Monthly Archives: April 2015

Are you still reeling from yesterday’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer? Prepare yourself for even more tears of nerdy joy as Electronic Arts and DICE pulled back the curtain on the first Star Wars: Battlefront trailer today.

Taking place on Endor, gamers were greeted to an exciting mix of ground and vehicle combat as speederbikes buzzed between trees, Rebel troops did battle with Stormtroopers, and a squadron of Y-Wings performed a bombing run on a massive AT-AT. It’s an amazing display of “Game Engine Footage” (no gameplay just yet), which segues into a quick spin around the galaxy for visits to Hoth, Tatooine, and the never-before-seen Sullust. The trailer also gave us fleeting glimpses of Darth Vader, Boba Fett, and the Millennium Falcon… all three of which will be playable in the game.

Star Wars: Battlefront won’t feature a campaign mode, but will instead focus on a variety of 40-person multiplayer battles set during the Original Trilogy. However, a single-player Mission Mode will be included that will also offer the opportunity for local or online co-op play with a second player. Whichever way you play, gamers will be able to seamlessly switch between first-person and third-person views as they fight on the ground or in the air.

“Like so many others around the world, everyone at DICE is a tremendous fan of the Star Wars universe,” said Sigurlina Ingvarsdottir, the Senior Producer of Star Wars: Battlefront. “To be working on a Star Wars project and knowing we are helping to represent the universe we love to our generation and a legion of new Star Wars fans is truly an honor. Thanks to the access and knowledge shared with us by Lucasfilm, and the passion and talent of our team, we plan to deliver an amazing game that puts you right in the middle of the Star Wars battles you always imagined playing.”

As expected, Star Wars: Battlefront will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 17. Players who pre-order the game will receive early access to the Battle of Jakku expansion, which takes place after Return of the Jedi. “The pivotal moment when the New Republic confronted key Imperial holdouts on a remote desert planet in the Outer Rim” will be available to all as a free download on December 8. But players who pre-order the game will get it a week earlier on December 1.

If Electronic Arts hadn’t already leaked the November 17 release date of Star Wars: Battlefront with their source code snafu, this might have been quite the scoop. Still, it’s pretty interesting that the Stormtrooper featured in the publisher’s recent teaser image is absolutely covered in 11s and 17s.

The most obvious “11” is the lighting shadow on the Stormtrooper’s shoulder pad. But there’s another “11” at the very top of his helmet and quite a number of other paired slashes that could be 11s if you stare at them long enough.

As for 17s, I found three, and there might be more. The most obvious is the pair of 17s found on the helmet, which I’ve circled in red. But there’s also a very well hidden “17” scored into his shoulder pad right next to the “11.”

Is it possible I’m seeing things? Absolutely. But DICE Community Manager Vincent Vukovic told fans on Twitter to “dig deeper” as the image was specifically created for this reveal. If you’re going to go to all that trouble, why not hide some cool stuff in there? You can find the unaltered image after the break. (more…)