With the VR wars in full swing, Sony fell somewhat behind as far as spectacular and hype-filled announcements were concerned at least, but they were apparently only squaring off to release this one: it looks like there will be a Star Wars Battlefront experience coming to Sony’s PlayStation VR as a fruit of the partnership between EA and Sony and as one of the 50 games which will be available for the VR device come its October 2016 release. The announcement was made at Sony’s GDC presentation which focused on the VR headset. Now then, as the expression “Star Wars battlefront experience” clues us in, it’s not an actual game we’re looking at, rather something described as “a cinematic gaming experience” by Sony Computer Entertainment’s Andrew House. House also said that there would be no shortage of content for the upcoming VR platform, given how some 230 developers are already…
Author: Philip Thalberg
Outer Rim Set to Land This Month
According to many, DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront failed to live up to some of the pre-launch hype and expectations, primarily on account of a rather glaring lack of depth. Fortunately, that problem is one that can be righted on the go and that’s exactly what the developer is looking to accomplish by adding no fewer than three DLCs this year and another one in 2017. The first such DLC is scheduled for March, and given how there will apparently be a free update preceding it, we’re looking at a wealth of new content coming online this month, content which is obviously much-anticipated and much-needed too at this point. The March Battlefront update is set to deliver the usual selection of bug-fixes and tweaks, along with a new Endor map aimed at big game modes as well as a survival map for Tatooine. Exactly what the DLC will bring to the…
Star Wars Game Almost Had Luke Skywalker’s and Han Solo’s Sons Face Off
The world of Star Wars canon is a rich a busy one at all times apparently, as there are always people plotting and scheming, looking for various ways to further the stories of the characters and their offspring, thus creating opportunities for more games, movie episodes and generally: more Star Wars action. Some of the ideas these people come up with are questionable at best while others border on the genius: it has recently been revealed that at one point few years ago, there were plans for an original trilogy game which would’ve featured a storyline quite reminiscent of the Star Wars: the Force Awakens storyline, had it come to fruition. The first clue about the existence of the said project was dropped by a book which focused on the history of LucasArts. In that book, there were a few logos featured for potential Star Wars games, one of them…
New Star Wars: Battlefront Update Reportedly Underway Bringing Weapon and Vehicle Buffs
A living-breathing world like that of Star Wars: Battlefront is in continuous need of updating and tweaking, and the community is indeed very demanding in this respect. The January patch brought many improvements, tweaking various weapons and even characters, looking to smooth out the balance, and while most of these tweaks were welcome indeed, some of them ended up generating unwanted side-effects. The Homing Shot and the Bowcaster for instance got seriously nerfed, so much so in fact that according to the community, the two said weapons have become all but useless. There was naturally a lot of upheaval tied to these botched tweaks, but help is apparently already underway. According to Battlefront Community Manager Sledgehammer70, the next update will target the above said two weapons, and they will be restored to what they should indeed be. The Community Manager also admitted that the tweaks in the works for the…
Star Wars: Battlefront Real Life Mod Dazzles
Star Wars: Battlefront was always going to be extremely keen on visuals. DICE have made it clear from the beginning that they were going to go for authenticity and that they were going to exploit the Frostbite engine to the fullest in their quest for Star Wars eye candy. Granted, on maximum graphics settings, the game has always been a visual delight, but there are individuals out there who have found ways to push it way past what the official version was supposed to accomplish in this respect. Back in November, a mod surfaced, which was used to produce a few impressive screenshots. Called SweetFX Real Life, the mod makes it possible for the game to run in 4k at 60fps, putting out some truly mind-boggling graphics details. Following the still pictures mentioned above, the mod has now been used to make actual footage too, posted to YouTube by jackfrags….
