Star Wars Battlefront lacks the much-loved space battles from previous iterations of the franchise as it’s an infantry game at heart, developer DICE has said.
The latest entry in the popular sci-fi shooter franchise, which is seen as something of a soft reboot, eschews the popular space battles, although does feature a dogfighting mode where gamers are pitted against AI-controlled opponents. Still, it’s a far cry from the dedicated X-Wing vs TIE Fighter battles seen in previous games.
Speaking during an interview with MetroGameCentral, Sigurlína Ingvarsdottir, Senior Producer at DICE, shared the reasoning behind the omission of space battles:
“At the core, we’re an infantry game. The biggest part of our experience is infantry and being DICE we have been doing vehicles for a long time. And I think we do it really, really well. But we know people struggle with flying. We know there’s lots of people that like flying in Battlefield but there’s also a lot of people that don’t. And so it becomes a bit polarizing, and the ambition here is to have that experience available for players and make it easy for them. And what we’ve seen is that it has worked out quite well. It’s often times mentioned as people’s favourite mode. And then I get the questions, ‘So what about a pilot career path or putting perks into it or are you going to do more with it…?’ And I get very happy when I get asked these questions because I think that it seems like we’ve captured something people enjoy.
“In general, with gamers, it’s become quite popular. It’s the mode that most people tell us that they’re surprised about how fun it is and how easy it is fly the starfighters. Because we know that flying is often so hard in games and people struggle with it.”
Star Wars Battlefront is out now for PS4, PC, and Xbox One. The game has been confirmed to run at 60fps on PS4 while displaying a resolution of 900p, the same as the beta. The game will be supported by a series of content expansions going into 2016, with the first one arriving early next year. The Season Pass has caused some controversy however, with many games feeling it isn’t worth the $49.99 asking price. We’re still beavering away on our review for the game, but for now, check out our Star Wars Battlefront review roundup to see how well the game has fared with critics.
Star Wars Battlefront eschews the single-player campaign seen in previous instalments of the popular franchise, and focuses on large-scale multiplayer battles. Gamers will find themselves taking on the role of a Rebel or Imperial trooper as they battle it out on a number of iconic locations throughout the Star Wars universe, such as Tatooine, Sullust, Endor, and Hoth. In addition, you can also take control of legendary ‘Hero and Villain’ characters from the series, including Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine, and Han Solo.