Star Wars Battlefront’s Battle of Jakku introduces ‘Turning Point’ mode

Electronic Arts detailed today Star Wars Battlefront's "Battle of Jakku," revealing the upcoming free DLC will include a new game mode — Turning Point.

Turning Point is a 40-player game mode that "portrays the efforts of the Rebel Alliance to defeat the Empire following the Battle of Endor."

For those unfamiliar, The Battle of Jakku is often referred to as the "pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on the remote desert planet of Jakku." Jakku, of course, is one of the new planets featured in the upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi. It's been shown in just about all of The Force Awakens' teasers thus far.

In Turning Point, Rebels need to locate and capture one of three control points in Imperial control, while the Imperial need to defend until the countdown clock reaches zero. If the Rebels successfully capture a point, additional time will be added and new control points will be available for capture. Rebels will continue to push these increasingly challenging checkpoints with theultimate goal being the Empire's base.

Vehicles will be featured, but since the starfighters are engaged in the battle above, Turning Point will highlight airspeeders and AT-STs. Contrast to its offensive role in Walker Assault, the AT-ST is used as a more defensive vehicle in this mode. Meanwhile, the airspeeders will be on the offense, providing supportive fire to Rebel infantry.

Turning Point sounds like Star Wars Battlefront's version of Battlefield's Rush mode, at least in terms of tactical possibilities. Once the Rebels have started taking a control point, it can't be reclaimed by the Empire. So for example, if there's only 25% left of the claim process and the Rebels have been defeated at the point, the Empire will have to decide between defending the point or retreating to another part of the map.

As a reminder, the Battle of Jakku DLC will be completely free to all Star Wars Battlefront players; however, those who pre-ordered the game will get first access to the new map and mode on December 1st — exactly one week before all other players.