Star Wars: Battlefront – The Verdict
For months (or even for what seems like years) I’ve been keeping a close watch on the development of DICE’s newest Star Wars title through ups and downs, latching onto every crumb of rumor and soaking in every second of published game-footage with great thirst. The time has apparently come though to deliver a full and fair assessment of the game, a sort of objective review without regards to my status as a fan of the universe/canon. Star Wars: Battlefront is indeed here in all its glory and while some of its aspects are truly awe-inspiring, in some respects the mark is missed. I’ll admit that I was so taken in by its positives that I found it extremely difficult to pinpoint any of its faults, but having logged enough playing time, some of the problems do indeed poke through the thin fabric of perfectionist authenticity covering the game. This…
Star Wars: Battlefront – Battle of Jakku Teaser Released
It has been known for a while that Star Wars: Battlefront, the much hyped and hotly anticipated game developed by DICE, set for a November 17, 2015 release, would be tied into the canon pushed forth by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and that the game would be used to explain some of the storylines from the movie, filling in the canon-gaps specifically with the Battle of Jakku, a downloadable batch of content which will be made available some 3 weeks after the official release of the game. Star Wars: Battlefront was conceived and marketed as the game which would allow gamers to relive some of the most iconic battles of the Star Wars universe, from a novel and immersive perspective and considering that, the addition of the Battle of Jakku, a canon-episode unknown to everyone, is indeed a master-stroke which delivers more than what has been promised. The Battle…
Looking Back at the Massively Successful Star Wars: Battlefront Beta
With Star Wars: Battlefront‘s November 17 release date drawing near fast, the beta wrapped up the other day, bringing an end to the most successful beta-testing period in the history of EA. Indeed, to call Star Wars: Battlefront successful at this point in time would probably be a major understatement. To celebrate the record-breaking beta accomplishment, EA have decided to publish some statistics regarding the time players spent in the game world and their various accomplishments. The numbers do indeed speak for themselves. Apparently, more than 9 million players played the beta, pouring a combined 1.6 billion minutes into the game, enough time to watch the entire trilogy about 4.2 million times. Needless to say, all these people were busy within the game-world as about 6 million of them made it all the way to level 5 (the top level set in the beta). All those who made it this…
My Favorite Things About the Star Wars: Battlefront Beta
The Star Wars: Battlefront closed beta has become available a couple of days ago and it instantly vindicated all those who have put their trust into DICE to make this a game that would live up to the tremendous hype that preceded it. Indeed, as we followed the development of this game one bit of rumor/news at a time, it has become clear that no amount of effort would be spared to make this good and now all I can say is: it shows. The beta isn’t all milk and honey obviously, there are a number of smaller problems with it, but being positive a person, I’m not going to dwell on any of these minute and ultimately insignificant details, and I’m only going to focus on the bits that have left me thoroughly impressed. To start off: the graphics. In this day and age, raving about the visuals of…
Everyone Will Be Able to Play Star Wars: Battlefront Beta
While there is still nothing known about the actual release date of the hotly anticipated Star Wars: Battlefront yet, EA have made it clear that they will be aiming to provide a strong enough server-infrastructure and capacity so that everyone should be able to play the game’s beta version. According to Matthew Everett, Battlefront’s community manager, once deployed, the beta will remain open to accommodate all comers. Everett also offered some new details about the beta gameplay modes. He said that both offline and online modes would be available in the beta and that players would be able to play co-op as well as slit-screen co-op. Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC will be the supported platforms. As far as the online side of the action is concerned: no fewer than 40 players will be able to hook up in massive battles. The offline mode will see a new mode…
Battlefront: is It or is It Not Like Battlefield?
Star Wars: Battlefront is definitely one of the most hyped and eagerly awaited games out there, and with more and more in-game footage becoming available as the November 17-20 release date draws near, it is apparently great at generating controversy too already. Among the fans who can hardly wait to get their hands on the title, there are players concerned that despite all the hype to the contrary, the game will end up being a re-skin of Battlefield. DICE and EA have repeatedly sought to alleviate such concerns, even during the early stages of development, when they made it clear that the teams working on the two projects would be completely separate and there would be as little co-inspiration as possible. Nevertheless, a couple of days ago, DICE General Manager Patrick Bach saw the need to come forth again and reassure the community that the two games would be as…
Special PS4 Bundle for Star Wars: Battlefront
