtrooper helmets aren’t necessarily evil, which is the angle we’d wager DICE is going for with Battlefront 2.
We only see a brief glimpse of the woman we assume we’ll be playing as in the game, with her watching from Endor’s moon as the second Death Star is destroyed by the Rebellion. This indicates that the story will be set after the original trilogy but before the events of The Force Awakens, though DICE may feature multiple protagonists that span the three eras of the film saga. It seems that the Emperor’s death will play an important part in the game’s story, with an unknown woman shouting “Avenge our Emperor!” while TIE Fighters swarm above the Starkiller Base.
Space battles?
No gameplay footage appears to be featured in the trailer, though there are multiple scenes featuring space battles. It’s unclear whether or not they’ll see a return in Battlefront 2, but we certainly hope that this will be the case, and their prominence in this early footage suggests that DICE may be looking to introduce them this time around.
The sky battles featured in the original Battlefront were a major point of contention for players, with them feeling like a tacked-on addition and much less exhilarating than expected. Many are hoping that Battlefront 2 will finally see the fluid land-to-space combat that was originally planned in Free Radical Design’s cancelled Star Wars Battlefront 3, but this may be too difficult a feat for DICE to pull off only two years removed from the release of their original Battlefront game. Hopefully this early footage is indicative that this Star Wars game will actually feature a war in the stars.
Yoda!
The various Heroes and Villains featured in DICE’s first Battlefront were fun to control, but there were a few notable faces missing. This time around it looks like Yoda will feature in the game, alongside Darth Maul and The Force Awakens‘ Rey and Kylo Ren. There’s no word on whether any of these four characters will be playable, though we’d assume that will be the case. We’re not looking forward to having to contend with Yoda’s tiny hitbox, though.
The trailer was shot in the Frostbite game engine
Though DICE’s first Battlefront had its problems, there was no denying that the game looked great. Making great use of DICE’s impressive Frostbite engine, it managed to win over a lot of fans simply as a result of its presentation, and it seems like Battlefront 2 will be following in its footsteps.
As indicated by the end of the trailer, the footage was recorded in the Frostbite engine and it is “representative of [the] PlayStation 4 experience.” The trailer looks great, so this points towards good things for the final product.
