Welcome to the start of a new series of articles: “Battlefront II Revisited”. When Star Wars Battlefront II was released in November 2017, a large part of my excitement was directed towards the inclusion of a single player story mode, which would be telling a new story in the canon and following a new set of characters: Inferno Squad. Having completed the story mode rather quickly, I have only really played the game in patches since as online multiplayer shooters are not really my thing, but all the recent improvements and new content have had me playing a bit more recently and I decided it would be fun to return to the story mode and give my thoughts on each level. Today looks at the 6th mission Outcasts
Please be aware there will be spoilers for the story
Previous missions:
“This is Iden Versio of the Imperial Raider Corvus, sending a general distress call to the Rebel Alliance. We surrender.”
On a Rebel Ship, Shriv Suurgav and a number of Rebels officers watch an incoming transmission from Iden Versio, announcing Inferno’s surrender. Shriv tells an officer to contact “the General”.
“The General” is revealed to be Lando Calrissian, who apparently has a close friendship with Shriv. As they make their way to where the Rebels are holding Inferno, Shriv and Lando discuss how Shriv was willing to pick them up despite thinking it was a trap – immediately Shriv’s humour is coming through (which we’ll see plenty more of duringt he mission) and making him an instant favourite for me. The pair enter the cell holding Iden and Del, who have already been debriefed by the Rebels.
We then enter a walking custcene, controlling Iden as she walks through the ship from the cell to the hangar with Del, Shriv and Lando. I like this as a way of keeping the narrative going, but keeping us interested and focused by having us control Iden. Through this walk, Lando announces that he is giving Iden and Del 2 starfighters and that they are free to go where they wish, however he hopes that they will go with him to Naboo, as The Empire is reportedly setting up Cinder satellites there. Though initially hesitant, Del and Iden agree to help on Naboo.
What follows for the rest of the mission is a relatively easy space battle controlling Iden in a Rebel X-wing. Due to the lack of updates to Starfighter Assault, it’s been a while since I flew a fighter, so while I am confident flying against the AI, there were a few hairy moments where I found myself almost crashing into my surroundings – clearly I’m no Ace pilot! Iden and Del come out of hyperspace above Naboo alongside Shriv’s Danger Squadron and a fleet led by Lando, coming to the support of 3 N-1 starfighters. I love how this directly repeats the events of the Shattered Empire comic, which shows this event from the point of view of Leia, who is in one of the N-1s alongside Shara Bey and Queen Soruna.
“Danger Five, Danger Six, don’t forget that you’re shooting TIE fighters now.”
The first objective is to help the N-1s and Danger Squadron take out the Cinder satellites, which is pretty easy to do as there is minimal fighter cover or turrets around the satellites, while the X-wing’s proton torpedoes and weapon overcharge will make short work of the satellites.
With the satellites now destroyed, attention turns to the Star Destroyer. A squadron of Y-wings begins bombing runs to take out the Star Destroyer’s shield array, and it is our job to defend them from the TIEs emerging from the Star Destroyer. This is against relatively easy, as there are only a handful of TIEs in the air at any one point (a combination of TIE fighters and TIE interceptors) and the AI will be much more predictable than a user-controlled ship in Starfighter Assault.
Once we hold off the TIEs long enough for the bombers to destroy the shield array, the mission is over and we get the final cutscene. The fighters pull back and the Rebels’ capital ship opens fire on the Star Destroyer. While most of Danger Squadron celebrate, Iden and Del are more worried as they notice that evacuating Imperials are not going by normal Imperial protocols – which state they should retreat to a safe place – and are instead making their way down to the surface of Naboo. Danger Squadron accompanies Leia, Shara Bey and Queen Soruna to the planet to prepare the defence of Theed.
Thanks for reading. May the Force be with you…
The Canon Padawan 