For nearly as long as I’ve been playing video games in general, I’ve been kind of specifically obsessed with Star Wars games. Whether it was stumbling upon one of the early arcade cabinets at the neighborhood washateria, playing those full-motion video PlayStation games back in elementary school, or even diving into more modern “Souls-like” games, I’ve played my fair share over the years. And while I am excited about all those upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, my jubilation is that much bigger when it comes to the franchise's promising soon-to-be-released games.

If you’re like me and have spent countless hours exploring the “galaxy far, far away,” and all those titles directly and indirectly tied to the Skywalker family tree and beyond, stick around so we can explore all the upcoming Star Wars games as well as a few recently released titles that are worth checking out (even if just out of morbid curiosity).

Star Wars: Eclipse - TBD

Quantic Dream has come out with some of the most unique and engaging video game experiences of the past decade-and-a-half with titles like Heavy Rain and Detroit: Beyond Human, and now the studio is turning its attention to Star Wars. At some point in the future, Star Wars Eclipse will take players on an epic journey with its blend of action-adventure and narrative-based game that will feature multiple characters, branching storylines, and the High Republic.

The game is still in early development according to its official website, so it might be some time before we get to see what Quantic Dream has cooking up for us.

Knights Of The Old Republic Remake - TBD 

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic debuted on the original Xbox more than 20 years ago, but it’s still considered one of the best games set in the “galaxy far, far away.” At some point in the future, a remake of the role-playing game originally developed by BioWare, which went on to create the beloved Mass Effect franchise, will come to modern consoles and allow gamers to see what all the fuss is about. When, exactly? Well, no one really knows.

Despite the project bouncing from one studio to another over the years, work stopping and starting multiple times, and a lot of hearsay, it still looks like KOTR is going to happen. In April 2024 Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch told IGN the remake was “alive and well,” though he didn’t provide any further details.

Amy Hennig's Star Wars Game - TBD 

Ever since Uncharted writer Amy Hennig left Naughty Dog back in 2014 there has been speculation about where she’d turn up next. And in April 2022, after many years and attempts to get a Star Wars project off the ground, Lucasfilm Games and Skydance New Media announced they were partnering for a new original game with Hennig at the helm.

There aren’t a lot of details about the game at this time, but according to StarWars.com, the game will feature an “original story in the Star Wars galaxy.” With Hennig’s knack for storytelling and adventure, we should be in for a real treat when the game finally launches.

Star Wars: Jedi 3 - TBD

Over the course of the past half-decade, Respawn Entertainment has created two of the best Star Wars games of all time with its two games heavily influenced by FromSoftware’s Souls series as well as classic Metroidvania titles. And now, it looks like we’ll be getting more from the Star Wars Jedi franchise now that a third game is reportedly on the way.

Cameron Monaghan, who played protagonist Cal Kestis is 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and its 2023 sequel Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, was on hand for a a panel at the 2023 Ocala Comic Con (via Video Games Chronicle). There, he addressed that Respawn was working on a third title, but no other details were provided. Expect to hear much more in the future.

Star Wars: Outlaws - Released August 30, 2024

The time between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi on the Star Wars timeline has long been one of the most interesting periods, and this upcoming game will throw players into the middle of the turbulent stretch. Star Wars Outlaws, which was heralded as the first open-world Star Wars game by publisher Ubisoft, follows Kay Vess, a scoundrel attempting to find a new and better life.

Star Wars Outlaws allows players to explore various planets within the galaxy as well as travel through space as they complete their story. Engaging missions, exploration, and a massive story will give us plenty to do in the galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (Remastered) - August 1, 2024

If you thought Jango Fett got the short end of the stick in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and have always wanted to dive deeper into his lore, then the upcoming remaster of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is the game for you. Originally released back in November 2002, this third-person action-adventure game allowed players to take on the role of the famed bounty hunter as he is tasked with tracking down a Dark Jedi, and it's a great example of a movie character getting their due in another medium.

This newly enhanced version of Bounty Hunter landed on modern consoles on August 1, 2024, and features improved textures, lighting effects, equipment, and other quality-of-life improvements.

Star Wars: Hunters - Released June 4, 2024 

Released on June 4, 2024, Star Wars: Hunters is a free-to-play third-person combat game that allows players to take on the role of some of their favorite characters in massive battles set in famous locations throughout the franchise. Available on Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android devices, this team-based arena shooter looks and feels a lot like Fortnite if that’s your thing.

Star Wars: Rebel Assault II - The Hidden Empire (Re-Release) - April 16, 2024 

Star Wars: Rebel Assault II – The Hidden Empire, which was released on the PlayStation back in 1996, has been given a re-release on modern Sony consoles, though don’t expect any quality-of-life or visual upgrades. When this full-motion video title popped up on the PS Store and on PS Plus on April 16, 2024, it provided a tripe down memory lane as you take the controls of Rookie One and fight against the Empire.

Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection - Released March 14, 2024

The OG Star Wars Battlefront games released in the early 2000s provided for some of the best multiplayer (and single-player) experiences of the PS2/Xbox era, and fans have long clamored for the franchise’s return. Well, they got their wish on March 14, 2024, when Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection was released on modern consoles. It’s a mixed bag though, as the remasters were incredibly buggy and hard to play upon release.

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered - Released February 28, 2024

Remember back in the ‘90s when Doom clones were a dime a dozen? Well, LucasArts even got in on the fun with Star Wars: Dark Forces, a 1995 first-person shooter where you play Kyle Katarn, a Rebel Alliance mercenary tasked with stopping the Empire’s Dark Trooper Project. A remastered version of the game was released on February 28, 2024, and can be found on all modern consoles.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Re-Release) - January 16, 2024

Movie tie-in games were all the rage in the ‘90s and 2000s, and one of the most well-known titles from that craze is Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. This PlayStation game was given a re-release on January 16, 2024, giving gamers a chance to explore levels as Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Queen Amidala, and Captain Panaka. Like Rebel Assault II, this game doesn’t have any quality-of-life improvements.

Be sure to check back for any updates about these upcoming Star Wars video games. And while you wait for these games to hit consoles, take a look at our breakdown of all the Star Wars movies, ranked.

Sure, Star Wars: Battlefront is a couple of years old at this point and it has a sequel coming out in a couple of months but, for those who have been holding out for the "perfect deal," that time has come. You can now buy the game for around $5.

With Star Wars: Battlefront II set to launch on Nov. 17, you've got about two months before the online Empire and Rebel armies jump ship to the latest hotness. Before the sun sets on the original Battlefront, though, EA wants to enlist as many new recruits as humanly possible. That's why they've not only dropped the price of the game to about five bucks, but they're also throwing in the season pass at no additional cost. That means you can enjoy the entire Battlefront experience for half the price of a single movie ticket.

If you head on over to the PlayStation Network, they've got the Ultimate Edition of the original Battlefront on sale for 83 percent off the usual price, bringing it all the way down to just $5.09. Right next to that discount is the game's Season Pass, which has been marked down from 20 bucks to 100 percent free.

The Xbox One crowd is actually getting a slightly better deal, though we doubt PlayStation gamers can complain with prices like these. On Microsoft's platform, that same Ultimate Edition is marked all the way down to just $4.50. And, again, the Season Pass of DLC is free of charge.

To be clear, the Ultimate Edition of Battlefront comes with all four of the game's major DLC drops, meaning you get Outer Rim, Bespin, Death Star and Rogue One: Scarif all rolled into that single package. If you own the game and never grabbed the DLC, or perhaps only picked up one or two of them, then you'll want to take advantage of that Season Pass.

While Battlefront would have probably made a heck of a lot of sense as a PlayStation Plus and/or Games with Gold offering for the month, this is definitely the next best thing. The way we see it, a discount like this will likely mean plenty of other folks will be fresh to the game, so you definitely won't be the only fresh meat to hit the battlefield. Also, with Battlefront II due out in a couple of months and the new movie out just a month after that, we imagine a lot of former Battlefront faithfuls will be returning to the original game in anticipation of that sequel. So, on top of having a bunch of fellow newbies running around, we figure the returning crowd will help keep those servers packed for at least a few months.

Electronic Arts' subscription service, EA Access, received a small update this week boasting some DLC for Battlefront. But we imagine subscribers will be even more interested to learn about some of the big games hitting the roster in just a couple of months.

EA announced this past week (via Gamespot) that some new content was headed to its subscription service, beginning with the now available Star Wars Battlefront and DLC expansions. Just in time to get everyone pumped for the arrival of Battlefront II this fall, you can now play the entirety of the original game, alongside all of its add-on content including extra maps, heroes and gear.

While Battlefront's DLC is nice and all, we figure folks are going to be more excited about the larger injection of new titles slated for September. We don't have an exact date yet, but we know these games are due sometime that month.

On EA Access for Xbox One, September will bring both Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2, two of the best first-person shooters to come out in recent years. While EA may have seriously harmed the latter by releasing it right on top of the more well-established former, both of these games offer fantastic online components and something you don't get too often out of the first-person shooter genre; a really fantastic campaign. Again, so long as you subscribe to Access, these games will be your sat no additional cost come September.

As for Origin Access members, you'll be getting both of those games in September, too, along with the Star Wars Battlefront: Ultimate Edition starting this week. That, of course, comes with all of the DLC in tow. This service will get a couple extra games in September, including Rebel Galaxy and The Sims 4: Digital Deluxe Edition.

If you're unfamiliar with EA Access, it's basically the publisher's version of PlayStation Plus or Microsoft's Games with Gold. The difference is that this subscription-based service only offers EA games and can only be used on the Xbox One. We agree that last part seems pretty limiting if they really wanted to make some extra cash off of the program, but that's how this business goes sometimes. At least you can get a version of the service, called Origin Access, on your PC.

For $5 a month or $30 a year, you gain access to a huge pile of EA games both big and small. The nice thing about the publisher is that they've got a huge stable of developers making games in a wide variety of genres. Everything from Dead Space to Bejeweled can be found here, along with sports games like FIFA, RPGs like Mass Effect and racers like Need for Speed.

So what do you think, readers? Are EA Access and Origin Access evolving into solid subscriptions or do you still prefer getting the games individually when they launch. Let us know in the comments below.

With EA announcing that Star Wars Battlefront II would arrive this year, folks were starting to get antsy with anticipation for a reveal trailer for the game. Well, they've finally delivered, and it's looking pretty rad.

It's been a big week for Star Wars fans, what with the events of Star Wars Celebration revealing moments like the first trailer for The Last Jedi. But if you're a gamer, you were possibly a bit more interested in the first trailer for Battlefront II, revealed as part of the same event.

The consensus seems to be that the first Battlefront (of the rebooted series, anyway) provided a great foundation, but that the game needed a bit more meat on its bones.

Based on this latest trailer, DICE heard fans loud and clear. Unfortunately, we don't see any gameplay footage at this time (likely being saved for E3), but at least we get a little disclaimer that everything on display is from the in-game engine. There's no need to really worry about visuals anyway, as Battlefront looked great to begin with.

As was promised several months back, Battlefront II will boast a single player campaign this time around. We get a few looks at a new female protagonist, who seems hell-bent on bringing down the Rebellion. What's cool, though, is that she isn't your typical hand-wringing evil villain. The mood of the story is that she is, in her own way, the hero of the tale- fighting for a cause she believes in wholeheartedly. That's the kind of story I'd love to see in one of the upcoming Star Wars spin-off movies, but I'll take what I can get.

After that, though, it's all about what will definitely be the biggest feature in Battlefront II, and that's online battles. The trailer promises we'll be fighting across all eras of the Star Wars universe. And with Rey and Darth Maul serving as the poster kids for the game, it's clear we're going from prequels all the way up to the new trilogy. There's even a glimpse of Yoda, if you want to start getting super hyped nice and early.

They've put together a pretty great trailer here, but we're more interested in what comes next. We've got a good feel for Battlefront II based on this trailer, and a better idea of what the game will entail. As stated above, it seems like a campaign is in the cards, but we don't want to assume anything at this point.

Either way, count us excited and eager for more.

The original Star Wars: Battlefront left a lot of core fans a bit disappointed with the offerings. Well, EA and DICE will have an opportunity to rectify that with Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and there's now a day and date to let you know when you can first play the game.

According to the official EA website, between June 10th and June 12th later this year gamers will be able to get their first ever hands-on experience with Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and the next iteration in the Need For Speed series.

The EA Play event will run alongside E3. Electronic Arts pulled out of the ESA's event to host their own little convention and give gamers and press an opportunity to experience their upcoming titles. This is the second year in a row where EA has decided to use EA Play as a way to connect directly with the audience without having to go through the hassles associated with the traditional E3 organization.

According to the announcement, the tickets for EA Play will go on sale starting April 20th, 2017.

EA will be competing for views and patronage alongside the ESA, who have re-opened the doors of E3 to the public, allowing them to attend the event for a pricey admission fee. Will gamers attempt to attend both events or only pick and choose which one they would like to attend? I suppose it depends on how engrossed and excited Star Wars: Battlefront fans are to get their hands on the game.

So far we have no idea what they have in store for the sequel to the 2015 original. The news piece doesn't make any mention about details or mechanics that gamers can expect to see in the next entry in the Star Wars: Battlefront series.

Some of the biggest complaints were centered around how casual the game was. They replaced the ability to hop in and out of vehicles with a card system, turning the game a bit more into something akin to what you would find in a MOBA title as opposed to what Pandemic had offered in the original Star Wars: Battlefront games. This also meant that players could no longer land and take off with the aerial vehicles, limiting a lot of the gameplay possibilities. Oddly enough, this mechanic also carried over into Battlefield 1, preventing gamers from hopping into and taking off in a vehicle or hijacking a vehicle from an opponent.

Another big complaint was the how restrictive the class structures felt, based on the limitation of access to weapons using the card system. A lot of weapons were relegated to cards, and the ammo and health mechanics were altered so players no longer had to rely on the support classes during battle to help them out the way they did in Pandemic's Star Wars: Battlefront 1 or Star Wars: Battlefront 2.

There were also plenty of complaints about the way the spawning system worked, the way the battles felt very small scale, and how sterile the gameplay experience was. Whether or not DICE will take these criticisms and concerns to heart and ensure that the Star Wars: Battlefront sequel can actually improve on what they accomplished and measure up to what Pandemic managed to do more than a decade ago. I guess we'll find out on June 10th when gamers finally get to play-test the upcoming multiplayer shooter.

If you're looking for something to do this holiday season other than spend time with friends and family, EA invites you to visit a galaxy far, far away.

Over the weekend, EA will be hosting a handful of promotions for Star Wars: Battlefront, according to VG24/7, which should serve as a nice distraction if you just need to get away from all of the festivities for a few hours. Apparently, all current versions of the game are up-to-date and ready to roll for this upcoming online party, too, so you won't even have to worry about updating the game before diving in.

If you've got a copy of Star Wars: Battlefront, or perhaps you received one as an early Christmas present, then you'll be able to jump into EA's planned festivities across all versions of the game from Dec. 23-25. During that period, you'll earn a credit bonus of 5,000 just for logging in, meaning you've got a whole bunch of in-game cash to spend on upgrades and the like.

So now that you've spent all of your free credits, it's time to jump into the online action. As part of this holiday promotion, everyone will also enjoy a 2X score multiplier in Battlefront this weekend, helping them level up at twice the usual speed.

On top of that, if you never picked up the Death Star expansion back in September, the content from that DLC will be unlocked for all comers throughout the holiday weekend. If you've never tried out the space fights, new heroes, maps and more that came in that particular Battlefront expansion, this weekend's free access should help you decide if it's worth taking the plunge.

