While Electronic Arts plans on officially pulling back the curtain on Star Wars Battlefront during today's Star Wars Celebration panel, new details about DICE's highly anticipated shooter have emerged ahead of time.
Information published in a new Associated Press story, reveal, among a number of details, that the game will be set amid the conflicts of the original film trilogy.
For starters, the game will support battles with up to 40 players as the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire. Some confirmed locations include the snow-covered planet Hoth, desert planet Tatooine, and the lava-spewing planet of Sullust which was referenced in 1983's Return of the Jedi.
You'll also be able to play as iconic characters from the film, such as legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and Sith Lord Darth Vader.
In addition to ground troops, Battlefront will allow you to take the skies with ship, engaging in dogfights with TIE Fighters, X-wings, and even the Millennium Falcon. Unfortunately, we don't know how battles will alternate between ground and air combat. Other confirmed vehicles you can get in include speeder bikes, AT-STs, and AT-ATs. DICE reportedly said balancing vehicles with the troops on the ground has been the real difficulty with the game.
With the game's launch set for November 17th — revealed yesterday, but confirmed in the story — EA will include a free downloadable level that ties into the release of the new movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Two weeks before The Force Awakens in theaters (Dec. 18), EA will release a map set on Jakku, the desert graveyard for ships teased in yesterday's trailer. The expansion, "Battle of Jakku," will explore the moment following Return of the Jedi when the New Republic confronts Imperial holdouts on on the Outer Rim enclave.
"You never get to see it in the new movie, so it was this brilliant opportunity to recreate the Battle of Jakku, which you only see the remnants of in the movie," executive producer Patrick Bach said. "In the game, you actually get to play the Battle of Jakku. It's the same place from the new movie but 30 years earlier."
