- "Next year we'll see Star Wars Battlefront back with bigger and better worlds, because we now have the new movies to work off [and] not just the historical movies that we used before."
- ―Blake Jorgensen, Electronic Arts chief financial officer
Star Wars Battlefront II is a video game created by Electronic Arts and developed by DICE, Motive Studios, and Criterion Games. It was released on November 17, 2017. The game is a sequel to the 2015's Star Wars Battlefront and includes content from all three film trilogies, and has three times as much content as the original had at launch.
Plot summary[]
The storyline predominantly follows Iden Versio, commander of the Imperial Special Forces unit Inferno Squad. Upon witnessing the destruction of the second Death Star, Versio's troops look to her for direction. Versio tells her troops that they will avenge the Emperor.[8]
The story spans thirty years, beginning in the waning months of the Galactic Civil War and concluding at the destruction of Starkiller Base.[9]
There are segments in the campaign where other characters are playable as well, including Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Kylo Ren, Lando Calrissian, and Princess Leia Organa.[10]
Gameplay[]
Overview[]
The game returns to the roots of the classic Battlefront games, using a class-based system for infantry troopers with each class having a shared progression system, but with equipment differing depending on faction.[2]
The trooper classes offered are Assault, Heavy, Officer and Specialist.[4]
Galactic Assault on Yavin IV
More vehicles are included for all factions, including Tauntauns and the AT-RT. Space battles also return with new starships. Vehicles are also to be a part of a new customization and progression system.[11]
Vehicles, heroes, and reinforcements can be purchased in matches by gaining Battle Points through play rather than picking up a token as it was with the previous game.[12]
Playable hero and villain characters from the films have been expanded upon, with players able to customize skills to their liking. Creative Director Bernd Diemer stated that he wanted the heroes to have more depth rather than feeling like a momentary power up.[11]
The game also featured loot boxes. Initially, these loot crates, which could be purchased with money, contained game altering abilities, but due to receiving heavy criticism, microtransactions were temporarily disabled at launch. On March 16, 2018, microtransactions were confirmed to be returning, albeit for cosmetic items only, which could be directly purchased while loot boxes would only contain in-game currency and other cosmetics, such as emotes. Progression is now entirely linear; playing as a particular class allows players to upgrade its abilities and unlock new ones.[13]
Game Modes[]
- Campaign: The game includes a brand-new canon storyline which bridges the gap between Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, mainly focusing on the aftermath of the Battle of Endor[14] and follows the journey of Inferno Squad, an elite Imperial squad of special forces troopers.
- Arcade: This game mode brings offline single-player (and two player co-op on consoles) gameplay with and versus AI-controlled players in different battle scenarios, as well as allowing players to create custom scenarios of their own.[14]
- Instant Action: This game mode is exactly like Capital Supremacy's ground phase, except with AI instead of players. Play on a number of Clone Wars, Rebel-Empire and Resistance-First Order era maps, such as Theed, Kashyyyk, Death Star II, Hoth, Ajan Kloss, and Takodana as either of the several factions. Instant Action also has an additional mode (called Instant Action Missions) in which players either attack or defend various command posts to advance or stop the attack. This feature was released in the Battle on Scarif update and is similar to the online co-op mode.
- Multiplayer: Multiplayer includes different online game modes which can support up to 40 players simultaneously.[14][15]
- Galactic Assault: 20v20 battles with unique objectives for thirteen maps, which include Naboo, Geonosis, Kamino, Kashyyyk, Tatooine, Yavin 4, Hoth, Endor, the Second Death Star, Jakku, Takodana, Starkiller Base, and Crait. Participants can play as both troopers and heroes, as well as selected vehicles and starships depending on the map.[15]
- Starfighter Assault: 12v12 space battles with an additional 20 AI-controlled ships per team with unique objectives for maps both in space and in the skies of planets.[15]Some of the planets such as Ryloth, D'Qar and Fondor are only available to play on in Starfighter Assault as there is no ground map for these planets.
- Strike: 8v8 mode where two teams compete in small-scale objective based scenarios.[15]
- Blast: 8v8 team deathmatch.[15]
- Heroes vs. Villains: 4v4 hero duels involving characters from all three eras.[15]
- Ewok Hunt: A tag-like gamemode where stormtroopers (starting with 18 troopers) face off against Ewoks (starting with 2 Ewoks) in the dark.[15]
- Hero Showdown: 2v2 hero duels involving characters from all three eras.