Star Wars: Battlefront is big. Indeed, the game is one of the most hotly anticipated titles of the fall in the whole of gaming and not just within the Star Wars community, which has followed the evolution of the project for more than a year now. With the release date drawing near, it seems like everyone is eager to jump on the Battlefront bandwagon, and yes, that includes the maker of the PS4, Sony too. The game will be honored through a special PS4 bundle, which includes tons of must-have goodies not only for fans of the game but for those of the entire Star Wars universe and canon. The Bundle is centered around a PS4 console sporting a Darth Vader-themed design. Included in the bundle is a Deluxe edition of the game (the bundle launches together with the game itself on November 14), as well as a number of…
Star Wars: Battlefront Delights, Raises Questions/Concern at E3
Like last year, DICE, the developer behind one of the most hotly anticipated gaming titles of the Star Wars Universe, Star Wars: Battlefront, made use of E3 to add further hype to the product it’s currently working on and to showcase the progress that’s been made. The work-in-progress footage that was shown this time around was captured off a PS4 and – although impressive- it gave rise to some controversy and concern among fans in regards to a number of performance issues and game features. Most of the “problems” which apparently surfaced in this year’s E3 showing could probably be attributed to the overly impressive footage released back in April, the one about the battle in Endor’s woods, which was in-engine footage indeed, but it wasn’t in-game footage and the differences are indeed quite significant. The Endor footage was set to a totally different tune: it was rendered at a…
Battlefront a “Unique” Beast of a Game Set to Sell 9-10 Million Copies
The upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront is one of the most hotly anticipated games of the last few years, and while the developer has apparently spared no resources in its creation, EA are expecting to cash in big time come November 17, when Battlefront is scheduled to be launched on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. According to CFO Blake Jorgensen, the sales estimate on the title is some 9-10 million copies, in EA’s 2016 fiscal year alone (which wraps up in March 2016). Obviously, the long-term potential for the title is much greater. Jorgensen also sought to allay potential fears tied to the actual launch of the product, fears which have been somewhat justified since the problem-ridden, botched launch of Battlefield 4. According to Jorgensen, EA have learned their lessons then, and there aren’t any such unpleasant surprises to be expected with Battlefront. In other Battlefront news: DICE have made…
Star Wars: Battlefront Just a Month Away
Star Wars fans only have about a month to wait for the unveiling of Star Wars: Battlefront, quite possibly the most hotly anticipated Star Wars gaming title ever. While they will not be able to get their hands on the game just yet (the title is set for a December 2015 release), they will probably be able to feast their thirsty eyes on some in-game action and the hype-machine will be fed some new crumbs of information/details to keep its gears turning. Officially announced at last year’s E3, Star Wars: Battlefront has already offered a precious few glimpses into the virtual world that EA is hoping will lure scores and scores of players to the title, and everyone was quite impressed with what they saw. Starting April 16 though, at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, CA, fans are likely to see a different beast, with close to a year’s…
Battlefront Footage Shown to Retailers Behind Closed Doors…Oh, Come on!
For the commoner, the last (and first) glimpse at actual Star Wars: Battlefront in-game footage came at the 2014 E3. Since then, while the team behind the project was obviously busy churning out content, not much else saw the light of day about the game, save for some rumors here and there, just enough to keep the hype-machine chugging along. A few days ago though, a select few were granted the privilege to take in some Battlefront magic, as retailers were finally shown some game-play, and fortunately for the community, at one of these events organized for GameStop, EA COO Peter Moore decided to fire out a few rousing tweets. According to him, the audience gave a “superb ovation” to the footage shown, which is pretty much what happened back at the E3 last year too. Having said that much though, Moore didn’t bother providing any other details, leaving the…
Star Wars Humble Bundle Blows Clean Past $1 Million Mark
..and it does it in less than 24 hours. Indeed, a Humble Bundle of games tossed onto the market in cooperation with Unicef, has raised some $1.3 million in less than 24 hours. The bundle is made up of a number of Star Wars-themed games, depending on how much money the buyer is paying for the deal. More than 134,000 sales of the bundle were registered within the first 24 hours of the Humble Bundle’s availability, and the package is slated to be kept available for an additional 13 days. The excellent performance logged by the Star Wars bundle put it right into second place on the all-time best selling Humble Bundles list, second only to the Sid Meier Humble Bundle, which managed to accrue more than $1.7 million over its first 2 days. How exactly does this Humble Bundle deal work though? Players interested in picking up the game…
Episode 7 Hype Escalating – Hasbro Reportedly Working on Line of Toys
As the release date of Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens (and of the new Battlefront title) approaches, everyone is looking to get in on the action. Toymaker Hasbro has apparently prepared an extensive line of Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys, which includes blasters, light sabers, action figures and remote controlled droids. The company hasn’t exactly been keen on making its efforts public, but fans have dug up a list of toys Hasbro are allegedly working on right now. The figurines will be mostly 3.75-inch ones, and there will be a special “Black Series” line of action figures too, aimed at collectors. Alleged photographs of some of the toys were leaked as well, although they’re of somewhat questionable quality, and some of the figurines featured (like that of Chewbacca) are apparently older releases from Hasbro. There are other inconsistencies with the Chewbacca toy featured in the photos: apparently, the…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – the John Boyega Storm Trooper Controversy
