Yesterday, Electronic Arts gave us our first official look at Star Wars Battlefront's gameplay. It came in the form of the game's Walker Assault mode which EA detailed shortly afterward.
Inspired by the iconic Battle of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back, Walker Assault is a game mode focusing on the Empire's AT-AT assault vehicles as they "slowly but steadily" move towards a Rebel base. The mode will support up to 40 players in 20 versus 20 mayhem.
"It's a classic David and Goliath struggle," EA said, "but the outcome is always uncertain and in the hands of you and your team."
The premise of the game mode is quite simple:
Playing as the Rebel
You need to take the Walker down using Y-Wing Bombers. You can deploy these Y-Wings by activating Uplink Stations located on the map (basically a capture and defend). If you defend it long enough, the bombers are called in for one or more raids to weaken the Walker. During this window, the Walker becomes vulnerable to attacks from normal weapons such as blasters and can finally be brought down.
And alternative method to taking down a Walker once the defences are down, and this is much trickier, is to use the Snowspeeder Tow Cable Takedown. As Star Wars fans, I'm sure you're all familiar with this move — find a Snowspeeder and use its Tow Cable to entangle the AT-ATs legs, causing it to fall. What makes this method more difficult is that any damage to your vehicle can interrupt the takedown, and you'll need to stay closer and closer to the AT-AT for each turn you take around it.
Playing as the Empire
Your focus as the Empire will be to escort the Imperial Walker safely along its destructive path. Your goal is to stop the Rebels fromc alling in the Y-Wings. If you prevent the Uplink Station from being activated, it will eventually run out of power and be unusable to the Rebels, whow ill be forced to find another Uplink Station.
If you find a certain powerup on the map, you can even access the Walker itself. Though you won't be able to steer the AT-AT, you'll at least be able to take control of its mighty weaponry for a limited amount of time. The more enemies you kill while in the seat, the longer you can remain there.
Although inspired by the Battle of Hoth, Walker Assault will be playable in multiple environments, which EA says will allow more multiple unique experiences.
"The icy landscapes of Hoth are wide and open; ideal for Blasters with long range. As a contrast, sneaking around the forests of Endor will be reminiscent of guerrilla warfare, with the Walker moving around much closer to you. And while we're on the subject of gameplay diversity, there'll be plenty of action around the Walkers as well. Infantry facing off in thrilling firefights, X-Wings chasing down TIE Fighters, and Hero and Villain characters like Luke and Vader making awe-inspiring appearances."
Check out the gameplay video above for a first-look at Star Wars Battlefront's Walker Assault mode. In addition to this mode, EA also showed off one of Battlefront's co-op Missions — Survival Mode.