- Extraction: A gamemode involving teams of up to 8 where a Rebel team attempt to move a valuable shipment through imperial territory in close quarter combat.[15]
- Jetpack Cargo: A now removed mode where two teams try to capture a shipment. The first to three captures wins.[15]
- Hero Starfighter: 4v4 space battles with hero starfighters
- Supremacy (also referred to as Capital Supremacy): A mode taking place in all 3 eras featuring five command posts that teams consisting of 20 players and AI fight for control over. In Age of the Republic and Age of Resistance, the first team to reach 100% attacks the enemy team's capital ship, similar to conquest from Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005). If the attackers fail, both teams return to the ground phase of combat and keep fighting until one capital ship is destroyed. In Age of Rebellion, the mode is similar, but there is no ship phase.
- Co-Op Missions: A mode where a team of 4 players and AI choose to take on the attacking or defending role against a team of AI.
Music ‡[]
Gordy Haab composed and orchestrated the musical score of Star Wars Battlefront II. The score was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices at Abbey Road Studios, and was nominated in the 2017 G.A.N.G. Awards.[6]
Development[]
The game's development was revealed in an interview with an EA executive in 2016.[3] More information, including its development by DICE and Motive Studios, was revealed during EA's Livestream during E3 2016.
The game's development is a collaboration between DICE, who developed the multiplayer, Motive Studios, who developed the single-player mode, and Criterion Software, who developed the vehicle and flight controls. The game includes content from all three film trilogies.[8] A goal of the game's story is to humanize the Empire in ways that haven't been seen before.[9]
On April 12, 2017 a teaser trailer was leaked giving confirmation that the game would include content from all three main Star Wars eras, a single-player campaign, and heroes such as Kylo Ren, Rey, Darth Maul, and Yoda.[16] EA premiered this trailer the following day during their panel at 2017's Celebration Orlando.[17] A gameplay trailer for the game was released on June 10, 2017 during the Battlefront II panel at E3 2017.[14]
The single-player trailer was released in October 2017, with a preview on The Star Wars Show.[18]
While working on the game, the development team notably consulted Emil Fortune's reference book Star Wars: Galactic Atlas.[19] Additionally, the team worked with Lucasfilm's Story Group on the campaign and characters, including making sure Luke Skywalker's character arc was consistent, and keeping the game in line with other Star Wars visuals, according to Game Director Mark Thompson.[12]
Downloadable content[]
DICE hinted that the game would not include a season pass, unlike the previous game.[20] Instead, they wanted to find a better alternative in order to avoid "fragmenting" the community of players.[21] It was confirmed during EA Play 2017 that there would not be a season pass; rather, all downloadable content would be free for all players and included in events called Seasons.[14]
The Last Jedi Season[]
The first Season expansion, The Last Jedi Season was released on December 5 and is centered around Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, the eighth film in the Star Wars saga which was released on December 15, 2017. It features a space map over D'Qar, the new planet Crait, Resistance hero Finn and First Order villain Captain Phasma.[22]
The Last Jedi Season also featured a campaign addition available December 13, named Battlefront II: Resurrection, which details Commander Iden Versio's journey during the First Order's rise to power and contains three chapters.[22]
Solo Season[]
On May 3, EA Star Wars announced on Twitter that the second Season in the game would be based on the character of Han Solo, releasing alongside Solo: A Star Wars Story.[23] The first part of the Han Solo Season was released on May 16 and features the returning map set in Jabba's Palace, a new game mode (Hero Showdown), new skins for Leia Organa and Lando Calrissian based on their disguises in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and the addition of starfighters to Arcade. The second part of the Han Solo Season was revealed in a trailer on June 6 and its content released on June 12, which included a new map on Kessel, the Millennium Falcon as it appears in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the returning game mode Extraction, and new skins for Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and Chewbacca as they appear in Solo: A Star Wars Story.[24]
Clone Wars content[]
The game's Design Director, Dennis Brännvall, teased that Star Wars: The Clone Wars content was going to be added to the game at some point in the future.[25] At EA Play it was revealed that in the fall of 2018, a third season focused on the Clone Wars was going to be released, the season would include a map featuring Geonosis, new Clone Trooper skins, and General Grievous, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Count Dooku, and Anakin Skywalker as playable characters. General Grievous was released on October 30, 2018 with an alternate "Battle Damaged" appearance. Obi-Wan Kenobi together with the 212th Battalion skins and a "Shattered" General Grievous skin followed up on November 28 alongside the Geonosis Galactic Assault map. In December, a new appearance of Obi-Wan Kenobi titled "General Kenobi" was released, based on his Star Wars: The Clone Wars armor (prior to the mid-third season).
Count Dooku in Battlefront II
Count Dooku was released on January 23, 2019, followed by an alternate "Dark Ritual" appearance less than a week later. Anakin Skywalker, along with the 501st and Coruscant Guard skins, and a general update for all Clone trooper skins, including armored clone officers, were released on February 27, 2019.