So not a bad way to kill some time this weekend if you haven't booted up Battlefront in a while. Still, we wouldn't have been upset if EA decided to do like some other developers and really up the ante this holiday season. Games like Overwatch and even Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered have decked out entire maps in lights and trees, with games like Paragon and more offering up some holiday-themed skins, too. Not that every game needs to follow suit, just that we would love to see what the Death Star looks like with a bunch of red and green lights haphazardly strung up all over the place.

And speaking of gaming through the holidays, we'd be interested to know what our readers plan on playing this coming weekend. Is there a go-to game you like to break out around this time each years, or is there a newer title that you plan on using to help keep you distracted in the coming days? Let us know in the comments below.

There's only one thing better than Star Wars Battlefront, and that's the ability to play it for free. Your chance to do exactly that is coming up soon, too.

According to a recent tweet from EA Access, Star Wars Battlefront will be joining the program's lineup next week. Starting Dec. 13, folks who subscribe to Access will get to dive into the latest and greatest Star Wars game at no additional charge.

Yes, we agree that this isn't exactly "free" but, if you want to get super technical, you're talking about 10 cents per month to play the game, so it might as well be free. EA Access is the mega-publisher's subscription service that costs $4.99 a month. While not all EA games are included in that subscription plan, a heck of a lot are. From Fifa 16 to Battlefield Hardline, Need for Speed, UFC, Titanfall, Madden, and Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare, there's a lot to choose from for just five bucks a month. Battlefront is only a year old at this point and we know a sequel is coming next fall, so that means this is a great time to get in on the action.

Now that all of the game's DLC is basically up and running, now sure seems like a good time to get Battlefront on the Access service. We figure there's another good reason for this timing, too, and that's the fact that Battlefront's launch on the Access service coincides with the launch week for the latest film in the Star Wars film series, Rogue One. That newest movie is also the theme for the final DLC for Battlefront, including a couple of new heroes, new maps, weapons and the like. Basically, there's a big Star Wars love fest going on right now and this latest move from EA is doing a good job of taking advantage of that fact.

All told, the EA Access plan includes more than 35 games and, along with that monthly cost, you could also just get a year's subscription for a discounted $29.99. The only major downside here is that the service is only available on the Xbox and PC, so folks gaming on the PlayStation 4 can't take advantage of the program.

So with Battlefront wrapping up and Battlefield taking a break next year, it sounds to us like EA is going to an every other year system for their big shooters. That could mean that more time and resources are being put into each franchise, so we've got our fingers crossed that maybe a single player campaign will be a part of the game next time around. Either way, we're curious about what our readers want out of the next Battlefront. Give us your wish list in the comments below.

Electronic Arts and DICE released a new trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront featuring the heroine from the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is due to hit theaters on December 16th. The trailer is short, sweet and visually spectacular.

Uploaded to the official EA Star Wars YouTube channel, the trailer starts with a bang. We see some rebels racing across a beachfront while walkers block their path. A few rebels bite the dust when the giant laser fire strikes down and buries them in a mix of molten hot lasers and the cold, wet mud. Not all hope is lost, though. We get a quick glimpse of Jyn Erso running in from the left side of the screen to save the day.

Jyn, just like Han and Lando, has a blaster pistol and the ability to run and punch people into the air. I don't know if this is a spoiler or they just got a little lazy with her abilities, but if it's a Force punch then that would mean Jyn is Force sensitive? If it's not a Force punch then maybe it's a really, really super powerful punch. They don't really show Orson much in the Battlefront trailer, other than that he has some sort of shield device and a blaster pistol. They don't really highlight his abilities, so maybe he either has really lame abilities or they want players to be surprised.

The trailer then highlights the map of Scarif, some of the new space battles and the new items that players will be able to get their hands on. Scarif, the tropical jungle planet will be part of four different maps made available in Star Wars: Battlefront on December 6th.

They announced previously that the new content would be arriving soon, alongside the launch of the upcoming movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This is definitely a smart move from EA because last year they ran into the problem of releasing Star Wars: Battlefront around the same time as Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters but they didn't actually include any content from the movie other than a battle that took place on the planet of Jakku preceding the events of the movie.

A lot of fans had requested to play as some of the characters from the film, but EA decided against adding that kind of content into the game. This time around, they seem to be ready and on guard, having the Jyn Erso and Orson Krennic characters ripe and ready for playability just ahead of the release of the movie. It's a smart marketing move, no doubt.

This promo trailer also comes just after EA's CFO, Blake Jorgensen, made it known that Battlefield will be taking a break for the next couple of years and Star Wars: Battlefront 2 will be the next big project for DICE in 2017. They plan on ramping up the content (which was one of the biggest criticisms of the first game) and adding in more movie-related gimmicks in relation to the launch of Star Wars: Episode VIII.

You can grab the new Scarif DLC for Star Wars: Battlefront starting next week on December 6th.

Despite a lot of grumbling from within the community about Star Wars: Battlefront from Electronic Arts and DICE, the reality is that the game sold quite well. In fact, it sold well enough for a sequel to be greenlit and EA and DICE already have a time frame on when you can expect Star Wars: Battlefront 2 to arrive.

According to Polygon, the game will be available a year from now, launching during the fall season of 2017. The news came during an investor call where EA's chief financial officer, Blake Jorgensen, revealed that they have plans on getting the game up and out by next year around this time, which fits in line with previous comments made earlier in the year that they had plenty of sequels planned for the game.

Typical marketing spiel outlined their goals for the sequel to Star Wars: Battlefront, with Jorgensen saying that they're working hard to make a "deep" and "engaging" offering. Of course, that little nugget of information doesn't really say much of anything about what the actual game will be like.

The original release of Star Wars: Battlefront resulted in a lot of mixed feelings about the game from consumers and long-time fans of the series that was originally developed by Pandemic. The games that released more than a decade ago for the PS2, PC, and the OG Xbox actually contained a lot more content than what originally released for the Xbox One, PC and PS4, creating a rift in how the gaming community viewed the Frostbite 3-powered shooter.

Some of the biggest complaints came from how limited the gameplay was. The removal of the dodge and roll, the removal of vehicle hijacking, the removal of manual vehicle acquirement, and the removal of ground-to-air takeoffs drastically altered a lot of the tactics and gameplay in Battlefront. However, EA was gunning for a more casual audience -- people who saw Star Wars: Episode VII and wanted to be able to pick up and play a game that captured the aesthetics of the Star Wars universe. EA revealed that their core audience was actually casuals, and that's why the newer game was dumbed down compared to Pandemic's offerings a decade ago.

A lot of gamers were left wondering why EA didn't just brush up and finish off Free Radical's depiction of Star Wars: Battlefront 3, which was closer to a direct sequel to Pandemic's Star Wars: Battlefront 2, filling in the story segments between the Clone Wars and the rise of the Galactic Empire.

In Battlefront 2 the campaign story followed the 501st, known as "Vader's Fist". It explained the transition from the clones to non-clone Stormtroopers, as well as what happened to the clone facility on Kamino.

Free Radical's Battlefront 3 -- based on the leaked alpha footage -- followed two brothers during the end of the Clone Wars, leading up to Order 66, and presumably just beyond. The leaked footage received a lot of praise because it followed closely in the footsteps of Pandemic's games, and improved upon them by adding space to ground transitions in a single map, as well as massively scaled battles between the two sides.

DICE took a decidedly different direction, focusing on slightly smaller battles on more intimate maps, along with changing the way vehicles and weapons handle. The real question for DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is whether or not they're going to include all of the content and DLC from the first game in the second game or if they'll make people pay extra for it? I'm also curious if they will make any changes to the way vehicles can be acquired, or if they'll keep them as power-ups?

We'll likely find out more about the game leading up to E3 next year.

Nearly a year following its initial launch, Star Wars Battlefront is still going strong with regular updates. The next big piece of DLC for the game is called "Death Star," and its latest trailer boasts a couple of fan-favorite characters from the beloved sci-fi movie series.

Star Wars would be like a body operating without a heart if it wasn't for Chewbacca and R2-D2. We may not be able to understand what they're saying, but that fact makes how lovable they are all the more impressive.

That's why we're so happy to see them pop up in the latest trailer for Star Wars Battlefront's next big piece of DLC, Death Star. Set to release this month, Death Star will be included in the Battlefront season pass, so if you've already forked over the money, you'll be downloading this latest expansion to your epic space battles at no extra charge.

It's a pretty hefty piece of DLC, too, adding five new multiplayer maps to the Battlefront universe, which will allow you to keep fighting the good fight both on the ground and in space. You'll also be getting a couple of new weapons and Star Cards to customize your character, as well as a pair of new Heroes to control. Those heroes include Bossk the bounty hunter and, at long last, Chewbacca.

Those new weapons include the K-16 Bryar Pistol, as well as the TL-50t Heavy Repeater. We get that they are a heavy machine gun and a sidearm from their names, but we'll leave it to the bigger Star Wars fans to determine whether those are worth geeking out over or not.

The real star of the show, outside of Chewbacca and R2 of course, will be the inclusion of that new game mode that allows you to fly around in space...finally! The mission will let players attack or defend the Death Star and, just like when fighting on the ground, you'll be able to trigger heroes. This map's hero feature lets you pilot Darth Vader's Tie Advanced or even Luke Skywalker's Red Five X-Wing. The baddies are supposed to defend the Death Star while the Rebels aim to weaken its defenses and make a trench run to blow it out of the sky.

Look for all of that to be added to Battlefront in the next couple of days, launching for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on Sept. 20.

We'd be interested in hearing from any Battlefront players in the audience. How has the game kept your interest over the past 12 months? If you've moved onto other things, will the Death Star update be enough to pull you back in? Let us know in the comments below.

Galaxy in Turmoil is in some turmoil of its own. The indie shooter inspired by the original Star Wars: Battlefront games has finally popped up on LucasFilm's radar and, surprising no one, they've asked the development team at Frontwire Studios to pull the plug. Well, sort of.

To be clear, LucasFilm appears to have been a great sport about all of this, explaining to Frontwire President Tony Romanelli that while they can't give their blessing to the studio using the Star Wars property, they don't see any harm in a completely different game that was inspired by their universe.

Romanelli explained the whole thing in a recent post over on the Frontwire blog, in which he outlines a recent phone meeting with unnamed folks from LucasFilm.

First, a bit of backstory for those of you unfamiliar with Galaxy in Turmoil. The game is being built from the ground up by Frontwire and, as mentioned above, it's an homage to the classic games in the Battlefront series. Along with a single player campaign, the team planned on having a robust multiplayer mode with all of the shooting, flying and assaults a Star Wars fan could hope for. Here's the rub, though: The game was literally set in the Star Wars universe.

Since Galaxy in Turmoil was being developed with the intention of launching free of charge, the thinking was that the game was covered by fair use practices. In other words, if they aren't making money off of the game, what would it matter if they were using Star Wars locations, characters, etc?

Well, the fact of the matter is that that is not how these things work. As such, LucasFilm reached out to Romanelli asking that Frontwire knock it off and, after the developer requesting a meeting, they were actually granted one.

Long story short, Electronic Arts has the sole rights to making Star Wars games and they had zero interest in allowing Galaxy in Turmoil to use that license, for a free game or otherwise. Romanelli points out that he does not blame LucasFilm or EA for these decisions, as they make a heck of a lot of sense and are, you know, legally sound.

However, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Romanelli explained that the LucasFilm team stated they were totally fine with a game inspired by previous Star Wars games, so long as this new game isn't actually trying to be a Star Wars game.

As such, Romanelli said that the team will continue full steam ahead on Galaxy in Turmoil, though it will now take place in an original setting and likely carry a new name. As planned, however, the game will be launched free of charge, even though the removal of the Star Wars content means they could try to make some money off of it, if they want.

A crowdfunding campaign is planned to help the development along, but Romanelli said the team has no plans to attempt this until they can offer a single player mission and a couple of multiplayer maps with a single game mode for folks to try first.

So good luck, Frontwire, on your new game set in the slyly named "Celestial Conflict" universe!

One of Star Wars' most iconic characters is finally making their way into the popular third-person shooter, Battlefront, and he's bringing his iconic bowcaster along for the ride.

That's right, folks, the legendary Chewbacca is finally getting his time to shine in Star Wars Battlefront, EA's competitive multiplayer game that lets players duke it out across some of the series' most memorable locations. Along with creating your own grunt soldier, equipping them with familiar gear and even piloting some trademark vehicles, players also have the ability to become series heroes and villains, storming onto the battlefield as beefed up super soldiers such as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

Launching last fall, Star Wars Battlefront has had two major expansions so far, including the Outer Rim content and Bespin. Those batches of DLC added their own new heroes to the game, including Nien Nunb, Dengar, Greedo and Lando Calrissian.

This third expansion to Battlefront is called, quite simply, Death Star, and it'll be introducing Chewbacca and Bossk to the mix. Sorry to all of you Bossk fans out there, but Chewbacca gets top billing. I mean, who doesn't love Chewie?

The announcement was made official this weekend during a special panel that was part of the Star Wars Celebration 2016 event. The panel was called "The Minds Behind EA's Star Wars Games," and it was hosted by Electronic Arts. Along with those two new playable characters, folks can expect some new gear to equip their toons with and, of course, the Death Star as a new Battlefront playground.

Death Star will launch for Battlefront this September, making it the third out of a promised four major pieces of DLC for the game's season pass. We imagine the final piece of the Battlefront puzzle will arrive this winter, possibly right around the one year anniversary for the game. We're still unsure what or who will be a part of that next update though, at this point, we wouldn't be surprised to see Chewbacca Mom make the cut.

Of course, if we only talked about the new characters coming in the Death Star DLC, we'd only be painting half of the picture. As the teaser trailer makes pretty clear, space battles will finally become a part of the mix, giving players the chance to fight for the Rebels or the Alliance in a fast-paced shootout among the stars.

But now that it seems like EA and Dice have added all of the heavy hitters and most-requested locations, that's got us wondering what the fourth DLC expansion might hold. Who would you like to see introduced to the Battlefront roster? Where would you like to wage war? Now that space fights are coming, are there any other major modes you'd like to dive into? Let us know in the comments below.

DICE and Electronic Arts have announced that they have big plans for Star Wars: Battlefront starting next week. They're bringing in some additional modes that fans have been requesting since the game launched last year.

Over on the official Star Wars: Battlefront website lead designer Dennis Brannvall explained that starting July 21st next week, Star Wars: Battlefront would be receiving a brand new offline mode. This has been requested for the game since its debut last year on home consoles and PC.

After gamers pleaded across forum boards, chat systems, and social media for an offline mode, DICE has finally given in and given the people what they asked for. Only it's half a year later and after a lot of the hype for the game has already died down.

The offline mode will allow players to play the Skirmish games across two separate game modes, both Walker Assault and Fighter Squadron on the the available maps that support both modes. The offline mode will also afford for local split-screen play for those playing Star Wars: Battlefront on the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4. Sorry, but PC gamers won't be able to get in on the split-screen play, even if you do have your rig hooked up to your 50 inch television and a USB splitter with Xbox One, Xbox 360 and DualShock 4 controllers attached.

The offline mode will be viable for many of the currently released maps, such as Hoth and Tatooine, as well as some of the newer maps such as Sullust and Bespin. They also have plans on expanding the map selection later this year with the introduction of the Death Star.

DICE had announced previously that they would be adding new maps to the pool, and they did announce that they would be making maps based around the Death Star, but now that time is quickly drawing near. In fact, the Death Star DLC will be available as soon as this September. It will be free for the season pass holders and will carry an extra price tag for those who did not purchase the season pass.

