Star Wars Battlefront II is an upcoming action shooter video game based on the Star Wars film franchise. It is the fourth major installment of the Star Wars Battlefront series and seventh overall, and a sequel to the 2015 reboot of the series. It is under development by EA DICE in collaboration with Criterion Games and Motive Studios, and published by Electronic Arts.The game is scheduled to be released worldwide on November 17, 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.
Star Wars Battlefront II features a single-player story mode, a customizable character class system, and content based on The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi movies. It also features vehicles and locations from the original, prequel, and sequel Star Wars movie trilogies. It also features heroes and villains that can be played based on characters from the Star Wars movies; the hero roster includes Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Yoda, Rey, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Boba Fett, Bossk, Iden Versio, Darth Maul, and Kylo Ren at launch.
The game features a full campaign story mode unlike 2015's Battlefront. The game's single player protagonist, Iden Versio, leader of an Imperial Special Forces group known as Inferno Squad Janina Gavankar, participates in multiple events in the 30 years leading up to The Force Awakens. There will be segments in the campaign where the player will be able to control other characters such as Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren.
Instead of the paid Season Pass downloadable content (DLC) seen in the 2015 predecessor, this game is expanded with free DLC provided to all players with a free EA account.Lead actress Janina Gavankar stated that the DLC would be free to all players, using a seasonal structure similar to Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege. The first season, set to be released in December 2017, will be based on the upcoming movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and will include Finn and Captain Phasma as heroes, the planet Crait as a ground map, and a space map above D'Qar.
Star Wars Battlefront II features five multiplayer game modes with the largest supporting up to 40 simultaneous players. Galactic Assault is centered around unique set pieces set across the eleven planets and locations featuring all three Star Wars eras involving a team of 20 attackers against 20 defenders. In Starfighter Assault battles take place in space and planetary atmospheres involving 12 attackers against 12 defenders, both teams being reinforced with an additional 20 AI ships. Strikes are battles in close quarter scenarios involving a team of eight attackers aiming to capture a unique objective from a team of eight defenders; essentially one team capture the flag. Heroes vs. Villains is a team deathmatch mode involving the heroes and villains in Star Wars Battlefront II based off of Star Wars characters; four light side heroes fight four dark side villains. Blast, the final mode, is standard team deathmatch between two teams of 10 players in which teams try to reach 100 total combined eliminations before the enemy team can.
The single-player story mode campaign in Star Wars Battlefront II takes place in the Star Wars galaxy, beginning around the time of Return of the Jedi, but largely between it and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Emperor Palpatine plots to lure an unsuspecting Rebel Alliance fleet into a trap using himself and the second Death Star, being constructed above the Forest Moon of Endor, as bait, seeking to crush the Rebellion against his Galactic Empire once and for all. The Imperial Special Forces commando unit Inferno Squad, led by Commander Iden Versio, daughter of Admiral Garrick Versio, and made up of Agents Gideon Hask and Del Meeko, is crucial to the success of this planned Battle of Endor, but the Empire underestimates the strength of the Rebellion as its fleet gathers at Sullust.
Iden Versio, a captive on the Rebel Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Invincible Faith, is interrogated by the starship's captain, who implores Iden to hand over secret codes to unlock an intercepted Imperial transmission. Iden refuses and awaits as her droid sneaks through the star cruiser's ventilation systems and frees her from her cell. The Rebels are unaware that Iden allowed herself to be captured in order to erase the transmission, thus not allowing the Emperor's plan to be compromised. Iden successfully erases the transmission, triggering an alarm that alerts the Rebel troopers on the ships of her escape. Iden fights her way through the ship, eventually reaching a hangar and launching herself into space where she is intercepted by the Corvus, the flagship of Inferno Squad. Before the Rebel Star Cruiser can fire, the Corvus jumps into hyperspace. Iden walks to the bridge and confirms the mission's success to Gideon Hask and Del Meeko. A time jump occurs to the Battle of Endor depicted in Return of the Jedi, where Admiral Garrick Versio witnesses the destruction of the Executor and death of Admiral Piett. On Endor, Iden, Hask, and Meeko secure the perimeter around the ruined shield generator, and watch with shock and horror as the second Death Star explodes. Vice Admiral Sloane orders a full retreat, leaving Imperial stormtroopers and ground forces stranded on Endor, though Admiral Versio awaits as Inferno Squad recover TIE fighters and escape the planet, which is being overrun by Rebel forces. The Corvus is attacked during their escape, but Inferno fends off Rebel bombers. Iden meets with her father on his Star Destroyer Eviscerator while Hask and Meeko remain on the Corvus.
Above Vardos, Admiral Versio presents a Messenger droid to his daughter and confirms to Iden that the Emperor has died. The Messenger droid, donned in red robes reminiscent of the Emperor's royal guard, displays a hologram of the late Emperor issuing his last command: to begin Operation: Cinder at once. Iden attempts to ask what their target is, but the Messenger refuses to communicate with her, stating that she is not verified. Admiral Versio sends his daughter to an Imperial shipyard above Fondor to protect Moff Raythe and his Star Destroyer Dauntless, which hosts experimental satellites vital to the success of Operation: Cinder. At Fondor, the Dauntless comes under attack from a Rebel Star Cruiser, but Iden is able to board the Rebel starship with Hask and disable its ion cannons. Afterwards, they are ordered by Moff Raythe to attack the Imperial shipyard itself, which Iden is skeptical of, but nevertheless follows his orders and frees his Star Destroyer from the locked clamps. Afterwards, the Dauntless opens fire on the Rebel cruiser, destroying it.
On May 10, 2016, the development of Star Wars Battlefront II was announced, led by EA DICE in collaboration with Criterion Games and Jade Raymond's Motive Studios.The sequel to 2015's rebooted Star Wars Battlefront features content from the sequel trilogy of films.Creative director Bernd Diemer has stated that the company has replaced the Season Pass system of paid expansion of content, because that system was determined to have "fragmented" the player community of the 2015 predecessor game. The new expansion system is designed to allow all players "to play longer". Executive producer Matthew Webster announced on April 15, 2017 at Star Wars Celebration that the worldwide release of the game would be November 17, 2017.The Battlefront II beta test period started on October 4, 2017, for players who pre-ordered the game. It was expanded to an open beta on October 6, and ran until October 11.
A tie-in novel, Star Wars Battlefront II: Inferno Squad, was released on July 25, 2017. Written by Christie Golden, it serves as a direct prelude to the game and follows the exploits of the Galactic Empire's titular squad as it seeks to eliminate what was left of Saw Gerrera's rebel cell after the events of the 2016 film Rogue One.Thanks for reading.
