The Rebel base on Hoth needs evacuation, stranded Rebels on Tatooine need extraction, and you need to get your thumbskills up to par for a photorealistic fight in the Star Wars universe.
Remember those awesome Star Wars Battlefront demos we tried at E3? You’ll get your chance to try the same levels when a beta for Star Wars Battlefront lands on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One early next month.
Electronic Arts has announced that Walker Assault on Hoth, and Survival Mission on Tatooine, the two Battlefront demos that so impressed us in June, will be featured in the beta. A third mode called Drop Zone that hasn’t been revealed yet by EA or developer DICE will also be part of the beta.
EA will run a card game called Base Command that will unlock Battlefront content like weapons on the game’s official website during the beta. Base Command will be one aspect of the Star Wars Battlefront Companion, which sounds an awful lot like the Battlelog social network for the Battlefield series as the Companion will feature stat tracking, loadout management, and a social network.
The Star Wars Battlefront Companion will be released on iOS and Android as a second-screen experience for Battlefront, prior to the game’s release for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on Nov. 17.
An EA Community Manager on Reddit has confirmed that Battlefront will not feature a server browser that allows players to search for community-run servers. Battlefront will feature a skill-based matchmaking system.
Community-run Battlefield servers have been a mixed bag in the past. Default servers managed by Electronic Arts and DICE offer consistent game rules, whereas player-rented servers can offer custom rulesets and therefore variety that keeps the game fresh long after release.
Battlefield 3 also lost official server support not too long after the game’s release owing to over reliance on player-run servers, which meant Battlefield 3 players were often at the mercy of community servers that banned certain types of weapons or featured game lengths that dissuaded casual players. Battlefield 4 has been less problematic, but finding official, non-player servers has still been an issue for some Battlefield 4 players.
The lack of a server browser for Star Wars Battlefront could speak to the more mainstream appeal of a Star Wars game versus a Battlefield game intended more exclusively for military shooter fans. While this decision is angering PC gamers in particular on Reddit, it may be good news for fans who just want to enjoy some photorealistic Star Wars action without worrying about server-related headaches.
Illustration via Electronic Arts