The game came under a lot of criticisms from the core gaming audience due to its limited functionality and content compared to the games that came out a decade ago from Pandemic Software. The major difference is that there were a lot more options available in the older Star Wars: Battlefront games on the PS2, OG Xbox and PC. You had double the amount of planets and modes compared to the vanilla version of DICE's outing, and it afforded players both online and offline modes right out of the box. There was even a specialty campaign story mode for up to four players to play through cooperatively on the OG Xbox, which was a rarity in games back then.

The vehicle system was also vastly different in the older Pandemic games, it was much closer to Battlefield where the vehicles were scattered across the maps and players would have to strategically commandeer vehicles in order to help their team secure a victory. Hijacking vehicles was also possible, something they removed in this newest Star Wars: Battlefront.

Nevertheless, DICE is still trying to find ways to lure gamers back in and with the offline mode going live on July 21st maybe they can win back some trust from the older-school gamers.

Whether you’re new to Star Wars Battlefront or are an old hand who simply hasn’t picked up the game’s Outer Rim DLC just yet, you’ll want to be sure to boot up the game over the weekend to experience that very content free of charge.

Star Wars Battlefront’s first DLC pack, Outer Rim launched a little while back, giving Rebel scum, bounty hunters and the like a bunch of new toys to play with on the battlefield, as well as a handful of new arenas to hunt each other down in. In case you haven’t ponied up the funds to pick up that content for yourself, though, EA wants to give you a chance to test drive the goods over the next several days.

From May 12-15, the Outer Rim content will be available to all Battlefront players, which boasts four multiplayer maps including Jabba’s Palace, the SoroSuub Refinery, the Palace Garage and Pipelines. The garage is located on Tatooine, for those of you who are nostalgic for the original trilogy, while the Pipelines map is set up on Sullust.

But wait, there’s more! Included in this weekend’s free play is the new game mode, Extraction.

Still not convinced? Then what if I told you Battlefront players will this weekend be able to try out the Outer Rim DLC’s heroes, Greedo and Nien Nunb, for no cost, too? You’ll still need to activate them like you normally would, but at least you’ll get to see them in action before deciding if you want to fork over the $15 needed to permanently buy everything mentioned above, as well as some new blasters and grenades.

Said new gear includes the DT-12 pistol, the Relby V-10 rifle, a Scatter Gun, as well as the Dioxis Grenade. You’ll also get to play around with some new Adrenaline Stim Star Cards, which let you fine-tune your character with some fun new perks.

Again, all of this content is free of charge through the weekend and, come Monday morning, you’ll need to fork over some cold, hard cash if you want to keep it all. Now that I think about it, a good way to sell folks on new DLC might be to offer a weekend like this during launch week. Then again, it looks like more and more developers are moving the direction of free DLC maps and modes. Naughty Dog announced recently that it would be using that type of model in order to keep its Uncharted 4 community united. Players typically start to fall off if more maps and modes are made unavailable to them when they don’t have the funds to join in on the fun.

Of course, user feedback is also a good way to find out if something is worth picking up. Feel free to take to the comments and let us know what you think of the Outer Rim DLC.

May the fourth is right around the corner, and any Jedi or Sith in the audience know exactly what that means: Star Wars Day. To celebrate, EA is offering some special gaming events and bonuses in Star Wars Battlefront, as well as other games set in a galaxy far, far away.

If you've been interested in Star Wars Battlefront but haven't decided to take the plunge on PC, then you're in luck. On May 4, folks will be able to hop onto Origin, download the game and take advantage of a four-hour free trial of the game. It sounds that you aren't limited to when, during May 4, you can play, so don't fret about whether or not you can be in front of your computer for a specific four-hour block. The only stipulation is that you can begin your run starting no earlier than 11 a.m. PST. Just cram in four hours whenever you can and see what you think about EA's third-person shooter that lets you wield beloved Star Wars weaponry, take on the role of legendary characters like Luke and Darth, as well as pilot beloved vehicles.

It sounds like you'll have access to pretty much everything in the core game, though not any of the DLC. That makes sense, since that would include some additional downloads, I'm guessing. Also, the point of this event is to give you a taste of Battlefront to help you decide if you finally want to purchase the full game.

According to a recent round-up from Gamespot, though, that's not the only bonus EA is offering on Star Wars day. For starters, if you're already playing Battlefront and happen to log in on May 4, you'll net yourself a cool 4,444 in-game credits. Yeah, they're really working that “fourth” aspect into every nook and cranny of this promotion. On that day, you'll also have access to a brand new Hutt Contract that will give you a certain task in order to net some sweet rewards.

If you happen to be playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, you can get your hands on the Knight of the Fallen Empire expansion content at no extra charge. That's actually available right now, so don't hold off on checking it out. Still, EA is promoting it as part of the Star Wars Day event. It's up for grabs through May 30. Also, if you log in by May 4, you'll net yourself a free M4-16 Zakuulan Astromech Droid mini-pet, which is an utterly adorable small version of C-3P0, but painted gold. Finally, play The Old Republic between May 3 and May 10 to earn yourself double experience points and double PvP commendations, as well as double the requisitions in Starfighter mode and double the legendary experience.

Which brings us to the mobile game, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. You can enjoy a 25 percent discount on in-game currency on May 4, so save up your funds if you're planning to drop some real-world dough into the game. Also, between now and May 5, a rotating crop of game modes will offer double rewards on a daily basis, so pay attention to the pre-game updates if you want to maximize your time.

DICE and Electronic Arts are running some double XP events over the weekend in celebration of the digital and Blu-ray release of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. This also arrives shortly after the launch of the first major DLC back for Star Wars: Battlefront called the Outer Rim.

Gamespot shuffled out a news story based on an update that was made over on the official Star Wars Battlefront website.

The double XP and credits event started on April 8th and will run all the way through to April 10th at 1am PST. Throughout this time, every kill, every steal, every explosion and every vehicle you take down, shoot down, and commandeer will net you double of everything.

The double XP and credit events in Star Wars: Battlefront seem kind of moot given how easy it is to unlock everything in the game, but for people who don't have a lot of time or just want to use the weekend to unlock all the goods quickly, it's a decent event.

Additionally, anyone who just purchased the Outer Rim content and wants to unlock some of the new goods that come along with it will likely want to take advantage of the weekend event. The new DLC features four new playable maps with the introduction of the new Extraction game mode. The four new maps includes Jabba's Palace, which is not unlike the one from Star Wars: Battlefront 2. There's the Palace Garage, the SoroSuub Refinery and the SoroSuub Pipelines, the last two of which are complex maps with lots of fiery lava that can do some serious damage if you stay in one place for too long.

The Extraction mode is a brand new game mode that sees the Rebels attempting to steal some precious cargo and escort it to the end of the level. It's like the typical protection or escort modes you might find in games like A.V.A or Team Fortress 2.

The Rebels will need to transfer the cargo from one checkpoint to the next in order to get to the end of the level. The Empire's job is to blast down the Rebel scum and prevent the cargo from reaching the end of the level. Given the limited physics-based destruction and very restricted environmental interactions, the Extraction mode is basically just another type of deathmatch in Star Wars: Battlefront. A game that would really seem cool with an Extraction/Escort mode is Rainbow Six: Siege due to its awesome physics-based destruction. One can always dream, no?

Anyway, if you want to get in on the action for Star Wars: Battlefront, you'll likely want to start playing over the weekend before the double XP and credits event runs out at the end of April 10th.

Electronic Arts and DICE still have some additional content plans in the pipeline for the galactic sci-fi shooter, with the next big expansion taking players to Cloud City on the mining planet of Bespin. Star Wars: Battlefront is available right now for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

In celebration of launching the season pass version of the Outer Rim DLC for Star Wars: Battlefront, Electronic Arts has announced that they're offering a weekend of free credits to everyone who logs in, whether they have the Outer Rim DLC or not.

Game Informer noted that EA is giving away 5,000 free in-game credits for anyone who logs into the game this weekend. There are no strings attached, no subscriptions to pay, no DLC to buy, and no souls to give away.

If you own a copy of Star Wars: Battlefront then just boot the game and grab all those free galactic credits so you can use them to buy new weapons, unlock characters, and upgrade your item stash.

It wasn't particularly hard making credits in Star Wars: Battlefront, and with a decent run in an average game of Supremacy you could step away with 500 credits pretty easily. So 5,000 may seem like a lot, but it's about your standard play session if you're really good at the game.

The giving away of credits comes in celebration of the Outer Rim DLC being made available to season pass holders this past week on March 22nd. DICE and Electronic Arts have plans on making the DLC available to everyone starting April 5th in two weeks.

The Outer Rim is just one of four new packs due out this year for Battlefront. It features two new playable heroes, the Rebel fighter Nien Nunb, and the iconic bounty hunter Greedo. Both characters come with their own special abilities and moves, but the one thing that gets to me is that they put Greedo on the Jabba's palace stage in Tatooine. That seems silly given that it should have been either Han Solo and Boba Fett or Leia and Boba Fett. Heck it could have even been Luke and Boba Fett- they were all involved in that little shindig at the time. Nevertheless they decided to put Greedo and Han together, which probably would have made more sense based around Tatooine's Cantina.

Anyway, after the Outer Rim drops for Battlefront on April 5th, Electronic Arts will follow up on it with the release of the Bespin Cloud City in the summer. They didn't roll out a lot of details about what all maps they'll include in Bespin, but expect at least one map centered around flying.

Later in the fall DICE and EA have plans on rolling out the Death Star map. This is something that could end up having a lot of people a little peeved because it was one of the standard maps in Star Wars: Battlefront 2, and it was a very popular map at that. Having a Death Star “trench run” style map would likely make some gamers feel as if the content was withheld given that a lot of people had been asking for space battles in DICE's Battlefront, but it was stated that they wouldn't make it into the game. We'll see how they handle the Death Star content when it launches this fall.

They're going to round out the DLC season pass with the final pack launching in the early half of 2017. They have no details on this last pack but hopefully it's something good.

In the meantime, you can start enjoying those free 5,000 credits.

Some Star Wars Battlefront players became one with the Force a bit more quickly than anticipated thanks to a recent bug, skyrocketing their level to the level 60 max. The developers are reporting that the issue has been addressed now, however, and steps will be taken to correct the mix-up.

Fans of Star Wars Battlefront are eagerly anticipating the upcoming Outer Rim expansion, which will add new playable characters, maps and the like to the battle in a galaxy far, far away come April 5.

In preparation for that DLC, Dice earlier this week rolled out a sizable patch that did everything from raise the level cap and add new weapons to allowing players to enjoy matches without having to actually play courtesy of a spectator mode.

Some folks got a bit more than they bargained for out of the update, however, with reports rolling in that their characters had been catapulted all the way up to level 60. According to these accounts, players would play a single round after the update went live, watch as their experience bar whizzed up to 60, and then the game would crash. Simply restarting the game, those folks found that everything about Battlefront ran fine except for the fact that they were still at level 60.

The folks at EA and Dice have since addressed the issue with a hotfix, stating on the Battlefront blog that the experience surges would be corrected.

Sledgehammer70 stated in the update that the servers would go down for 30 minutes while Rank stats were corrected in order to “alleviate the backend issue” that had been detected after launching the most recent patch. It was further explained that, while inconvenient, the reset was necessary to allow player to return to the regular level grind and, you know, not crash at the end of matches. That all went live yesterday during an hour and a half span across PC, PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game.

Hiccups like this are always a bit of a bummer, especially for those who were actually impacted by the unexpected bug. Still, the team responded almost instantly and, within 48 hours, the issue was addressed.

Assuming no other nasty surprises pop up, everyone should be ready to roll once the Outer Rim DLC drops in less than two weeks.

As for our readers, has Battlefront managed to hold your interest for these past few months? If so, were you bit by the level 60 bug? We’d be happy to read up on your experiences in the comments section below.

The official trailer for the upcoming Outer Rim DLC pack for DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront has been released. The new DLC trailer features a look at the two new heroes, the new maps and the new extraction game mode.

PC Gamer spotted the latest trailer as it quickly moves through each of the new pieces of content and gives gamers a look at what they can expect from the first paid DLC for Star Wars: Battlefront.

The trailer does a fine job of looking intense and getting gamers hyped. They cover the two new playable heroes, Greedo the bounty hunter and Nien Numb the rebel fighter. The trailer seems to build a lot of its tension and intrigue around the rivalry between Han Solo and Greedo, which is actually fairly fun to watch. Throughout the trailer we see the legendary scoundrels face off against each other; the final clip is Greedo being faced down by Solo, where they attempt to do a draw in Jabba's palace. I wonder if that will spawn a new selection of memes about Han firing first?

The rest of the trailer is a hodgepodge of clips that quickly moves through the new content at a rapid-fire pace. We briefly get to see the new Relby V-10 rifle and the DT-12 blaster pistol in action, as well as the more devastating Dioxis grenade that manages to knock out everyone within a specific area. One weapon making an appearance in this new Star Wars: Battlefront is a returning weapon from the older Battlefront titles from Pandemic... the Scatter Gun. The weapon gets very little lip service in the trailer above, but we do get to see it absolutely destroy another character by blasting through the shield and taking them down.

Unfortunately we don't get to see what the range of the Scatter Gun is nor do we get to see what the cooldown is like. It's such a quick glimpse of the weapon that it leaves a lot to be desired as far details and info go.

The Battlefront trailer also covers the brand new Extraction mode. This is a very interesting mode in the new factory map on Sullust. It sees one team having to protect some cargo in the factory and attempting to get it to an extraction point while the opposing team attempts to stop them. In this case, it's up to the Rebels to move the object through three checkpoints in the factory map and get it to the exit before time runs out. The players on the side of the Empire have to stop the Rebels from getting the item out of the factory.

The new maps are only briefly featured in the trailer, mostly as background objects instead of the focus. Jabba's palace map on Tatooine actually comes across more as a machinima location than an actual PvP map, but the Sullust factory seems like it could prove to be a fun map with its complex structures and lots of ins and outs around the area.

The Outer Rim DLC for Star Wars: Battlefront is due to drop before March is out for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

If DICE and EA were hoping to keep the DLC under wraps for Star Wars: Battlefront just a little bit longer, they may have failed miserably because GameStop appears to have leaked the date and price for the first bit of paid DLC for the game.

Game Informer is reporting that a retailer listing on GameStop has leaked when gamers will be able to get their hands on the Outer Rim DLC for Star Wars: Battlefront. In fact, the listing is still up and available right now over on the official GameStop website.

The listing on GameStop shows that gamers can pre-order the DLC right now for $14.99 and that it will release on April 5th, 2016 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

The Star Wars: Battlefront DLC pack includes four brand new maps to play across, as well as new weapons – although they don't actually say what these new weapons are – and perhaps the most exciting aspect: two new playable characters. The new playable characters include the Sullustan rebel Nien Nunb and the Rodian bounty hunter, Greedo. There's also a brand new game mode that is available for players to check out called “Extraction”. The mode is exactly what it sounds like, pitting players against a clock as they race to both gather up specific material and eventually get it to the extraction zone before the timer runs out.

We know that at least two of the four playable maps will include a location that puts players amongst the factories of Sullust, and that another map will see players venturing into the dank caves of Jabba's palace on Tatooine. Beyond that we don't know exactly what the rest of the Outer Rim maps will be like for Star Wars: Battlefront. The two maps could be additional locations on Tatooine and Sullust or they could be locations for other planets such as Hoth or Endor.