Also initially scheduled for February but then pushed back to March 26, 2019 was Capital Supremacy: a new, large-scale game mode, featuring both capture points and capital ship takedowns, as well as two new Clone Wars Era Reinforcements and lightsaber combat improvements, which included no more stagger to a hero whose attack is blocked, plus the requirement of stamina to attack. It also featured a new appearance for Count Dooku: His sleepwear. On March 12, 2019, two new reinforcement classes were announced: Dual DC-17 pistol-wielding ARC Troopers and BX-series droid commandos, also released on March 26.[26]
On April 2, 2019, three new locations were announced as being in development for Capital Supremacy. The first location, Kashyyyk, was released on April 24, and May and June release date for the next two. On May 10, 2019, the second location was revealed to be Kamino, and released on May 22. The third, Naboo, was revealed on June 7, 2019 - the first day of E3 2019 - and slated for a June 26 release,[27] along with the unveiling of a large amount of upcoming content for the next few months. Among them were droidekas, Anakin Skywalker's Jedi General appearance from the early seasons of The Clone Wars, the TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank, additional clone trooper skins, and another Capital Supremacy location, released on September 25, 2019: Felucia.[28] A new type of enforcer was also released that same day: the Clone commando.
The Rise of Skywalker content[]
On December 4th 2019, DICE detailed the content coming December 17th, to tie into the release of The Rise of Skywalker. These included new appearances for Finn, Rey, and Kylo Ren, and a new planet, being the jungle world of Ajan Kloss based on the new movie. Four reinforcements were also added, the Sith trooper and a revamped Jet Trooper for the First Order, and two new ones for the Resistance, an Ovissian Gunner and a Caphex Spy. In January 2020, more content was released, with capital supremacy including the sequel era, as well as two new playable heroes, BB-8 and BB-9E.[29]
Original trilogy content[]
Following the release of content from The Rise of Skywalker, a new focus on content from the original trilogy was announced. The first update including this content was released in February 2020, which included a new appearance for Imperial Jet Troopers, as well as playable Ewok and Imperial Security Bureau agent reinforcements. New weapons were also added. Additionally, further content set for release in March 2020 was announced, which included the addition of the original trilogy content to other modes such as Supremacy, as well as the addition of Scarif. Capital Supremacy has been renamed "Supremacy" due to the lack of capital ships in the original trilogy settings of the game mode.[30]
Release and reception[]
In April 2017 during the presentation at Star Wars Celebration, it was confirmed that the game would be released on November 17, 2017 and November 14 for those pre ordering the Deluxe Elite Trooper Edition.[3] An open beta was held from October 4 to October 11.[31]
Continuity[]
- The opening scene for the campaign features a starship in space, mirroring the openings of the Star Wars movies.
- During the game's first mission, Admiral Gial Ackbar can be seen explaining Operation Yellow Moon from the book Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure to the crew of the Invincible Faith via a hologram transmission. Rebel soldiers can also be heard discussing the upcoming Battle of Endor and mentioning Gold Squadron, Green Squadron, Blade Squadron, a B-wing starfighter squadron that served as the focus of the Blade Squadron short story series, Corona Squadron, which appears in the book Lost Stars, and Red Squadron.
- During the Battle of Endor level, Garrick Versio mentions that Vice Admiral Rae Sloane ordered all Imperial ships to retreat. The order first appeared in the short story "The Levers of Power."
- Operation: Cinder first appeared in the second issue of the comic series Star Wars: Shattered Empire.
- The compass that Luke Skywalker recovers from Emperor Palpatine's vault in the mission "The Observatory" can be seen in Luke's hut on Ahch-To in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
- During the Mission to Bespin, several references to Governor Ubrik Adelhard and the Uprising can be heard. The Uprising first appeared in the mobile video game Star Wars: Uprising.
- During the Battle of Jakku level, X-wing pilot chatter can be heard. Among those voices, references to Wedge Antilles, Snap Wexley, and Phantom Squadron can be heard. Also, Thane Kyrell, Kendy Idele, and the Inflictor can be heard. Kyrell and Idele first appeared in the novel Lost Stars.
- Garrick Versio mentions that Gallius Rax expected Versio to flee; this was part of the Contingency. Both Gallius and the Contigency appeared first in the Aftermath trilogy.
- Han Solo has a beard during the Takodana level, gathering intelligence for an upcoming raid on Kashyyyk. Solo was depicted as growing a scruffy beard during the Aftermath trilogy.
- Three of the game's achievements are called "Dark Forces", "Force Unleashed", and "Outbound Flight", probably referencing the now-Legends video games and novel Star Wars: Dark Forces, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and Outbound Flight.
