[b]The last couple of days have been pretty exciting for Star Wars fans. With two brand-spanking new trailers out, showing off the upcoming Battlefront and The Force Awakens, set to release later this year. With all the hype being generated by these two trailers, it’s important to stay grounded until we’ve all had a chance to gather more information. While we did get a trailer, what you have to keep in mind that it wasn’t actual gameplay, but in engine footage, so we’re not really sure of what to expect from the game itself. However, in all this uncertainty, we have managed to confirm one thing about Battlefront; that the sections involving the AT-AT will be on rails, instead of a free moving vehicle.
Now, there are some of you who might be wondering how this is a bad thing, especially those who might be the biggest fan of Star Wars, and honestly I can see how this might be a minor issue to you. Those of you who are fans will understand, probably instantly, why this is a massive let down. In the old Battlefront II, albeit in a much smaller capacity, players did have the chance to control these mechanical monsters, trudging slowly across the battlefield destroying everything in your path. Naturally, the chance to do this again in the new Battlefront would be an awesome experience. As I mentioned before, however, this will not be the case. One of the developers from DICE did offer commentary, and had this to say:…[/b]
I don’t like making hard guarantees. The game hasn’t shipped yet. We’re not done with it. But this is how it looks right now - on PS4 as well, yes. I do want to make a very specific comment. While some people have called bullshots, others have said this is not that different from e.g. BF4 and not that impressive, etc. Which is an interesting mix. What impresses me the most visually about this game is not technical advancements (which are no doubt important), but instead the attention to detail and craftsmanship being put into the game. You can give two people, or two teams, the same tools and have very different quality being produced. You have a group of very talented people here who are also huge Star Wars fans, putting in countless hours creating more details than I’ve ever seen before. Not because it hasn’t been technically possible before, but the mixture of tech, the choice of focus (quality over quantity) and then the dedication of the team is creating some truly remarkable results. When you look at the vehicles, the guns, the character models and not the least the environments, you will see so much attention to detail, carefully replicating the famous universe of Star Wars. That’s the true beauty of this game, if you ask me.
Not surprisingly, this really didn’t go well with a lot of the fans. DICE deciding to take out such a potentially awesome gameplay mechanic is quite worrying, to be honest. You have to wonder if this was a choice they made themselves, or perhaps this is a change mandated from above. Regardless of what it is, how do you feel about this news?