The Outer Rim pack being priced at $14.99 makes it a fairly hefty individual purchase and gamers may or may not want to actually take the dive unless they can know for sure that it's worth it. Since expectations for Star Wars: Battlefront weren't exactly what fans expected, gamers are likely going to wait and see how great the DLC is before reaching into their wallets. Star Wars: Battlefront does have a season pass available for around $49.99 that guarantees that gamers will gain access to the major premium DLC packs that are released throughout 2016, but is it priced appropriately enough to convince gamers that the rest of the packs will be worth paying for a brand new game?

Regardless of the DLC pricing, it looks as if you can get your hands on the new Star Wars: Battlefront content for home consoles and PC starting April 5th.

Electronic Arts and DICE are still rolling out free updates for Star Wars: Battlefront, with the latest update arriving just ahead of the game's first major paid-for DLC expansion, which is set within the confines Jabba's palace in Tatooine. The March update adds new maps to the rotation for various game types.

Gamespot did a quick write-up on the news, detailing how the Rebel Depot map has been added to the Tatooine line-up for Survival Missions. The March update for Star Wars: Battlefront also adds the Walker Assault, Supremacy and the Turning Point modes to the Survivors of Endor map, so you get a little extra playability out of the maps in the game.

It's interesting because in the older Star Wars: Battlefront games all of the maps and their modes were available for play right from the start. It's interesting that to get gamers to feel as if they're getting something out of the experience EA and DICE are slowly adding new game types to the maps in the game as opposed to just making all the game types available to customers from the start.

Nevertheless, the March update is a precursor for the first major expansion for Star Wars: Battlefront, which is also scheduled to launch sometime this spring. According to an older update on the official website they indicated that the March content and the first expansion called Outer Rim would be arriving soon.

The digital expansion will bring in all new content to the game, including brand new maps, several new weapons, and a couple of playable heroes. They also plan on introducing a new game mode to the title, but as pointed out by Gamespot we don't actually know what the new mode actually is.

One thing they do point out about the Outer Rim expansion is that two of the maps will take place in very different locations. One of the maps is set at the factories of Sullust, but they don't say if this is an aerial map or something set on the ground. Another map will see players taking the fight to Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine. This map was originally in Star Wars: Battlefront 2, so it will be interesting to see how the map has changed and what upgrades they'll apply to the eighth-gen rendition of the popular Star Wars location.

Following the Outer Rim expansion, there will be three more expansions released for Battlefront throughout 2016 and heading into 2017. This includes the Bespin update, which will undoubtedly take players to Cloud City, the flying mining city that was featured in the films – the Bespin update is set to launch sometime in the summer of this year, with Gamespot speculating between June and August. They also remind gamers that the Death Star expansion is also on the way, coming some time between September and November of this year. Details on the final expansion are still sketchy but it's expected to round out 2016 as EA and DICE head into 2017.

Star Wars: Battlefront's March update is available right now and you can look for the Outer Rim expansion to go live sometime soon.

Star Wars Battlefront has some new DLC on the way and, along with the usual mix of new maps, modes and items, you can expect to play as a couple of new characters, too. Get ready to take control of Nien Nunb and Greedo in the game’s next update.

According to Making Star Wars, Nien Nunb and Greedo have been confirmed as the new playable heroes in the upcoming Battlefront DLC, “Outer Rim.”

You wouldn’t be blamed if one those names isn’t ringing a bell. Nien Nunb is one of the rebel pilots who, as best as I can describe, looks like a nightmare pig fish. Greedo, on the other hand, even casual fans of Star Wars seem to recognize. He’s that pucker-lipped green alien who tried to shake Han down in the Tattooine cantina. Just so we’re clear, there’s no way in hell this guy shot first.

Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how they come out in Battlefront.

As for the rest of the DLC, it looks like Battlefront fans have a lot to look forward to in the Outer Rim update. As a reminder, you’ll get everything in the DLC pack at no additional charge if you’re a season pass holder. Otherwise, expect to part with about another 10 bucks.

While we still don’t know when Outer Rim will drop, we know it will be taking Battlefront back to the planet Sullust. Expect to blast your way through some galactic factories on this extremely volcanic planet.

Another new map players will surly get a kick out of is Jabba the Hutt’s Palace. Others might also be included but, again, we’re shy on details. The above image is just about the only thing we have to go on visually, so take your time and soak it in as we wait for further information.

Along with all of that, you can also expect the usual assortment of DLC goodies for Battlefront, including a possible new game mode, weapons, vehicles and Star Cards to collect. It’s nice to see this game getting plenty of support, as the Star Wars fandom is once again kicking into full swing. Riding a wave of momentum from the most recent film and with fans anticipating the Rogue One movie this coming winter, Battlefront might become one of those rare shooters with plenty of staying power so long as the support stays strong.

Battlefront on a regular basis? Excited for this next DLC? What would you like to see in a future DLC? Please let us know in the comments section below.

EA has revealed in an earnings call exactly why they haven't added any new content from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens into the recent release of Star Wars: Battlefront and why none of the upcoming season pass DLC contains content from the movie: they're doing it to preserve canon continuity.

Game Informer picked up the news from over on the Wall Street Journal, where they quoted EA's chief financial officer, Blake Jorgensen, who explained why no Episode VII content is in Battlefront, stating:

The carefully worded explanation was prefaced by the Wall Street Journal, who mentioned that since The Force Awakens takes place 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi that it was not plausible to mix and match the continuity of the canon by adding in characters from different eras.

On the outset it looks like it makes sense and people could go “Yeah, Kylo Ren at Hoth? That doesn't make sense. It's good they're preserving canon”. But then reality sets in and you begin to realize that Emperor Palpatine wasn't on Endor, that Boba Fett wasn't on Sullust, and the Luke from Return of the Jedi wasn't on Hoth. Also, Y-Wings weren't part of the battle of Hoth to protect the shield generator. The game already breaks canon so what does it matter if they add in characters people actually want to play from the new movie?

What's more is that Star Wars: Battlefront doesn't even have a story mode. It's just a series of loosely connected deathmatch and survival missions cobbled together. It's not like Star Wars: Battlefront 2, which actually did have a story mode that supposedly fit into canon (before the wipe), featuring the rise of Vader's Fist, the 501st. It was a really well done campaign mode that bridged the gap between The Clone Wars and the Galactic Empire, explaining how the clones were wiped out following their rebellion and how the new Storm Troopers came to be. Even despite containing all sorts of characters from different eras, Pandemic still honored canon in the game's campaign mode.

What doesn't make sense is why this newest Star Wars: Battlefront would have to honor canon when they don't do it already? Also, it's a deathmatch game where people are paying to have fun. Could you imagine in Call of Duty or Battlefield having restricted weapons or vehicles on some maps because “it breaks historical accuracy”? That would be asinine.

Some people assume that The Force Awakens properties would have cost more as part of the license that EA has for publishing Star Wars games, others assume that EA and DICE just ran out of time and didn't have time to include the new characters in time to make the release date. Beyond that, perhaps EA is using the canon excuse so they can save all of the Force Awakens characters and vehicles for the Star Wars: Battlefront sequel, which could give fans a reason to plop down $60 when it's time to release the next game.

A roadmap for the season pass content due for release in Star Wars: Battlefront has been made public. Gamers who purchased the $50 season pass or those just curious about the free updates can now see what lies in store in the coming year for the sci-fi, first or third-person shooter.

Game Informer did a month-by-month breakdown of the updates that Electronic Arts and DICE will roll out for Star Wars: Battlefront, starting with the January content patch that includes Tatooine's Survival mode map having added mode support for Blast, Droid Run, Drop Zone, Hero Hunt, and Heroes Vs. Villains. There are also new Hoth outfits for Luke and Han.

The February update will contain a new Survival mission for Hoth. There's also going to be a new Hoth multiplayer map that features the game modes Walker Assault, Supremacy, Fighter Squadron, and Turning Point. This will be followed by a March update with a new Endor map for Walker Assault, Supremacy, and Turning Point.

According to EA, the season pass expansion packs will be available in four sections, including an Outer Rim pack in March, a Bespin pack in the summer (presumably June or July), a Death Star pack in the fall and a final pack in the early first quarter of 2017.

That would wrap up the season pass content for Star Wars: Battlefront, giving gamers a full year's worth of updates that include new maps, costumes and modes for some of maps.

The only two that really stand out is the Besin map and the Death Star. Originally EA and DICE had denied that the Death Star would be in this iteration of the game, but many gamers suspected that it would eventually arrive as DLC. They weren't proven wrong.

The only thing we don't know is if it will be a map inside the Death Star or outside the Death Star. If it's inside, it might be similar to Star Wars: Battlefront 2 where players fought across the large chasms and the Death Star's control room. If it takes place on the outside then expect the trench run to make an appearance, which is easily one of the most iconic segments of the Star Wars universe.

Besin is another interesting map choice...it was featured in the very first Star Wars: Battlefront from Pandemic, allowing players to fly around in X-Wings, Y-Wings, Tie Fighters and Tie Bombers across the sky platforms. It seems like it would be standard fare to have the map center around flying vehicles but all they say in the description is that it's “hunt or be hunted” within Cloud City on Bespin. That could mean an actual map on the Cloud City itself where players will partake in ground based deathmatches or it could mean aerial combat. We don't know...yet.

Throughout the year, EA and DICE will also be providing balance patches for the game, offering a more balanced way for players to engage in the modes without any single weapon being more advantageous than the other.

Star Wars: Battlefront has been a divisive game because some hardcore Star Wars fans love it while other hardcore fans of Pandemic's titles feel it's too shallow. Regardless of what people think, EA and DICE have made big bank on the game's sales and will likely continue to do so throughout the year as the season pass content drops.

A proposed fan-made Star Wars game popped up on Kickstarter this week and, despite making nearly $20,000 over the course of just a few days, it has now been removed because, well, that was never going to happen.

The project was launched by Devin Tripp, who asked potential backers a simple question: “Ever wonder what it would be like if you were a Jedi with no boundaries, and could explore the galaxy freely?”

Called the Open World RPG “like” Star Wars Game, Tripp was asking for $200,000 to make his dream of unleashing the Force become a reality.

The project description was an English teacher's worst nightmare, overrun with spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors, including the misspelling of characters' names. Somehow, despite the fact that this was clearly not a legitimate project with anything resembling a future, Devin Tripp's Star Wars game garnered $18,325 from backers in just a handful of days. Of those backers, four were actually offering funding at the $1,500 level. You might say those were suckers with way too much money burning a hole in their pockets, but I prefer to assume they were the type of folks who like to watch the world burn. “What if,” they may have asked themselves, and then gladly handed over the money to see what sort of train wreck would follow.

Devin Tripp finally pulled the plug on his Star Wars game heading into the weekend, beginning with an apology to Disney for using the name and logo without permission. He then complained that anyone would want to report him to Disney for the game, though he asserts that the Big D never actually contacted him about the project.

Tripp goes on to explain that he agrees with his many critics that he is nowhere near qualified to make the sort of game he was promising, and even states that he posted the original campaign from a bar in Texas. At least there is a positive message buried somewhere in here, which Tripp offers himself:

It's a solid message, but maybe this wasn't the best example of it in action. You can't just say, “Give me $200,000 and I'll see if I can do something with no knowledge, skills, or planning related to the actual thing.” And in case it sounds like I'm being a bit harsh, keep in mind that Devin Tripp signs off by thanking his backers, as it “made this whole thing extra funny.”

Then again, maybe it's those backers who deserve shade being thrown in their direction. Backing a project you believe in is understandable, but there had to be a few dozen red flags going up in their minds before hitting the contribute button, right?

But while Tripp's game is never going to see the light of day, at least we have Star Wars Battlefront to keep us busy for the time being. And who knows what other Star Wars games Disney has in the works, right?

Electronic Arts and DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront has been the subject of much discussion leading up to its release, during its release, and post release. One of the topics of that discussion have been its potential sales, and it should come as no surprise that estimates already put the game at 12 million copies sold to date after it released in November, 2015.

According to IGN, the sales figure comes from Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter, who told Fortune that Star Wars: Battlefront moved a total of 6 million SKUs throughout November for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. The analyst also stated that EA and DICE's shooter moved an additional 6 million copies throughout December, bringing the total to 12 million copies, easily putting it in the same league as Activision's Call of Duty.

Revenue wise, Star Wars: Battlefront is still a ways off from Activision's blockbuster military shooter. The space shooter from a galaxy far, far away has only generated an estimated $650 million. Even still, the game's sales are very much on target to Blake Jorgensen's, the chief financial officer of EA, estimates. He stated in late October of 2015 that Star Wars: Battlefront would be on target to move 13 million units throughout fiscal 2016, which ends in March. It's not hard to imagine that at its current sales pace, EA's title will move another million SKUs to bring the total to 13 million. In fact, at its current rate it's not unlikely that it may hit 14 – 15 million by March.

This is interesting because Activision steered clear of the Star Wars license due to how expensive it is to hold. They didn't feel as if it was worth what EA paid back when they first grabbed the license for the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO a few years back, and apparently Activision didn't feel it was worth it now. Some analysts put the license at around $100 million. So combine that with what was likely a $50 million development budget and an equally aggressive marketing campaign and EA would likely have to sell $400 million worth to return on their investment.

Given that the revenue figure is already over $650 million it's safe to say that EA made bank on Star Wars: Battlefront and the risk of paying the exorbitant fee for the Star Wars license was well worth it.

Of course, it wasn't an easy road to a big payday. There are still enough hardcore gamers out there soured on the experience due to how content sparse the game is. They find themselves quickly leaving the game behind for other, more in-depth titles.

A lot of the issues have come up from the fact that this newest game doesn't even feature half the amount of content that Star Wars: Battlefront 2 did an entire decade ago. This left a lot of enthusiasts feeling as if the $60 price tag for this new iteration for Star Wars: Battlefront was not worth it. Even still, EA has made bank and enough to pay for several $100 million projects based on the profit they've garnered from Battlefront alone.

Amazon has released a statement highlighting stats and figures in the record-breaking holiday season, and included in those details you'll find mention of the three top-selling games in recent months.

The holiday shopping season is obviously a pretty busy time for Amazon. Folks are getting in last-minute gift purchases for the holidays, as well as maybe taking advantage of countless promotions to pick up something for themselves on the cheap.

In the world of gaming, three titles reigned supreme at Amazon this holiday season, and they're probably not going to surprise many of our readers. While no particular order was provided, Amazon's recent announcement pegs Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront as the titles that flew off the warehouse shelf the fastest this holiday shopping season.

Call of Duty being a top seller makes a lot of sense because, well, it's Call of Duty and that particular first-person shooter series still has a tremendous amount of pull. You'd think that games like Battlefield, Destiny and the like would slow it down a bit, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Fallout 4 being a huge hit this holiday is also anything but a shocker. It was one of the most highly-anticipated games of the year and it arrived in November, which is perfect timing for the shopping rush. I imagine quite a few folks held off on buying it for themselves and just threw it on top of the ole wish list for 2015.

Finally, there's Star Wars Battlefront. While GameStop recently claimed that the game was under-performing in its brick and mortar stores, Amazon is singing a different tune. Again, the game launched just in time for the holiday rush, so if GameStop was experiencing lower sales than expected, it might have been due to folks putting it on their holiday list in time for mom and dad to visit Amazon. Also, the launch of The Force Awakens probably resulted in a resurgence of sales for the game.

If you want to know a ridiculous amount about how Amazon did through the holidays, then that original report is full of all sorts of interesting stats and figures, as well as top-performers in various other categories. We pulled out the only information super relevant to gamers specifically, though, as no mention on consoles sales or anything like that was included.

