The original “Star Wars: Battlefront” is not only one of the most memorable games in the “Star Wars” franchise, it went down in history as one of the most successful games ever, and attracted a huge following of fans. When EA announced that they’re rebooting the franchise with a new game, fans were understandably upset – on one hand, it was great news, on the other, the company’s recent handling of “Battlefield” has left some questioning whether they want to see EA touching the “Star Wars” series again.
Among the rumors that triggered controversy was the claim that the game will be played entirely from a first-person perspective, as opposed to the original “Star Wars: Battlefront”, which was a third-person shooter. Recently, EA came out with a statement to calm fans down, announcing that the game will include the option to play it in third person, and will even give more precise control over the camera perspective than the original did.
In addition, the new game is expected to redefine the way the player interacts with the world and the storyline, by giving them more meaningful choices, and allowing them to branch out the story in more interesting directions through their actions. This was something that fans have been criticizing the original for. Although there is nothing wrong with linear games per se, the universe of “Star Wars” is one full of opportunities for meaningful choices, and making a linear game would be a waste of a huge potential.
As for the main question that everyone has been asking – the release date for the game seems to be finalized now, as it’s scheduled to come out for the holiday season in 2015. It’s not rare for companies to want to make a release in time for Christmas, but some fans have been skeptical of the timeframe for this reason. If EA rush the game in order to make sure that it’s out in time for the holidays, this could lead to another poor release, and will damage the “Star Wars” brand in gaming forever.
This has been further fueled by EA’s recent style of directing the development studios under their control – particularly DICE, who’re also working on the new “Star Wars” – where they have been forcing developers to rush their releases in order to meet certain hard deadlines. This has been commonly criticized as ultimately harmful to the development process, as it has resulted in several poorly executed titles which harmed EA’s reputation. On the other hand, “Star Wars: Battlefront” could be the perfect opportunity for the company to win back fans’ trust.