Pop quiz, no Googling allowed: How many modes are there in Star Wars Battlefront (opens in new tab)? Trick question, because even if you had the previous number correct, EA and DICE revealed three more today. Say hello to Heroes vs Villains, Battles, and Training Missions.
Heroes vs Villains (opens in new tab) is definitely my personal standout, pitting two teams of six against each other, with three players taking the role of random Heroes and three players on the opposing team donning their best black cloaks as random Villains. Remaining players spawn as Rebel troops or Stormtroopers, and iconic characters who fall in battle respawn as these standard footsoldiers. The goal, naturally, is to eliminate the enemy’s special characters.
Battles (opens in new tab) will be the smallest-scale skirmishes, at least in terms of human-controlled troops; each side will have only one player, and matches can be experienced with a team of AI squadmates or 1v1. If you want to play Han Solo, the Hero Battles variant functions the same way, but players will control an iconic Star Wars character instead of Nameless Trooper #66. Battles and Hero Battles can also be played splitscreen for that classic “Hey, I invited you over here, maybe don’t be such a jerk” couch play.
Lastly, if you’re not feeling ready to jump into the thick of intergalactic warfare right away, Training Missions (opens in new tab) will get you accustomed to Battlefront’s various methods of vaporization. Five missions will take you from boots on the ground to hands behind the wheel (do they have steering wheels in Star Wars?) to wings in the air as you learn how to Star Wars better than the other team.
Whew! Now, with Battlefront due on store shelves in less than a month – November 17, to be exact – I don’t think we’ll be seeing any more new modes announced. Right? … Right?
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