So, did you get any of the above games for Christmas this year? If so, did they come from Amazon Claus or did someone actually have to go outside and to the store to claim them? Did anyone else find Transformers Devastation tucked in their stocking like I did? It may not have been a top performer this holiday season but, hey, a rad game is a rad game.

It’s been an incredible year for gaming with major releases like Fallout 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. Unfortunately for survival horror fans everywhere (including me), the genre still struggles to make an epic comeback, but there were some promising titles released this year. When it comes to gaming, I’m a bit of a different gamer. I love platformers, games with in-depth and emotional narratives and sometimes the occasional bro-down in a first-person shooter. Games that had these elements made it onto my top 10 list of video games for 2015.

10. Rayman Adventures

I bet you weren’t expecting to see a mobile game on this list. When I first downloaded Rayman Adventures for free on my iPhone, I really thought it was going to be another scheme to get me to buy items in-game. Or, even worse, get me to buy my way further into the game like Candy Crush or the Mean Girls narrative adventure game. But, I thought I’d try it. Rayman Adventures is a satisfying mobile platformer with all of the colorful environments and magically-composed music similar to the original Rayman games. And the controls don’t even trip me up! You do have the option of buying more diamonds and potions to make your eggs grow faster, etc., but I collect so many diamonds from completing levels anyway, I don’t really need to purchase anything. The game acts like an endless runner, but you can change directions (when you’re not getting tossed around by raging waters) to reach other areas. It’s probably the best platformer I’ve ever played on mobile.

9. Mortal Kombat X

When Mortal Kombat X was released, I was up past midnight and just figured I’d run to Target to buy it. I’ve got this thing about fighting games and have invested in others like the Street Fighter and Soulcaliber franchise. The best part about Mortal Kombat X is it’s not just a fighting game, it has a pretty in-depth storyline. Plus, the gore is fantastic. It’s amazing to see the journey Mortal Kombat has taken from its arcade days; after pushing out a few embarrassing films, the game still holds its own today. The best part about the new Mortal Kombat game, and the reason it’s on my list, is because it’s still the same Mortal Kombat game everyone has come to know and love. There are tons of references and throwbacks to earlier games; from the echoing “Finish him!” to signature moves. It’s always reassuring to know a developer understands what their audience wants.

8. Rocket League

Rocket League didn’t appeal to me at first, but once I started playing it, I was addicted. It’s so simple yet so complicated. Get the ball into the net, but maneuver your car in a way that will crash other players while scoring. What makes Rocket League so amazing is how quickly people realized this game wasn’t just a soccer game. It was like FIFA and Twisted Metal got together, had a baby, and out came Rocket League. I’d like to see some more explosive gameplay implemented into the game, though, like weapons to use against the other team. That would add to the challenge and make it even more fun. The outrageous ruckus you can cause in this game of explosive car-soccer is one that had to make my end of the year list.

7. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

I had never played a Metal Gear Solid game before picking this one up—and I’m not sure why. Kojima has done an amazing job at telling the twisted story within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, despite the number of scrolling credit scenes. At some point you can almost relate to Snake’s character and his feelings toward Quiet. It definitely had to make my top ten this year.

6. Fallout 4

I didn’t buy into the hype at first, I really didn’t. But I had never played a Fallout game before and really wanted to experience this massive, apocalyptic open-world. In Fallout 4, you can literally go anywhere. Explore everything. You can even change clothes and play with your dog. It’s almost as fun as exploring a real abandoned location in real life, thinking about the people who used to live there and what their lives were like. I can definitely understand why some people lost themselves in this game. One of my friends didn’t put it down for almost 48 hours straight. Despite all of the bugs people mentioned (which I never experienced), and the rushed release, we still got a solid, enjoyable game.

5. Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime

If you have a boyfriend or girlfriend who loves to game, you need to play this with them. I first saw this game while I was at the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) in the Indie Game setup. You and a partner work together to man a giant ship with four weapons. Weapons, shields and the ship can be upgraded to fight against alien creatures. You and your partner travel through different worlds, rescuing kidnapped space-bunnies and experience different obstacles in each world you visit. It’s one of the most entertaining indie games I’ve played all year.

4. Fatal Frame: Maiden Of Black Water

I’ve been a longtime fan of the Fatal Frame games, since their early release on PlayStation 2. The true fear that you feel when you’re faced with an angry spirit through the lens of a camera is truly terrifying—but you have to play the game right. That means pitch dark, no lights, volume up. But with the newest installment of the Fatal Frame series, the Wii U gamepad becomes your camera and it’s a whole different experience. I was spinning around in my living room looking at the haunting environment around me until I literally came face-to-face with a ghost. The game was more immersive than any other Fatal Frame game I have ever played.

3. Star Wars: Battlefront

Surprisingly, I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, but I also don’t dislike the franchise either. I’m on more of a neutral standpoint. But, there’s one particular aspect I really enjoy about the Star Wars: Battlefront game. The multiplayer game mode, Fighter Squadron, lets you dogfight against other players and I can’t get enough of it. There are no other weapons except the ones on your ship and no ship upgrades, everyone is equal. If you’re lucky, you can snag a power-up on the ground to take control of the Millennium Falcon or Slave 1. But other than that, it’s a fight to the death, making the game cripplingly addictive and so hard to put down. One more game, just one more game.

2. Until Dawn

I’ve been watching this game for a long time and waiting impatiently for its release. I’m a huge slasher fan when it comes to horror movies and grew up watching Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. Until Dawn was supposed to be the epitome of horror slasher films in the style of a video game—and a pretty good one too. The game is driven entirely by the player’s decisions and it’s not easy to keep everyone alive. It’s like watching a slasher film, but getting the power to control who lives and who dies. The story elements, the incredible graphics that showcase the actors’ and actresses’ facial movements while speaking, and the nostalgic homage to horror movies throughout time, have convinced me to make this number two on my list.

1. Life Is Strange

This game takes my number one spot for a few reasons. When it comes to gaming, I am all about story. I will rave on and on about the story elements in Beyond: Two Souls until I’m blue in the face. But Life Is Strange’s story was so engrossing, the time waiting between episodes was almost unbearable. It was downright genius. The character development throughout the game really gripped the essence of today’s teenager, down to the very lingo of the main characters, Max and Chloe. The changes seen in characters you thought were villains blew my mind. In Life Is Strange, each event is directly affected by your decisions and at the end you’re left with a very hard, very emotional decision. I held back tears. You play this game and grow so close to the characters and their lives, it’s hard to see it come to an end. Even if they do come out with a sequel, it won’t have these characters in it. They’ll have to invent some characters equally as likable and a story just as gripping. I knew this was my number one pick the moment I started playing the game. I just knew.

Electronic Arts and DICE have confirmed that there will be plenty of new DLC coming to Star Wars: Battlefront but it won't be featuring any characters or locations from the recently released Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

Gamespot is reporting that users were asking Electronic Arts about The Force Awakens DLC possibly making an appearance in the recently released Star Wars: Battlefront. Electronic Arts did respond through the official EA Star Wars Twitter account with the following message for fans hoping to maybe see Rey, Kylo Ren or Finn as playable heroes in the upcoming Season Pass DLC.

The response doesn't rule out that EA and DICE could release some Force Awakens gameplay in the future, but just don't expect it in this iteration of Star Wars: Battlefront. This may be because they signed a license deal with Disney, having access to some material but not others. Or the developers may only be focusing on the Galactic Empire era of content, with the exception of the Battle of Jakku, for this title. Perhaps Star Wars: Battlefront 2 could be centered around the contents of Episode VII (or by the time the next game comes out it'll likely be Star Wars: Episode VIII prepping to release in theaters).

In the near future, Electronic Arts and DICE already have a ton of content slated for release, including 20 brand new items, accessories and weapons, four new game modes, 16 new multiplayer maps, and four new heroes all expected to release periodically as part of the game's season pass package. Of course, gamers can purchase the DLC packs individually as well.

The season pass originally gained EA some heat given that it costs $50, while the full game costs $60. What made the pass so controversial was that the team behind Battlefront were selling it and no one had any idea, at the original time of its announcement, what would be in the season pass for Star Wars: Battlefront. The limited collector's edition of the game cost $120 and $50 of that went toward the previously super mysterious season pass.

EA eventually revealed the details of the season pass after reviewer and popular YouTuber “Angry” Joe Vargas challenged them in an unapologetic video about paying $120 for a version of the game where gamers don't even know what nearly half of that content consists of.

Of course, EA and DICE have already commented about being committed to sequels of Star Wars: Battlefront. So even though a lot of the heroes, maps and content featured in the newest J.J. Abrams' flick may not be in EA and DICE's multiplayer shooter title, expect to see said content in future installments of Battlefront. Of course, you'll likely have to wait a few years for that to happen.

Since the release of maybe the biggest Star Wars movie yet, many have been waiting in hopes of getting news of an actual Star Wars: The Force Awakens video game. Disney Infinity has put out their version of the film, but a tweet from EA confirmed that as of right now, Star Wars: Battlefront will only focus on the earlier films.

EA didn’t outright deny any sort of future plans to bring in Force Awakens content, but instead noted the fact that their focus right now is characters and stories from the earlier films. So you could say there is still hope. One other Twitter user responded to the conversation where EA made their announcement.

Using a quote directly from Star Wars’ Han Solo, it was obvious he wasn’t too happy about the news, and it’s understandable why people are upset due to the lack of Force Awakens content. If you are a true Star Wars fan and have been dedicating your life to Star Wars: Battlefront to ready yourself for the new film, you are probably going to expect EA to feed your hunger for more Star Wars content. Because like a really good series on Netflix or a trip to Disney World, you never want it to end and when it does, and you’re left feeling empty. And when you can’t fill that empty hole, well that’s when the reactions come into play. Upon hearing the upsetting news, more fans expressed their outrage on Twitter.

While some Twitter users were melodramatic, others were more direct with what they wanted to see out of the Star Wars: Battlefront game.

As many Star Wars fans take to Twitter to express their concern, hatred and mourning for the loss of any kind of Force Awakens DLC in Star Wars: Battlefront, you have to sit back and realize maybe EA has sights on a new Star Wars game entirely focused on content from Force Awakens. So if you think about it, what’s the point of releasing DLC when you could build a whole other game dedicated to the new trilogy? Granted, it might be a few years before we get it, but isn’t it worth waiting for?

The SweetFX mod for Star Wars: Battlefront has been making the rounds. Some people claim it makes the Frostbite 3-powered first (or third) person shooter look like a movie. You can see for yourself how the mod runs, thanks to a video that puts together various instances from gameplay to showcase the mod.

Comic Book spotted the video from popular YouTuber JackFrags, which contains three and a half minutes of Star Wars: Battlefront gameplay featuringt he SweetFX mod with the settings turned up to 4K resolution. Check it out below.

The video above is actually paid for and sponsored by the EA Ronku program, as indicated in the video description. This wasn't just a grassroots viral video of a mod that got popular from out of nowhere.

The SweetFX mod has been available for a while and is easily compatible with a number of different games. The actual effects of the mod on Battlefront are difficult to spot out. While media are claiming that it makes Star Wars: Battlefront look “indistinguishable” from real life, that's technically the part of the 4K resolution, which is a native feature in the game that allows PC monitors to display the game at 3840 x 2160, or 8.29 million pixels per frame.

Some websites have also stated that the SweetFX mod increases the frame-rate to 60fps, but once again that's incorrect. The SweetFX mod doesn't affect frame-rate, since the game already runs at 60fps on PC. In fact, we knew that the game ran at 60fps as far back as May 19th, 2015, as reported by GameSpot.

The big question becomes: if SweetFX doesn't affect the resolution and doesn't affect the frame-rate... what does it do?

Well, as per the official website, it's normally used for improved anti-aliasing, which usually doesn't affect games running at 4K. However majority of its focus is on post-processing and shader effects. To be honest it's hard to spot out exactly what the SweetFX does for Star Wars: Battlefront that the vanilla doesn't already accomplish at 60fps and 4K. In fact, the 60fps and 4K video from Thirty IR below that isn't running the SweetFX mod looks about par the course with the modded version of the game above.

A few commenters pointed out across the web that the SweetFX mostly just altered the color correction and saturation. At 4K and with the SweetFX mod on you can definitely see the tessellation more clearly, but beyond that the changes aren't entirely apparent.

The SweetFX from ReShade definitely seems to work the magic with more pronounced differences in games like Fallout 4 and Grand Theft Auto V, where the manipulation of the shaders are exaggerated to a greater extent. In the case of Star Wars: Battlefront I can't really see too much of a difference from the vanilla game when both the modded and unmodded versions are running at 60fps and 4K.

Nevertheless, if you want the mod you can grab it from over on the ReShade website.

Some games desperately need multiplayer modes. They might have okay single-player campaigns but lack that extra bit of oomph to really make them memorable. On the opposite end of the spectrum some games have decent multiplayer modes but lack that necessary punch due to a lack of a single-player component.

In this case, we take a look at 9 games that would be better with single-player campaigns. These games are listed as having some great qualities but just lack the extra bit of content that would actually make them iconic beyond being flavors of the month. So without further ado, you can check out the full list and see if you agree if these games need single-player campaigns.

Rainbow Six Siege

Ubisoft recently released Rainbow Six Siege and while they've received a lot of positive feedback for the game's multiplayer component, they've received a lot of negative feedback for the lack of any sort of cohesive single-player campaign.

Originally Rainbow Six games were famous for their single-player components and their hard-as-nails campaigns, but this newest game is multiplayer only all the way. It's a real shame because with the destructible environments and a lot of attention paid to the detail of the weapons, this game could have been a great little single-player romp for gamers who felt like blasting down terrorist and blowing holes in walls without having to deal with pesky teammates or kids screaming through the mic.

Titanfall

Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment – the defective remnants of the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Infinity Ward team – unleashed Titanfall in 2014 to some fairly positive reviews. Most gamers were keen on praising the game for the wall-running, verticality and the mix of mechs and ground-based combat. The title was quite fun for a lot of gamers... except for those who didn't quite care for multiplayer only shenanigans.

This was another game that lost out on a lot of replayability from the non-multiplayer crowd by axing the single-player campaign and just focusing on team deathmatch. Had the game featured some large, sprawling single-player maps with a bunch of mechs, a ton of weapons and a simple story centering around a military squad fighting against an evil dude, it would be the sort of game you could always return to when the multiplayer server rooms are empty.

Overwatch

I know Overwatch still isn't fully out yet, but it's basically aimed at being a team deathmatch game designed to bridge the first-person shooter genre and the multiplayer online battle arena genre together. It's a colorful, Pixar-style action game with a very cool cast of characters... and it's an online-only, multiplayer shooter.

A lot of people would probably ask: How could a game like Overwatch even work as a single-player title or with a campaign mode? Well, it's pretty easy... it could work like Mortal Kombat X where you play various characters in various story-oriented scenarios to complete the missions and beat the campaign. It's a win-win for people who like Overwatch but don't like the whole online-only schtick.

Evolve

Turtle Rock Studios gained a lot of fame with Left 4 Dead. Despite the game being nothing more than an arena-style, zombie-survival game, the title still had a campaign mode that could be played in single-player or with other players in co-op. For their game Evolve, Turtle Rock decided to forgo the campaign portion of the game and focus mostly on just the asymmetrical multiplayer features.

