Battlefront II Revisited: Royalty

Welcome back to my series “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 7^th mission Royalty

Please be aware there will be spoilers for the story

Previous missions:

• The Cleaner
• The Battle of Endor
• The Dauntless
• The Observatory
• The Storm
• Outcasts

Following on almost directly from the last mission, we see Leia on the ground in Theed watching Imperial ground forces arrive. Instantly, the reason for the default Leia skin (which was never seen in the movies) becomes clear, as this is the look she had in the Shattered Empire comic that showed the beginning of the previous mission.

As Leia watches the Imperials arrive, she is joined by Shriv, Iden and Del, the first time we see them out of their cockpits to properly notice that they have replaced their Imperial armour for more appropriate uniforms from the Rebels. With Shriv and Del both having mechanical experience, leia send Iden with Shriv while keeping Del with her. The plan is that Theed has a defensive system, but power relays around the city need repairing in order to divert the power back to the palace and set off the defensive system.

And as the mission begins, it becomes clear that we will be spending this level playing as Leia, which is awesome, but also not ideal for me as I am not someone who plays shooter’s often, so I prefer to be able to aim a little closer, which is not possible with her main weapon due to its secondary fire mechanism, while her flash bang and portable shield are also not ideal for my style of play. Luckily, the final ability of a rapid-fire E-11 plays into my style better and refreshes pretty quick. Typically, I wrote this just days before the “Age of Rebellion” update that made changes to all 3 of Leia’s abilities, which I think will have actually brought her slightly more in line with my ideal style of play.

“Stay close! I’ll keep us safe!”

And so for most of this level, we are escorting Del from one relay to another, then protecting him while he fixes the relay – with other Rebel and Naboo troops around us. I do love how there are moments where we see civilians running for safety, while we also get a moment when an AT-ST blocks our way to a relay, only to be destroyed by a Y-wing bombing run that Leia calls in – I wish this moment had been more interactive, with us having to mark the target for the bombers. I do like how we are able to see the troops being delivered in shuttles at some points rather than just appearing from nowhere, while the hordes aren’t numerous enough to be a serious issue at lower difficulties. While the relays are being fixed by Del, we get communication from Iden and Shriv to say that they are pinned down by an AT-ST so will be unable to get back to our position.

Once the relays are fixed, we make our way back to the Palace Plaza, where a serious of defensive positions have been put up, while Imperial forces advance along with an AT-AT and an AT-ST. Our job here is just to hold the defensive positions for as long as we can, creating an organised retreat across the plaza and up the palace steps, before finally entering the palace once Del had prepped the defensive system – an ion pulse, which Queen Amidala had put into construction following the Naboo Invasion.

“I think we just won.”

The ion pulse goes off, stopping the electronics of anything in its radius: weapons, walkers, TIEs and droids – including Iden’s ID-10, which Shriv manages to catch. The defending forces who made it inside the palace emerge (with their weapons still working) and force the now-unarmed Imperials to surrender.

A little later, Iden and Del have reunited in the palace, when Leia comes over, fully aware of who they are and their previous role in the Empire, which neither Iden nor Del denies. Leia praises them and says that it’s clear the pair aren’t just running, but that the fight means something to them. Iden agrees that they have been fighting for so long, but have realised they were fighting for the wrong side. Leia welcomes Inferno into the New Republic. And so, a story that was marketed by showing us fighting just for the Empire sees us officially switch our allegiance to the New Republic just half way through the story. While I feel that they did have a natural reason to swap sides, I think that this is a moment where we would have benefited from Del being more interested in fighting for the New Republic and Iden having to come around to the idea, and I would have also preferred a lot more time as part of the Empire before switching sides.