We have new information about upcoming changes for Star Wars Battlefront II with the latest Community Transmission, giving us a look at what’s coming in 2019. This is a game that went through a horrible start with all the loot-crate issues, but it has come through a hard time and, almost 2 years on, still has a strong base of players, hence more content for the rest of the year.
I haven’t had much time to play in recent months, but I am hoping to find some time in the coming months to get back to the game, so have been trying to keep up to date with any changes. As I did with the news from E3 and EA Play, I will be looking at the new information and giving my thoughts on what we have coming.
Heroes & Villains: Venator & Dreadnought
This month, Heroes & Villains will be getting parts of the Separatist Dreadnought and Republic Venator interiors as new maps.
Personally, I really like this idea as the game mode can get repetitive so new maps will help to freshen things up. The maps also have the chance of a good variety with hallways and more open spaces, depending which parts of the map are used.
Capital Supremacy: Interior Changes
The Capital Ship phase of Capital Supremacy is getting a reboot. Rather than having a set number of reinforcements, the phase will instead be run on a timer. Aggressors will have 5 minutes to capture one of 2 Command Posts on the ship, which will give them an additional 5 minutes to fire on the generators. Any damage caused to the generator will be carried over to the next attempt if the timer runs out. As a result of these changes, there will some amendments to the maps themselves.
I like this change, but I do have some reservations. I am not a massive fan of the game mode as I found myself quickly getting bored of its repetitive nature, but this will hopefully help. The big thing for me here is the chance to target the generators – which sounds similar to the final phase of the Crait Galactic Assault – rather than simply holding down a button next to a panel. I do wonder if 5 minutes is enough, though as if someone can hold down a hallway, that time can quickly elapse. I also wonder if this will cause changes to the end of the Command Post phase, where the number of players making it to the transports would affect the number of reinforcements in the Capital Ship phase.
Contextual Spawning
As well as spawning on members of your Squad, Command Posts will become spawn points, providing they are controlled by your tea (even if they are contested).
I like this as it gives more importance to the Command Posts and allows you another chance to get straight back into the action. As someone who loved the original Battlefront games back in the day, it will be a nice moment of nostalgia.
Appearances: B1 Droids
New appearance skins are dropping this month for the Separatist droids, with new skins for all the B1 droids (Assault, Specialist, Heavy, Officer): Pilot, Jungle and Training. The default and Geonosis based appearances will also be options.
So after all the new clone skins, I’m glad that we are getting something for the droids, which if I’m honest I wasn’t expecting. With just slightly different paintwork, they may not be to the same degree as the clones, but at least there is something for people playing as the Separatists.
New Map: Felucia
September will see the Felucia map released for Capital Supremacy. The map is noted as containing a farm, a cave that used to be inhabited by an indigenous Rancor and the remnants of a Sarlacc.
While I’m excited to see another new map and I’m sure that it will be visually stunning, I must admit that I am disappointed here by the map having been built for Capital Supremacy as it means that my time playing it will possibly be limited due to preferring Galactic Assault.
New Mode: Co-op
September will also see a 4-player online co-op arriving for all Clone Wars maps. Depending on the map and the faction you and your friends play as, the battle will be either an offensive or defensive exercise. Players and AI will be able to appear as a trooper, reinforcement, vehicle, hero or villain.
As someone with limited friends with the game on Xbox One, this isn’t something that I will likely be playing. I like that reinforcements, vehicles and heroes are all going to be available for both the player and the AI and think this will be a good experience for those who try it, as long as the AI control is at a good level.
Singleplayer: Instant Action
September will see new offline content added with singleplayer Instant Action available for all Clone Wars maps. This will be a large scale combat mode that sees you and your AI team trying to control Command Posts against an AI enemy. Like in the Co-op mode, all regular troops, reinforcements, heroes and vehicles will be available for both he player and AI.
As someone who enjoys offline singleplayer modes, I am looking forward to this. As with the Co-op mode, I like all units being available as long as the AI is a decent level. I am disappointed in the maps being limited to the Clone Wars era (a regular criticism of mine this year) but I do like that the wording of the Community Transmission suggested this will change in the future. I do worry that these matches will get quite repetitive after a while, so I am a little disappointed that the mode is just capturing Command Posts and would have liked something with more phases of action like Galactic Assault, but this is a great start. I’m also a little disappointed there is no 2-player split-screen option available for if I have a friend round, but I understand that this is due to performance reasons.
Reinforcement: Clone Commando
As if that wasn’t enough new content in September, we are also getting a anew reinforcement for the Republic in the form of the Clone Commando. The reinforcement will come with the following weapon and abilities:
Primary Weapon: DC-17m Repeating Blaster Rifle – rather than a heat sink, it looks like the Clone Commando will have a reload function
Left Ability: Anti-Armor Attachment – Reconfigures the DC-17m into a grenade launcher that fires up to three small grenades, with high efficiency against vehicles and shields. The animations have been made to allow is to see the clone change firing modes.
Right Ability: Repulsor Blast – Discharges a short-range shockwave that temporarily disorients enemies and knocks them back.
Middle Ability: Battle Focus – Activates a damage protection aura for the Commando and nearby allies. Additionally, any damage the Commando deals to enemies replenishes his base health.
I’m always excited to get new playable units and the Clone Commando sounds awesome. Having watched Gregor in The Clone Wars single-handedly take on battle droids, it is clear that they are meant to be elite fighters and the list of abilities really sounds like they will have a great balance in most situations, while I am interested to see how the primary weapon feels compared to other units.
Appearance Challenge
September will also have a new community challenge granting players the chance to unlock a “highly requested appearance”. No confirmation has been given yet what the appearance will be, but the transmission states that “fans of Luke Skywalker and Star Wars: A New Hope will enjoy this one” makes me think that we are getting Luke’s farm-boy outfit, which I will really enjoy.
Looking forwards
Well that is plenty for the next month and a half, we were also teased more content over the following months:
- New reinforcements
- New appearances
- New menu system to choose an era
- Content inspired by The Rise of Skywalker
- New planet
- New reinforcements
First of all, I’m glad that we’re getting content up to the end of the year and hope that it continues beyond this. It’s great to hear that we are getting some content in line with The Rise of Skywalker as this will hopefully be the catalyst to getting more Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy content in early 2020. What interests me is the road map specifically includes “Reinforcement Appearances”, which will be great to see for extra variation amongst the reinforcements.
What are your thoughts on the content announced?
Thanks for reading. May the Force be with you…
The Canon Padawan 