Going multiplayer-only did the game no favors as far as replayability is concerned, even though most publishers see multiplayer components as a way to push a game's replay factors through the roof. The problem is that the game had very little to hook players as a multiplayer-only title, and there wasn't enough content to justify a $60 purchase for it to come without a single-player component. In the end, Evolve was a game that had a short-lived lifespan out of the gate.

APB: Reloaded

One of my personal favorite MMOs... APB: Reloaded is a game that has an awesome concept of putting a strong focus on player customization in large scale PvP environments. The game has had its fair share of troubles but it also has a ton of potential. Reloaded Productions has tried in the past to develop a single-player game around the world of All Points Bulletin but it didn't quite pan out.

The game is ripe for something single-player oriented designed similar to Saints Row where the player's created character either follows a campaign of chaos and destruction as a criminal or a campaign of mayhem and order as an enforcer. It would be a nice way to compliment the game's competition against other open-world titles out there by expanding the content into the single-player arena.

CrimeCraft

Vogster Entertainment's CrimeCraft came out back in 2009 when it was hip to experiment with different kinds of MMOs and have them run on the Unreal Engine until developers finally realized the engine wasn't so great for MMOs. One of those games that showed a lot of promise and potential is the free-to-play third-person shooter, CrimeCraft.

The game actually has a fairly interesting story that slowly unfolds across multiplayer PvE, PvP and special event missions. Unfortunately a lot of the story is lost in the messy MMO design, but a straight-through single-player campaign with the deep customization and crafting system carried over with the post-apocalyptic setting would make CrimeCraft a pretty cool game.

Payday 2

How could this game not make the cut? Out of all the games on this list this is probably one of the few that could get a legitimate pass just because of how fun it is playing the multiplayer. However, the game has an extremely rich lore just to be about a group of masked heisters.

Overkill Software has expanded the Payday 2 universe in ways that most people never would have imagined over the past couple of years since its release, adding content like John Wick and Bodhi from the new Point Break remake. But what would be even better is if the game had a really sick campaign mode and competent enough AI teammates so that gamers could play the single-player offline campaign with no problems.

DayZ

I'm pretty sure most people would think that a single-player version of DayZ would basically be State of Decay, but there are significant differences between both games. DayZ is more of a no-holds-barred, super hardcore survival simulator, where-as State of Decay is more of an action-arcade game. It's not often that we get hardcore single-player simulators.

Adding a single-player component to DayZ is likely never going to happen given the game's current development cycle, but it would still be cool to think about what it would be like attempting to complete a story-style campaign in the game while trying to deal with hunger, dehydration, broken bones, the risk of infection and permadeath. It would be a pretty cool to try to get to the end of a game where dying is easy and surviving is hard.

Ravaged: Zombie Apocalypse

This game had a ton of potential, it was recently removed from Steam for some unknown reason but the premise was basically a mix of Mad Max and Killing Floor. It would have been pretty awesome to see what a full-on single-player campaign would have been like in a game such as Ravaged.

The game wasn't just another first-person zombie survival title, it was a game that had an awesome array of vehicles that ranged from cars and trucks to ATVs and small aerial copters. A game centered around fighting off zombies with a cool, futuristic array of weapons and vehicles in a Mad Max-inspired wasteland seems like it could be a really gameplay experience.

Star Wars: Battlefront

Last but certainly not least is Star Wars: Battlefront from Electronic Arts and DICE. It was obvious this game was going to make the cut because it's just too good of a target to pass up. The game has so much untapped potential, especially given how great the graphics are and how spot-on the sound and music implementation is.

A lot of gamers were disappointed to find out that this newest Star Wars: Battlefront would not have a single-player campaign and oftentimes compared it to the bare-bones but campaigns in Pandemic's Star Wars: Battlefront games. However, something streamlined and focused to showcase the vehicles, the character classes, weapons and stages in a cinematic way through a campaign mode would have been perfect to add some depth and replayability to the game.

DICE did a magnificent job crafting the audio and visual aesthetics of the recently released EA-published Star Wars: Battlefront. However, many gamers criticized the title for its shallow gameplay and EA is chalking that up to the title being intentionally made to be accessible for kids of all ages.

Gamespot took note of a quote during the Nasdaq investor conference in Europe from chief financial officer of Electronic Arts, CFO Blake Jorgensen who stated...

According to Jorgensen, due to appealing to casuals the game will ship a target of 13 million copies across the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

It's weird that he would mention that the game is rated Teen as a way to appeal to a broader demographic. Halo 5 was also rated 'T' for Teen but it wasn't able to outsell previous Bungie outings like Halo 3 and Halo: Reach. In the first week of release both Halo 3 and Halo: Reach moved 3.8 and 4.0 million SKUs, according to historical data compiled by VG Chartz.

Basically it's to say that a game doesn't have to be rated Teen to appeal to a mass audience. What's more is that the Teen rating had nothing to do with Star Wars: Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront 2 selling like crazy when they were designed by Pandemic. Again, it wasn't the rating but the content.

Pandemic's titles had larger maps, more maps, more playable characters, more weapons, more factions, more vehicles and more play options, that's not to mention Star Wars: Battlefront 2 had four-player split-screen co-op campaign mode on the OG Xbox, something completely absent from DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront. Other missing features include multi-passenger vehicles, the ability to land vehicles, carrier transports, space battles and even the ability to roll and dodge out of the way. All of the missing content has left a lot of die-hard fans of Pandemic's games befuddled and disappointed.

As many commenters pointed out at the bottom of the Gamespot article, you don't need to be rated 'M' for Mature to provide in-depth content that appeals both to casual and core fans. Once again, I point to the previous Halo sales as an example of that.

Anyway, EA and DICE have a large cache of DLC content – both paid and free – planned for release for the game throughout 2016. They kick things off with the Battle of Jakku as a way to keep gamers entertained, especially those who don't find the game to be designed for hardcore gamers.

It seems like a lot of people are playing Star Wars Battlefront these days, but that figure is lower than expected, according to recent comments from a GameStop executive. EA’s own Peter Moore has responded, however, saying that the game is right on target to hit its expected 13 million units sold by the end of the fiscal year.

We’re not sure what kind of expectations GameStops’ Tony Bartel had for Star Wars Battlefront following its Nov. 20 launch, but apparently they were pretty lofty. Sure, it’s a Star Wars game releasing just before Black Friday, but we have to wonder what Bartel was anticipating following some recent comments he made about the game.

Eurogamer is reporting that Bartel put the game on blast earlier this week, though he didn’t provide anything concrete (such as sales figures) to back up his comments.

We’re assuming this means that pre-order figures for Battlefront didn’t match up with what GameStop was expecting and, even then, actual sales in the first two weeks did not hit expectations. Again, we’re not positive on why Bartel said these things, only that he said them. EA’s Peter Moore is in the same boat, apparently, saying that he was pretty surprised to hear Bartel’s comments concerning Battlefront. He added that, as the discussion continued, Gamestop’s CFO began correcting Bartel on certain points.

That “guidance” adds up to 13 million expected sales by the end of March 2016, so is sounds like everyone has some pretty high expectations for Battlefront at this point. Whether or not the game sold like gangbusters at GameStop, though, apparently remains a topic for debate.

Moore has some good points, though. Not knowing how well the game sold over the big shopping weekend, there is that little Star Wars movie coming out in a couple of weeks and plenty of shopping days left between now and the holidays. There’s also that big post-holiday window, where folks are often spending that money they got in a card from the grandparents on games they didn’t get under the tree.

After all of this, it’ll be interesting to see where Battlefront sits on the sales charts come April.

Sony has announced a second, albeit temporary, price cut for the PlayStation 4 this holiday season. They're going to be selling two bundles of the console for $299.99 for two weeks this month.

The Star Wars Battlefront Standard Edition PS4 bundle and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection PS4 bundle will be available at this lower price from December 6th through December 19th. My guess is that retailers will start running out of these bundles before the sale is over, though, so don't wait until the last day to pull the trigger if you're interested.

Each Star Wars: Battlefront PS4 bundle includes a 500 GB PS4, DualShock 4 controller, a copy of Star Wars: Battlefront and a voucher to download four older Star Wars games: Super Star Wars, Star Wars: Racer Revenge, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, and Star Wars Bounty Hunter. Note that you're not getting the console and controller with the Darth Vader paint job announced earlier this year; instead, the hardware is the standard jet black color.

The Nathan Drake PlayStation 4 bundle likewise comes with a black 500 GB PS4 and controller. It also has a boxed copy of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, which includes remastered versions of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. In addition to updated graphics, each has a new set of Trophies for players to earn. This bundle also grants you exclusive access to the Uncharted 4 multiplayer beta, set to run from December 4th through December 13th.

These bundles normally cost $349.99. Sony brought down the price of the console from $399.99 a couple months ago. The move allowed Sony to keep pace with the Microsoft, who cut the price of the Xbox One to $349.99 last holiday season.

In spite of the PS4 price cut, Xbox One actually managed to top the sales charts in October. Microsoft attributed their win to their fall releases, which included Halo 5 and Forza 6. The sales numbers for November aren't out yet but, by cutting the prices on two bundles, Sony's showing that they're not taking any chances with December. They want to end the year on a high note.

The first free DLC pack for Star Wars: Battlefront is rolling out for those who pre-ordered the game and EA and DICE wanted to showcase just how enticing the new DLC is by showing a gameplay trailer of the Battle of Jakku.

The trailer is a lot longer than the other teasers, clocking in at a minute and 34 seconds. You can check it out below from over on the official EA UK YouTube channel.

The trailer starts off with a shot of the falling Star Destroyer. We see billowing smoke, lots of particles and plenty of explosions littering the sky as the giant star vessel goes up in flames while slowly crashing to the ground. The slow motion wreck is a real sight to behold and a true testament to DICE's technical wizardry with the Frostbite 3 game engine.

There's little doubt that Star Wars: Battlefront is probably the best looking game this generation by far, but it does little to compensate for many of the game's flaws. Even still, the Battle of Jakku trailer introduces players to a cratered battlefield filled with AT-STs, AT-ATs, flying X-Wings and Tie Fighters. Unfortunately it doesn't appear as if there are any vehicles for the Rebel Alliance to used against the Empire on the ground other than the standard flying vehicles.

We get a look at the hectic ground-based combat where the Rebels struggle to fend off Empire while barely being able to keep themselves alive. A heavy weapons specialist takes aim at one of the AT-STs while X-Wings pepper the AT-ATs across their sides.

The trailer has garnered a lot of positive feedback from gamers, even the ones who don't necessarily like Star Wars: Battlefront. Most admit that the trailer, sound effects and editing are all put together rather well and that despite the game's shortcomings both DICE and EA know how to promote the living daylights out of the title.

The trailer itself ends with the Rebels cheering as the Star Destroyer finally makes land in a devastating and explosive way, leaving little more than rubble, stacks of smoke and debris in its wake.

The Battle of Jakku is set nearly 30 years before the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens so it's supposed to work as a bit of a primer for the film. If you pre-ordered the game you'll have access to the DLC right now, while those who didn't pre-order will have to wait until December 8th.

Star Wars: Battlefront is available right now for the Xbox One, PS4 and for PC. The game has generally favorable reviews save for the fact that most people agree that it's content deficient and the core gameplay is lacking. Otherwise most people seem to like it.

Electronic Arts and DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront managed to get off to a strong start in the sales department. The game has managed to become EA's best selling digital title at launch with decent physical sales. They're following up this momentum with free DLC following the launch of the Jakku DLC.

Over on the official Star Wars Battlefront website, DICE's executive VP, Patrick Söderlund, announced that after the Battle of Jakku DLC launches for Star Wars: Battlefront owners in December, they'll have additional DLC to follow-up thereafter.

According to Söderlund, the Jakku DLC won't be the only non-season pass DLC that they release for the new shooter on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC...

It's at least nice to know that given the game's bare-bones release that DICE has some extra content in the wings for gamers. One of the biggest complaints from the core community is that the game doesn't feel as if it's worth $60.

There are only half the amount of maps and modes present in Star Wars: Battlefront than what was featured in Pandemic's decade old title, and there are no longer any classes, no more multi-passenger vehicles and far fewer weapons to use. The game is a huge step backward as far as content is concerned.

Most gamers and critics agree that the visual and audio aesthetics are top notch and are the best kind of visuals and musical engineering featured in a Star Wars game to date. However, graphics and sound can only take you so far, and it certainly wasn't enough to convince Benjamin Burnley from the band Breaking Benjamin to endorse the product when EA supposedly reached out to him for a paid endorsement but the singer turned it down. Not only did he turn it down but he broke the disc as a form of protest, too.

Previously EA and DICE came under fire from Angry Joe for their secretive yet expensive season pass that sells for $50. After receiving quite a bit of backlash they eventually revealed what was in the season pass, which contains 16 all new maps and four new game modes, in addition with new Star Cards and heroes and villains to play.

Nevertheless, outside of the season pass content there will be non-premium maps and content released for Star Wars: Battlefront as a way to entice gamers teetering on the ledge as to whether or not they should keep the game or trade it in, or suggest it to a friend or abandon it altogether.

One of the biggest issues is that a lot of gamers are questioning whether or not the drop-off rate for this game will be fast or slow, and DICE will need to keep gamers engaged if they want those long tail-end sales. So offering free content in between the season pass DLC is a smart move, but will it be enough to actually keep gamers engaged in Star Wars: Battlefront?

DICE will release the "Battle of Jakku" downloadable content for Star Wars: Battlefront in December. This DLC, which takes players to a location seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, also brings a brand-new game mode.

Jakku is a desert world where Rebels and Imperials clashed following the Battle of Endor. There are two new maps set on the planet's surface. Goazan Badalands is the setting for the infantry-only match types: Blast, Drop Zone, Droid Run, Cargo, Hero Hunt, and Heroes vs. Villains. Graveyard of Giants is where you'll play the Supremacy, Walker Assault, and Fighter Squadron modes along with the new Turning Point match type. Here's how DICE describes Graveyard of the Giants in the official announcement:

Turning Point, by the way, is an assault-defend mode for up to 40 players. The Rebels try to capture one of three control points guarded by the Imperials. If they capture one before time runs out, another set of points will be open to assault. Eventually the Rebels have to take over the Empire's base. It sounds similar to Rush mode from the recent Battlefield games. During the battle, Rebels will have access to airspeeders while the Imperials can use AT-ST walkers.

Players who pre-ordered Star Wars: Battlefront will be able to download "Battle of Jakku" on December 1st. Everyone else will get access on December 8th. In both cases, it's a free download. I'm glad that DICE decided not to charge the non-pre-order customers for the DLC, because it's going to ensure that there's a health player count for Jakku matches.

Don't expect many other freebies, though. DICE has a lot of premium content planned for the game. They're going to release four expansions after launch, all of which are included with the $49.99 Season Pass. These expansions will introduce a total of 16 maps, four modes, four heroes/villains and 20 new pieces of equipment.

Battlefront debuted last week worldwide. You can find out more information on the shooter by reading our review.

Star Wars: Battlefront is currently suffering from a bug that causes a player to be invulnerable to harm.

The exact cause of this glitch is unknown. The most popular theory is that it's caused by crashing a ship. It must be slightly more complicated than that, though, because I crash ships all the time and haven't encountered the bug yet. Some videos of the glitch suggest it's just a random occurrence on respawn.

