Star Wars Battlefront 2 is the followup to 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront, and much looks to have changed between the two games. In addition to adding a story mode aimed at filling in the story between the Star Wars Episode VI and Star Wars Episode VII, the game will add content from all three eras of Star Wars, so Darth Maul, Darth Vader, and Captain Phasma all show their faces in Battlefront’s multiplayer.
The behind-the-scenes showed DICE bringing some influential and skilled players of the previous Battlefront game out to Stockholm to get their feedback on the new game. DICE Producer Paul Keslin says it was an opportunity to get input while there was still time to make changes on anything that wasn’t working. Among the changes mentioned were more space battles, a deeper progression system with more customization, and overhauled gunplay and weapons.
Here’s another look at the multiplayer gameplay in action:
A major focus of the segment was on how the characters will be broken up into a class system. Assault heroes will be more aggressive and fast, Heavy heroes will have shielding and increases health, Officer heroes will boost nearby teammates, and Specialists appear to be something of a sniper class. Within the classes there are customization options for weapons and special abilities. Gunplay was another focus, with an overhaul to the weapons and how they work. One of the players that DICE brought out said there was a “lengthened skill gap.”
The game will also feature “battlepoints” as a way for players to switch things up, giving them access to more powerful characters or vehicles. Similar to how Call of Duty rewarded kill-streaks with bonus abilities, Battlefront 2 will reward players with these “battlepoints” so they can jump into an X-wing or AT-AT, or play as one of the iconic heroes from the Star Wars universe.
DICE taking feedback on the game could be very good news for fans of the series, as the previous Battlefront had a lukewarm reception. Many players were upset that the game featured no story mode, and that is one major criticism DICE heard loud and clear. From the looks of it, players who thought the previous installment didn’t give them enough will not be able to say the same of Star Wars Battlefront 2 - or at least its free post-launch DLC.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is set to launch on November 17, 2017 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.