Reception ‡[]
Pre Release[]
The game, alongside EA itself, was lambasted for locking Heroes and making players "grind" large amounts, some estimated to be around 40 hours, to unlock a single character, which in turn would encourage the purchases of Loot crates to make it easier for the player to unlock them. When EA responded to the criticism on Reddit, their comment received several hundred thousand downvotes, more than any other Reddit comment by magnitudes.[32] After the huge backlash and reception of the loot crate system, EA and DICE temporarily removed microtransactions from the game on launch to focus on refining the loot crate system for another time.[33]
Post Release[]
The game faced heavy criticism for its economic and progression system due to being tied to microtransactions that allowed players to purchase a certain amount of "crystals," an in-game currency, in order to then purchase loot crates that could be used to randomly unlock and upgrade Star Cards. Furthermore, the game received criticism for the high amount of "credits," another in-game currency, it cost in order to purchase playable hero and villain characters, which would take hundreds of hours of grinding in order to obtain. The fallout from the microtransactions scandal was massive enough to attract attention from mainstream news outlets such as CNN and The Wall Street Journal.[34][35] Disney and Lucasfilm have also publicly sided with gamers and criticized EA over the latter's handling of the game.[36][37] Along with reportedly having the potential to harm the game's sales prospects, the incident also further hurt EA's public image; EA's shares on Wall Street dropped by 2.5% on launch day.[38]
In response to the criticism, microtransactions were immediately disabled at launch, albeit temporarily. The cost to purchase heroes was also lowered by 75%. On March 16, 2018, developer DICE announced microtransactions would be returning in April, which can only be used to purchase cosmetic items; the progression system was redesigned in order to be linear, and was released on March 21.[13]
Controversies ‡[]
EA's incorporation of loot boxes into the Battlefront II game has also attracted the attention of several governments. On November 15, the Belgian Gaming Commission announced that it would be investigating whether the inclusion of loot boxes constituted gambling. In response, EA denied allegations that their loot boxes constituted gambling, asserting they were part of a "fun and fair game experience."[39] On November 22, the Belgian Gambling Commission ruled that EA's microtransactions constituted a form of gambling. The Belgian Minister of Justice Koen Geens also regarded the "mixing of gaming and gambling as dangerous" for the mental health of children and called for a ban on gaming loot boxes throughout the European Union.[40][41]
In response to the Belgian Gambling Commission's investigation, the Dutch Gambling Commission also announced their own investigation into microtransactions in Battlefront II.[42] EA's practices also drew criticism from United States politicians.[43][44]
In addition, gambling regulators in South Korea, Singapore, Australia, and the United Kingdom have also expressed disapproval of Electronic Arts' incorporation of loot boxes into gaming products including Battlefront II.[45][46]
Media[]
Editions[]
In its original release, two editions of the game were available: the Standard edition and the Elite Trooper Deluxe Edition.[4] (The Elite Trooper Deluxe Edition included Rey and Kylo Ren The Last Jedi skins, early access to the game, and game upgrades for weapons and Heroes.[4]) A third edition, the Celebration Edition, which included the complete collection of purchasable customization content, was released on December 5, 2019.[47]
Cover gallery[]
Credits[]
| Cast | Uncredited cast | Crew | Uncredited crew | Special thanks |
Cast
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English Voice Talent and Acting Talent
French Cast
Italian Cast
German Cast
|
European Spanish Cast
Spanish Latin American Cast
Polish Cast
|
Crew
|
Appearances[]
| Characters | Organisms | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
|
|
|
Organisms
|
|
Droid models
|
|
Events
Locations
Organizations and titles
Sentient species
|
|
Vehicles and vessels
Weapons and technology
Miscellanea
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
External links[]
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 on Electronic Arts' official website (backup link)- Star Wars Battlefront II on Wikipedia
- The Future of EA Star Wars™ Games on Electronic Arts' official website (backup link)
- Star Wars Battlefront II - Galactic Assault Mode | PS4 on the official PlayStation YouTube channel (backup link)
- Star Wars Battlefront II - Strike Mode | PS4 on the official PlayStation YouTube channel (backup link)
- Star Wars Battlefront II - Starfighter Assault Gameplay Demo | PS4 on the official PlayStation YouTube channel (backup link)
- Star Wars Battlefront II - Arcade Mode | PS4 on the official PlayStation YouTube channel (backup link)
- Star Wars Battlefront 2 Roundtable on the official PlayStation YouTube channel (backup link)
- Star Wars Battlefront II - Iden Versio Feature | PS4 on the official PlayStation YouTube channel (backup link)
- Star Wars Battlefront II - Imperial Feature | PS4 on the official PlayStation YouTube channel (backup link)
- Star Wars Battlefront II - 'Rivalry' | PS4 on the official PlayStation YouTube channel (backup link)