Once the glitch has been triggered, the player in question can't be killed by anything. Their health just simply doesn't move. This video shows an invulnerable player steamrolling everyone. His health bar isn't visible in the video but he's clearly taking more damage than he ought to be able to survive. At around the three-minute mark, he gets shot up by multiple enemies while charging into a hangar but manages to emerge victorious. He ends up with 67 kills and 3 deaths:

The glitch isn't limited to Hoth, either. This video shows a player punching and shooter an enemy repeatedly to no avail on Tatooine:

What makes the bug especially annoying is the fact that it's not new. Players encountered this issue during the big beta test for Battlefront in October. Here's footage of a Rebel soldier taking AT-AT shots to the face. Eventually he just starts waving at the frustrated walker pilot:

DICE doesn't appear to have commented publicly on the bug yet. I hope they're able to address it soon, though. This issue is seriously damaging to any match where it happens. Plus, it doesn't seem like players have figured out the exact method for triggering the glitch but once they do, we're just going to see more and more of it.

Star Wars: Battlefront launched worldwide last week on PS4, Xbox One and PC. You can read more about the game in our review.

Star Wars: Battlefront is a good game. I'm just not sure it's a good game for me.

My hope when Battlefront was announced was that it would be Battlefield in the Star Wars universe. I wanted to drive an AT-AT up to the Rebel base, blast the doors off, and leap out with my teammates to kill every enemy inside. I wanted to rain down death on Imperial artillery with an X-Wing and then land on a hill so I could snipe their ground troops.

Battlefront isn't that game. The environments are indestructible save for a few scattered pieces of scenery. You don't have all that much freedom of movement, either. The largest maps, used for the game's Walker Assault and Supremacy modes, are essentially long strips of land with objectives arranged in a line. Plus, you don't climb in or out of vehicles. You pick up a power-up and are teleported to their cockpit. There's no seamless transition from infantry to vehicle to infantry.

But that's the thing: Battlefront isn't trying to be Battlefield with X-Wings. The sooner you ditch those expectations, the more fun you'll have. Battlefront a distinct game with its own design philosophy.

That design philosophy seems to be, "Let everyone feel what it's like to be part of an iconic Star Wars battle." The key word there is 'everyone.' The game is geared toward players of any skill level. Blasters have minimal recoil. Weapons don't have ammunition and gadgets can be used whenever their cooldown is up. Respawning is instantaneous. Many of the most powerful tools at player's disposal - like automated turrets or a rocket launcher - are power-ups strewn throughout the battlefield rather than items you need to earn through hours of gameplay.

The multiplayer modes are similarly forgiving. They're designed to keep each team competitive up until the very end. Take Supremacy, the 40-player battle for five capture points throughout the map. In most games, there's usually a scoring component for this type of mode. The team with the majority of the territories gains points and eventually accumulates a lead that could prove insurmountable. However, Supremacy in Battlefront can be won in one of two ways: capture all five territories at once or hold more territories than the other team once time expires. The latter rule means that a team backed up to their base for most of the match could still win with one successful offensive push at the end.

Walker Assault, the other 40-player mode, is also designed around comebacks. AT-AT walkers (driven by the A.I.) slowly walk to a Rebel base at the other end of the map. The Rebels must whittle down the walkers' health by activating communication relays that can call down bombers on them. The match ends when either the AT-ATs are defeated or they destroy their target at the end of the map. This mode felt really slanted toward the Imperials in the beta but DICE made some smart balance tweaks since then. There are now weak points on the walkers so it's easier for the Rebels to do a lot of damage quickly. I've seen multiple matches where the Rebels were able to dig in and make a successful last stand even after the walkers made quick work of early relays.

Fighter Squadron mode is another good example of accessibility. Dogfighting is typically the most difficulty activity in Battlefield games and that's also true in Star Wars: Battlefront. Chasing down enemy fighters or shaking off a missile lock without smashing into the ground below is a challenging task. However, Fighter Squadron makes the starfighters a little less intimidating by letting players fight against a mixture of A.I. and human opponents. Furthermore, there are objectives (like shooting down or defending transports) that you can tackle without actually being good at dogfighting.

Battlefront does an exceptional job of making you feel part of the Star Wars universe as well. It's the best-looking Star Wars game to date and in fact one of the best-looking games period. The battle sounds and music are likewise impressive. You never doubt that you're in the forests of Endor or on the frozen tundra of Hoth.

A shooter designed for all skill levels with a Star Wars license ought to be unstoppable. However, Battlefront is currently crippled by one large issue: there's not much game here. At launch, the game is limited to four planets (five if you pre-ordered). This means there are only four maps for the large modes and only slightly more for the infantry-only modes.

Speaking of the infantry modes, the current list isn't all that exciting:

• Blast - Team Deathmatch.
• Cargo - Steal enemy cargo from their base and bring it back to yours.
• Drop Zone - Capture escape pods that land at random spots on the map.
• Droid Run - Capture and defend three droids walking around the map.
• Hero Hunt - One player is a random hero or villain, and tries to rack up as many kills as possible until another player kills them. That player then becomes a hero or villain.
• Heroes vs Villains - A team of villains and soldiers fights a team of heroes and soldiers.

Blast and Cargo are modes you'll find in any other multiplayer shooter but with different names. Drop Zone and Droid Run seem to put an interesting twist on the usual capture-and-defend action but this twist doesn't go far enough. The droids in Droid Run move slowly and stay within a small area so they're not far off from static control points. Drop Zone's escape pods drop power-ups but they're no different than the ones you'll find in other modes. Furthermore, the pods only seem to drop in a few designated spots so an experienced player can likely anticipate where the next one will arrive.

Hero Hunt is maybe the best of the bunch. The process of trying to take down these powerful heroes or villains with just a few weapons and lucky power-ups is always fun. There's also some extra strategy at work here. While you're technically working with other players to take down the hero/villain, you need to time your attack well. You'll only get to become the hero/villain if you kill the current one. What you don't want to do is die after weakening your target and then have some teammate swoop in to steal your kill.

Heroes vs Villains wears thin quicker. The heroes/villains are cartoonishly overpowered and feel more suited to just carving up hordes of troopers than dueling each other. They're not balanced against one another very well. Plus, being able to play as these characters whenever you wants makes it easier to get tired of them. They're more fun as a reward doled out in small quantities.

If you're looking for single-player or co-op, there's barely anything to satisfy you. The game doesn't have a campaign and instead offers up "Missions" that pit you against bots. They give you something to do if EA's servers go down, I guess, but these Missions are barely a feature. There's not enough variety in the enemies and their A.I. isn't strong enough to make this side of the game worth extended play.

Right before Battlefront's launch, DICE said that they're going to add tons of content to the game in the months ahead: 16 maps, four modes and four heroes. That would go a long way toward addressing the current shortage of content in the game. However, you're going to have to shell out an extra $50 for these additions. In other words, you're basically doubling the price of the game to fix its biggest flaw.

If you're like me and want a shooter you can play for dozens of hours until the next big shooter comes around, Star Wars: Battlefront probably isn't the game you're looking for. It's a thin game so extended play will make it lose its flavor pretty quick. The game is better for someone with less free time, who might want to kill an hour a week. It's so accessible that you could stop playing for two months and easily jump back in. If you're a casual gamer or shopping for one, you could do a lot worse than Battlefront.

Platforms: PC (reviewed), Xbox One, PS4

Developer: DICE

Publisher: EA

ESRB: Teen

Rating:

EA has made what is potentially the most shocking and unexpected announcement to hit the games industry in a very long time: They’re planning on making more Star Wars Battlefront games.

I apologize for the unnecessary sarcasm, but the fact that EA is planning to make more Battlefront games is about as expected of a next Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed game coming out in 2016. Neither of those last two games have actually been announced but, when they are, I doubt anybody will bat an eye in surprise.

I mean, you’ve got EA (who loves to make sequels) making a game set in the Star Wars universe; one that has seen a huge resurgence thanks to a brand new trilogy of films that about to kick off this December. Speaking of annualized titles like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed, if we don’t see a Battlefront game on a yearly basis through (at the very least) the launch of all three new Star Wars movies, then I will be surprised.

This news comes to us via Gamespot, who recently reported on the UBS Global Technology Conference hosted out of San Francisco. During the event, EA CFO Blake Jorgensen made a few comments about the publisher’s licensing deal with Disney; a deal that extends for a full 10 years.

As Jorgensen puts it, EA plans to make quite a few Star Wars games in that time across multiple platforms and, yep, those games include future Battlefront titles.

Jorgensen goes on to state that he has confidence Disney will make movies boasting quality worlds, characters, vehicles and the like, things that make for great video games. He explained that EA does not intend to make games directly related to the upcoming movies, however, but rather to use the IP to make “exciting games” that take place in that same galaxy far, far away.

Jorgensen explained that, so long as they stay within the established fiction of the Star Wars universe, EA basically has freedom to make any gaming experiences they want.

Which begs the question, dear reader: What types of Star Wars games, other than the future releases in the Battlefront series, would you like to see?

Multiplayer shooter Star Wars: Battlefront officially debuts today so we can finally find out whether DICE's much-anticipated revival of the series is worth playing. So, is it?

Most of the early reviews seem to agree that Battlefront feels like a true Star Wars experience. The game does a great job of delivering the sights and sounds of a galaxy far, far away. Many reviewers agree that Battlefront is one of the best-looking games ever released. Plus, it lets players act out many of their Star Wars fantasies like taking down an AT-AT walker or dicing up stormtroopers with a lightsaber as Luke Skywalker.

The most common criticism, though, is that there's not much here. The game has a small pool of modes and maps so it's easy to get tired of them. There aren't many weapons for players to unlock and many of the blasters feel pretty much the same. Battlefront's single-player/co-op modes, which pit players against bots, were roundly crtiicized as shallow and considered a poor substitute for a proper campaign.

The opinions on Battlefront echo many of the reviews for Titanfall: the game is fun but doesn't necessarily have enough staying power. The Season Pass is said to add a ton of content to the game but that's going to cost you a lot more.

Here are some excerpts from a few reviews. As usual, we've included a mix of positive and negative reviews to give you a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the game:

"Star Wars Battlefront is a solid proof-of-concept that should be fully realized in an inevitable sequel. Like Evolve, Titanfall and The Order: 1886 before it, Battlefront chooses style over substance. It’s absolutely beautiful and captures what it’s like to be in a Star Wars film, but style can only take a game so far. Star Cards and Heroes help make battles interesting, but the combat is too simplified to create long-term engagement. There is fun to be had, especially when the spectacle of Star Wars is in full effect. That spectacle, however, soon wears off and what’s left is a game with too few weapons, maps and heroes." - HCG

"One of the biggest problems I have with Star Wars: Battlefront is how tightly packaged everything is. The larger modes like Supremacy and Walker Assault have the area of combat tightly gated, so that spawn points are tied to capture or timed objectives, rather than the areas of faction control. This means you always spawn just behind the area of combat. One way to break the game is to run as far around the active battlefield as possible to the next objective area, jump into an anti-vehicle turret and just wait for the objective area to move to you, then pick off all the enemies spawning in the area." - GameRevolution

"It’s hard to not get caught up in the occasional moment in Battlefront if you’re a big Star Wars fan. I loved stalking towards rebels as Darth Vader, force choking them as the Imperial March played. As I played as a Stormtrooper on Tatooine, I stopped for a moment to watch Luke and Vader battle with lightsabers as X-Wings and TIE fighters engaged in a dogfight above them. There’s a whole lot of Star Wars seeping out of every pore of Battlefront, and no amount of forced fan service took away from the fact that some moments in this game reminded me of the many things I love about the film franchise. If the impending release of The Force Awakens has you in the mood for a casual online shooter set in the Star Wars universe, this game can certainly provide that for a dozen or so hours." - Giant Bomb

"What still makes it so exceptional is how incredible it looks and sounds. It's an absolutely gorgeous game, and the sound effects are chaotic, but still passionately authentic. The music doesn't run the John Williams score ragged, but instead highlights the best moments of a match and lets the rest play out in silence. New pieces were written for the game, and they blend seamlessly with the legendary scores from the original trilogy. It's this attention to the minute details of Star Wars history, from the Jawas fleeing for cover into a Sandcrawler, or the satisfying sting of each TIE Fighter blast, that make Battlefront feel so different from the other incredible shooters this year." - GameTrailers

"Battlefront’s more natural use is as a game played between games. An enjoyable diversion for a few hours, either between more complex titles or, for more casual players, until their appetite for video games and/or Star Wars has been sated. There’s nothing wrong with that in our eyes, and we know we’ll be returning to the game again and again over the coming months." - Metro

"Star Wars Battlefront might not be terribly considerate of solo players and its by-design accessibility might deter DICE’s hardcore Battlefield fans, but there’s no denying the multiplayer is a hell of a lot of fun, and as far as creating the feeling of being part of a Star Wars movie, it doesn’t get any better than this." - Ausgamers

Electronic Arts and DICE revealed what will be included in the season pass for Star Wars: Battlefront. The season pass will include four expansion packs spread across 2016 and they will feature 16 new maps, four new modes and four new heroes and villains.

The news was made public over on the official Star Wars Battlefront website, where they revealed that starting in early 2016 the first of four expansion packs for Star Wars: Battlefront will go live for the PC, PS4 and Xbox One version of the game.

The four expansion packs will include up to 16 different multiplayer maps, presumably fitting four maps into each pack. It's stated on the page that some of the maps will feature brand new locations, which should be exciting for die-hard Star Wars fans.

The maps will also come packed with four new game modes. Some gamers worried that Star Wars: Battlefront not launching with space battles would mean that EA and DICE would keep it out of the main game and later launch the mode as DLC. With four new modes on the table, I wouldn't hesitate to bet that one of those modes might be space battles, or maybe even Galactic Conquest, another popular mode from Star Wars: Battlefront 2.

Unfortunately the website doesn't detail what the four modes are and instead only shows an AT-AT walker as an icon for its representation. Given that this game is decidedly different from what Pandemic did with the series, these modes could range from anything as small as eSports-inspired arena modes to something large-scale... like space battles.

Anyway, the modes will also be accompanied with four additional heroes and villains, joining the likes of Leia, Han, Luke, Darth Vader, Boba Fett and Emperor Palpatine. Given that this is limited to the Galactic War time-line, I wouldn't be surprised to see Lando make an appearance, along with maybe Chewbacca and one or two characters from the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII.

There will also be 20 new pieces of content for cards, weapons and vehicles for both Rebels and the Empire. Given that there aren't that many vehicles in the final game – based on the leaked data mined assets – there's definitely a lot of room for additional vehicles featured throughout the last three episodes. The Star Cards weren't all that impressive to me, but I'm sure people who like collecting new things and expanding their library of power-ups and weapons will surely look forward to whatever is contained within those 20 new packs.

And finally, there's a new emote called “Shoot First”. It will be included in the season pass.

For those of you out there who purchase the season pass, the website notes that you will gain two weeks of early access to the content ahead of everyone else.

Unfortunately DICE and Electronic Arts do not detail how much each of the four content packs will cost individually, but they'll likely carry a $14.99 price tag so as not to undercut the price of the season pass. If it were only $9.99 it would be cheaper to get the packs individually than to get the season pass.

You can look for Star Wars: Battlefront to go live on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC on November 17th.

Back in the days of the PlayStation One, Namco used to allow players to play little mini-games in between loading. The ability to play mini-games while a game loads has mostly disappeared... until now. DICE revived the ability to play a mini-game in Star Wars: Battlefront while the game downloads.

Eurogamer did a write-up on the mini-game inclusion and also included video of the gameplay as well. You can check it out below.

According to the article the mini-game in Star Wars: Battlefront is unlocked at the 18 percent mark when downloading the game. Eurogamer managed to get in some play-time early thanks to EA's Access, which enables gamers on the Xbox One to get some games just ahead of launch before PC and PlayStation 4 owners.