According to some, racism has again reared its ugly head in regards to Star Wars lore elements newly introduced by Episode 7. More precisely, what happened was that actor John Boyega was shown as a storm-trooper in The Force awakens teaser, and some of the fans and critics voiced their objections to the presence of a black storm-trooper. Boyega was quick to address the criticism through Twitter, essentially telling everyone to just “get used to it”. While this is definitely not the first (and probably not the last) time that a movie’s cast led to racial back and forth, the question remains whether Boyega’s critics can indeed be considered racist, or they’re just Star Wars canon-nazis. Star Wars fans are notoriously touchy when it comes to tampering with their storylines. The lot critical of the black storm-trooper will probably point it out that all storm troopers were the clones of…
Star Wars Rebels – a Hot New Cartoon to Sink Your Fangs into
Star Wars Rebels started out as a rather inconspicuous little cartoon anchored in the Star Wars universe of which few people expected much upon launch. Now 7 episodes old, the Series keeps delivering pleasant surprises week after week, and it is increasingly looking like we have something seriously entertaining on our hands in it. Its last Episode, titled “Empire Day”, introduced a concept the previous 6 episodes hadn’t dabbled in yet: that of a multi-episode storyline. While this will remind some Star Wars fans of The Clone Wars storylines, each of which unfolded over 3-4 episodes, a practice which grew quite irksome towards the end, in Rebels, this facet of storytelling will apparently not be abused. Empire Day was a wonderfully entertaining bit, not too long or short, and featuring just about enough action for one episode. The parade, no one really wanted to be at, organized to honor the…
More Episode VII Rumors/Spoilers Surface
Despite the secrecy surrounding the newest Star Wars movie currently in production, various details regarding its plot, title, character distribution and the props used in it, keep surfacing. At this pace, by the time the finished product actually hits the big screen, people will know the entire storyline and they’ll just show up to see how the director actually pulled things off. For one thing: Episode VII actually has a title now. It’s called “The Force Awakens” – a wonderfully Star Wars-y title indeed, which is a great throwback that manages to avoid being similar to past titles in the series. We kept hearing that Episode VII was going to be an extension of the original trilogy and its title really does come to confirm that. The announcement was made by Disney with surprisingly little fanfare, considering the high-profile nature of the project. In other Episode VII spoiler news: a…
Episode 7 Ready for Post Production?
According to Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, filming on Episode 7, the much-awaited Star Wars movie sequel, is about three weeks from being completed. Most of the footage is apparently done, and after the actual camerawork is finished, the movie will enter post-production, where the special effects, the sounds and the score shall be added, which will apparently take about another year to complete. Given that the above said announcement was made about a week ago at the Industrial Light and Magic Studio opening in London, it is safe to assume that the movie is indeed on track: great news for fans of the series as well as for the fans of the upcoming Battlefront title currently under production by DICE. While the actual plot tie-ins between the Episode 7 and Battlefront will be few and far between, the release of the two titles will apparently be timed to more or less…
Battlefront 3 Footage Available?
Well…yes and no…you see, apparently, well before DICE got the fate of one of the world’s most anticipated titles in gaming to fall into their laps, another crew had a run at Battlefront, and they actually put together a nearly-finished product, which – due to a set of unfortunate circumstances – never really got the see the light of day, or rather that of the screens of computer/console users world-wide. The company behind the effort was Free Radical, and according to some, they were about 99% finished with the project when they were forced into administration and when they finally closed for good in December 2008. Later, Crytek picked up the enterprise and transferred the team to various other projects, as Battlefront was cancelled, up until DICE came into the picture earlier this year to step up to the plate. Now then, why exactly is this bit of the game’s…
Star Wars Battlefront Progress Report
After all the hype DICE’s upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront generated with its brief but spectacular E3 trailer, the noise around the game has died off, especially after it became clear that its release would not happen this year. Still, those who keep an eye on the news regarding the title, will pick up bits and pieces of information dropped by the parties involved in the making of the game one way or another. Representatives of one website apparently got to take a look at an early version of the game, and they were quick to let the hungry community have a couple of crumbs of much-needed information. Apparently, the new Battlefront will have a higher number of high-definition weapons than its predecessors, and there will be a definite strategy involved in wielding and using these weapons. The weapons will apparently dictate the fighting style on the part of the player,…