The EA Access program enables registered users to play 10 full hours of Star Wars: Battlefront ahead of its November 17th release. While waiting for the 20GB download to finish, the staff at Eurogamer discovered the mini-game just a fifth of the way through the download process.

According to the article and the video above, you can see that players will be placed in a small cordon of the Rebel base on Hoth while assuming the role of Darth Vader. Players will work with Imperial forces to wipe out wave after wave of Rebel soldiers.

The mini-game works as a great tutorial for learning how to play and master Darth Vader in Star Wars: Battlefront. It's a nice alternative to being thrown into the game, picking up the power-up by mistake and then being tasked with playing as the fallen Jedi for the first time while teammates are counting on you to not suck.

The gameplay for Vader in the mini-game is identical to how he's played in the full version of Star Wars: Battlefront. The left and right trigger work as a block and attack, and he has the ability to execute force choke, as well as force throw his lightsaber and perform a heavy swinging attack.

I don't know how long most people would suffice with playing the mini-game before they get bored. The area is pretty tiny and the gameplay is quite miniscule in the segment, but it sure beats looking at a download bar slowly adding one percentage at a time while downloading 20GB worth of data.

Star Wars: Battlefront will be the last big AAA game of November to release, and after that it'll be Just Cause 3 and Rainbow Six: Siege to follow.

You can look for DICE's Frostbite 3-powered shooter to arrive on the Xbox One, PC and PS4 on November 17th. For more information and details on the game you can head on over to the official website.

Star Wars: Battlefront isn't out yet but its companion app just launched. You can use this app to get a headstart on the multiplayer shooter.

One major component of the Battlefront app is a game called Base Command. It's a turn-based strategy game in which you have to defend a rebel base from an Imperial attack. The Imperial forces advance from one of four directions and can damage your base once they get to close range. You can fend them off by using units and special abilities.

The game is simple but pretty fun. After the first couple battles, the Imperials will start throwing a lot of units at you. You only have a limited amount of units and abilities to play each round so you're constantly agonizing over how to best use them to keep pressure off your base. DICE plans to add additional missions to Base Command after launch and I could definitely see myself playing them.

If you win a battle of Base Command, you earn credits for your account. These credits can then be spent on unlocking weapons, Star Cards and more for Star Wars: Battlefront. There's a hard limit on how much you can grind up from Base Command before launch; there are only eight battles available right now and you won't gain any extra credits from replaying a battle if you already earned all three stars from it. However, you can easily enough earn credits to at least buy the first two blasters.

Speaking of unlockables, you can also use the companion app to check out the full list. Thanks to prior leaks, there aren't many surprises. The only thing that caught me off-guard was the selection of character heads you can buy. They shocked me a bit just because they seem, well, worthless. Why spend any amount of credits for the Imperial character heads when they're just going to be covered up by stormtrooper masks?

The companion app also shares many similarities with the Battlelog from the Battlefield games. You can use it to check your stats along with your progress in challenges and missions. Everyone's beta stats were wiped, though, so for now all these listings are blank. You can also use the app to keep tabs on your friends or check out news updates straight from the developers.

Battlefront will debut next week on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

EA has revealed the full set of Achievements and Trophies for Star Wars: Battlefront. There are nearly four dozen accolades for players to earn through the multiplayer shooter.

It shouldn't be hard to rack up most of the Achievements/Trophies on the list. Many on the list simply require a single action, like getting the first kill in a match or defeating one enemy hero in Heroes vs Villains. You might be able to knock out the lion's share in your launch day binge.

The accessible nature of the Achievements/Trophies isn't too surprising, though, considering the overall design of the game. Many aspects of the game - from the lack of recoil to the unlimited ammo - cater to newer shooter fans. It makes sense that many of the challenges would also be newbie-friendly.

here are some long-term goals for the diehard players, though. For example, you'll need to hit Rank 50 to get "When 900 years old you reach…" and earn 25,000 credits for "Tell Jabba that I’ve got his money." If the beta's progression rate was any indication, those two accomplishments will take awhile.

• A New Hope - Play every Multiplayer game mode
• In a galaxy far, far away… - Win one match in each Multiplayer game mode
• Never tell me the odds! - Successfully perform Cooling Flush 10 times (Multiplayer)
• I suggest a new strategy - Use a partner’s Star Card hand 10 times (Multiplayer)
• Shoot first - Be the first in a match to earn a kill (Multiplayer)
• Great shot, kid! - Kill an enemy who is using a Jump Pack (Multiplayer)
• A cunning warrior - Reach level 3 once with any Trait (Multiplayer)
• Don’t underestimate the Force - Earn a total of 100 kills while playing as a hero (Multiplayer)
• Crush them with one swift stroke… - Trample 25 soldiers with an AT-ST (Multiplayer)
• That got him! - Use a tow cable to destroy an enemy AT-AT in Walker Assault
• Hold the line! - Kill 10 enemies while attacking or defending a control point in Supremacy
• Stay on target - Kill 10 enemies in a match of Fighter Squadron
• What’s the cargo? - Kill 10 enemies carrying the cargo in Cargo
• Playing the objective - Have the most kills in a match of Blast
• The Force is strong with this one - Earn 10 kills in a match as any hero on Hero Hunt
• I’ve been waiting for you - Kill 10 enemies trying to claim your team’s pod in Drop Zone
• “Gonk? Gonk!” - Capture three droids in a match of Droid Run
• The power of the Force - Defeat a hero while playing as any hero on Heroes vs Villains
• When 900 years old you reach… - Reach Rank 50
• Collector - Earn any diorama figurine in the game
• Tell Jabba that I’ve got his money - Earn a total of 25,000 credits (Multiplayer)
• Distinguished - Earn 100 Accomplishments
• Determined - Complete 25 Challenges
• Don’t get cocky - Defeat both the Millennium Falcon and the Slave I
• A tremor in the Force - Play once as all of the different heroes (Multiplayer)
• Together we can rule the galaxy - Complete any mission with a friend
• Your journey has only started - Complete all missions
• Master - Earn all mission stars on Master difficulty
• On the ball - Complete any Survival mission on Master difficulty within 35 minutes
• Precision shot - Get 10 headshots with the Cycler Rifle (Multiplayer)
• Scrap collector - Earn any collectible Star
• All right, I’ll give it a try - Earn a star on all training missions
• Safety ain’t the point of a joyride - Take no damage in the Endor Chase mission
• Best star pilot in the galaxy - Destroy 10 TIE fighters within 2 minutes on the Beggar’s Canyon mission
• New Recruit - Complete any mission
• Impressive. Most impressive. - Earn a total of 5 stars from Battle missions
• Off to a good start - Win any Battle mission on Normal difficulty against the AI
• Survivor - Earn a total of 5 stars from Survival missions
• Ackbar’s Elite - Complete any Survival mission on Master difficulty without dying
• Do… or do not. There is no try - Complete the Tutorial
• Judge me by my size, do you? - Reach Rank 25
• Not bad for a little furball - Get hit in the head by a rock from an Ewok on Endor
• Walker defender - Destroy a Y-wing in Walker Assault

Star Wars: Battlefront will launch on PS4, Xbox One and PC on November 17th.

Electronic Arts and DICE have been teasing, promoting, and marketing Star Wars: Battlefront quite a bit leading up to its November 17th release. The latest trailer is a short teaser looking at the map the Battle of Jakku, a tie-in location to Star Wars: Episode VII.

You can see the teaser below, courtesy of the official EA Star Wars YouTube channel.

The teaser is really just that... a teaser.

The highlight is that all of that is in-engine... not in-game. It shows what's possible in the Frostbite 3 technology that DICE has been honing over the years. The game does look very similar to what's depicted in the teaser above, but you won't find that kind of action taking place on-screen. It's a lot more... tame.

The teaser does give us a taste of what the map will feature, though. We do know that AT-ATs will be walking around in the area, and we do get to see that they will be accompanied by AT-STs. Given that this iteration of Star Wars: Battlefront only focuses on the warfare between the Galactic Empire and the Rebellion, it's pretty obvious that those are the only two factions that will be battling across the map. I'm a little shocked that we haven't seen more liberties with the classes, weapons and designs, though?

In Pandemic's version of Star Wars: Battlefront they had classes like Bothian spies and some space-age weaponry that we hadn't seen before, such as the single-shot grenade launcher or the disintegration cannon. So far DICE has kept the weapon loadout exceptionally mundane. Then again they could be doing so with the intent of updating the game later with some really fancy weapons and games. The Star Wars: Battlefront leaked assets revealed that the final weapon count in the game won't be all that impressive, but maybe they'll get creative in their DLC expansion packs.

As for the theme to Jakku... it's interesting. Visually it centers around a giant battle between the Rebels and the Imperial forces – starting off in sky above but eventually finding themselves fighting for every inch on the ground.

There seems to be a lot of backstory to Jakku but given that there isn't an actual campaign mode in Star Wars: Battlefront gamers will likely just have to find that info out from the movie and other tertiary sources. It's a real shame because Star Wars: Battlefront could have helped bridge a lot of what happened between Star Wars: Episode VI and Star Wars: Episode VII.

Even still, a lot of fans are just excited to play a new game in the series, even if it's vastly different from the previous Battlefront titles. You can look for the Battle of Jakku to go live on December 8th for everyone. However, if you pre-order the game you can gain access to the map a week before everyone else.

According to a recent statement from the higher ups at EA, the publisher is expecting Star Wars Battlefront to perform really well this holiday season. Given the fact that the beta ran so smoothly and folks seemed to be having a good time, plus the fact that it's freaking Star Wars, we're guessing the publisher didn't consult a fortune cookie for this particular prediction.

In a recent earnings call from EA yesterday, Gameinformer is reporting that the publisher is expecting big sales numbers in a galaxy far, far away. In other words, they expect that the force (Read: sales) are assuredly with Star Wars: Battlefront.

EA put Battlefront over an expected 10 million copies sold by the close of the fiscal year. This, according to EA's chief financial officer, Blake Jorgensen.

That's a pretty high figure to achieve but, honestly, this is one of those games we think will have little trouble pulling it off. Outside of the whole Star Wars license working in its favor just before the launch of a brand new movie trilogy, the game has had an extremely successful lead-up to its Nov. 17 launch.

That all began with early trailers that did a fantastic job of setting the table for Battlefront's arrival. EA and DICE followed that up with an open beta that was genuinely open to everyone. No matter what platform you game on, you could get into the Battlefront test run without having to pre-order the game, drink a soda or any other nonsense.

Finally, and certainly most importantly, the beta went very, very well. Folks have been a bit wary of online-focused games since these past few years have been full of buggy titles hitting the market that were not ready for prime time. Aside from a few small hiccups, it sounds like everyone was able to pop onto the servers and play the game to their heart's content through the limited beta window.

That positive buzz has spurred EA on to its lofty sales estimates and, with the added bonus of arriving just before the annual holiday shop-a-thon, I'd say Battlefront is indeed ready to soar off of the shelves. I'm still not too crazy about the extremely pricey Season Pass for future DLC, but that doesn't take away from the fact that all signs point to the core game being worth the investment.

It's hard to believe, but Star Wars Battlefront will arrive in less than a month. I imagine quite a few of you already have it on your holiday wish list, yeah?

EA and DICE just let loose the official launch trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront, the upcoming first (or third) person shooter game for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. It features many of the favorite characters from the Galactic Empire era, including a showdown between Han Solo and Darth Vader.

You can check out the trailer below, courtesy of the official EA Star Wars YouTube channel.

After being thoroughly disappointed with the beta, I have to admit that the trailer above looks freaking awesome.

The little quip from Boba Fett about not ending back up in the Sarclacc pitt again literally made me giggle like a little school girl, and the various showdowns between the different heroes and the cinematic look of the game almost gave me goosebumps. The inclusions of the original John Williams fanfare from the series made it feel that much more epic.

I don't think there's anyone out there who doesn't like what DICE has done with the graphics and audio of the Star Wars: Battlefront series. It's an amazing display of cinematic excellence.

The blend between choreographed in-engine scenes and actual gameplay was a great mix of actually showing players what the gameplay could be like. The only problem is that the gameplay is not very tactical, which is probably the biggest drawback to the game.

While we finally get to see Han Solo in action in that one segment where he comes in to fight Darth Vader, part of the problem is that what they didn't show is that there's absolutely nothing characters without jetpacks can do to get out of the way. The game's lack of a roll or dodge just makes the whole battles seem stilted and humdrum. You can basically guarantee that whoever sees their opponent first is likely the one who will get the kill, unless something silly happens like a person in the turret snipes them.

Another big issue – and something they didn't dwell on in the launch trailer for Battlefront above – is that the game no longer allows players to get into vehicles, land them or hijack them. The tactical element of using teamwork and sneaking up behind an AT-ST with an engineer class and hijacking it from the empire, only to take the AT-ST and blast the crap out of opponents has been removed. Vehicles are now attached to power-ups and the power-ups only allow one person to ride in a vehicle at a time. So you know all those awesome moments you had when you and your buddy would climb into a Snow Speeder and work together to tie up the AT-ATs? Well, you won't be doing that in this newest Battlefront.

Nevertheless, despite everything they've removed from this newest iteration in the series, the graphics, sound and cinematic quality of the game is spot on. I just wish we could have received a Star Wars: Battlefront with all of the features of the old games but with the Frostbite 3's graphics technology.

Anyway, you can look for Battlefront to launch on the PS4, Xbox One and PC starting November 17th.

Star Wars: Battlefront from EA and DICE is already well recognized for housing the heroes from the Galactic Empire era as playable characters on the ground, but DICE is now wooing players with the playable heroic vehicles that will be available to use as well.

In the rarely seen but much talked about Fighter Squadron Mode, players will be able to play as Boba Fett's Slave I, as revealed on the Star Wars Battlefront website.

The game's senior designer, Björn Sundell, commented about the Slave I being flyable in the upcoming shooter game for home consoles and PC, saying...

They mention in the post that the hero vehicles will be harder to take down the normal Imperial or Rebel star fighters. They suggest that if the Millennium Falcon or Slave I begin hounding you down during a match that you should weave into the lower areas of the map to lose them in tight crevices and dangerous rock formations.

One thing that seemed to be completely missing from the beta was the ability to barrel roll or perform evasive maneuvers. I do wonder if they will add this feature in the final version. In the old Battlefront 2 you could tilt left or right and perform advanced evasive tactics to avoid incoming fire, whether it was headed toward you or coming from behind. I wasn't able to figure out if the new Star Wars: Battlefront has any evasive moves in the air during the beta but it didn't appear to.

If you're being hounded down by the Slave I or the Millennium Falcon it would seem kind of silly not to have dodging tactics because otherwise you'll just have to settle for getting blasted out of the sky.

They do reveal that Boba Fett's Slave I will have the ability to initiate a mini-map radar jammer to prevent other players from picking him up on radar. The ship also comes with ion cannons and a proton torpedo launcher.

The hero vessels can be acquired the same way everything else in DICE's Battlefront is acquired: power-ups.

Players will fly around in the map until they come across a hero power-up, where they'll have the opportunity to briefly fly around in the Millennium Falcon or Slave I just until the hero timer runs out or the opposing team shoots them down.

Not everyone is excited about the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront given how it doesn't quite shape up with what Free Radical was doing with Star Wars: Battlefront 3 and what LucasArts was previously doing with Star Wars: First Assault, which was a little like a precursor to Battlefront 3.

Nevertheless, you can look for the Fighter Squadron Mode and the hero ships to go live with the rest of the modes in EA and DICE's vision of Battlefront starting November 19th for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.