- Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
John Boyega gives us a full tour of Star Wars Battlefront II…
The Journey to The Last Jedi has been quite the ride so far, hasn’t it? Kicking off with Force Friday II, bringing countless numbers of toys and collectibles, along with a plethora of inter-connecting canon novels.
We are now approaching the final leg of that journey, with Star Wars Battlefront II, a video game experience like never before, where we will venture into 18 different Star Wars worlds, choose between our favorite heroes and villains, an arcade mode, multiplayer options, and the one I’m looking forward to, the first person story of Iden Versio, who will help us fill those major gaps between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.
Star Wars fanboy, John Boyega — Finn himself — takes us step by step through this one of a kind gaming experience, in a fantastic trailer brought to you by EA and Lucasfilm.
"Whether dominating the multi-player battlefield as Kylo Ren, leading your Squadron through thrilling dogfights in space, stepping into the boots of Iden Versio in a new single-player campaign, or mastering skills in split-screen arcade, this is a Star Wars experience like none other. With greater depth and progression than ever before."
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Star Wars Battlefront II has nearly tripled the number of locations
With just a quartet of planets in Battlefront, its sequel is bringing us 18 different worlds to explore, over every galactic time period. Here’s a description of each planet from the StarWars.com databank.
Prequel Trilogy
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Naboo:
The home planet of Emperor Palpatine and Padme Amidala-Skywalker, Naboo is rich with beauty and history. Explore the extravagant Theed palace, just watch your step, there might be a tattooed Sith waiting for you.
An idyllic world close to the border of the Outer Rim Territories, Naboo is inhabited by peaceful humans known as the Naboo, and an indigenous species of intelligent amphibians called the Gungans. Naboo’s surface consists of swampy lakes, rolling plains and green hills. Its population centers are beautiful — Naboo’s river cities are filled with classical architecture and greenery, while the underwater Gungan settlements are a beautiful display of exotic hydrostatic bubble technology.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Kamino:
The planet of Kamino is home to secretive cloners, damn good ones too. You’ll get the chance to travel through Tipoca City, where Clonetroopers are grown and trained for just one purpose, combat.
Purged from the otherwise complete Jedi Archives is all evidence of the mysterious world of Kamino. A lonely world beyond the Outer Rim and just south of the Rishi Maze, few could have predicted that Kamino would become a key contributor to a massive shift in political power in the final days of the Republic. Kamino is a planet of endless oceans and storms. From Tipoca City, the planet’s Prime Minister rules. Lama Su closely monitored the operations of Kamino’s most prized export: clones.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Kashyyyk
It’s never wise to upset a Wookiee, and you’ll want them on your side during this campaign. Travel to Chewie’s home planet and explore it like times past, such like you did as Darth Vader in The Force Unleashed.
Kashyyyk is the Wookiee homeworld, covered in dense forest. While Wookiees build their homes in the planet’s trees, they are not a primitive species, and Kashyyyk architecture incorporates sophisticated technology. One of the last battles of the Clone Wars was fought here under the leadership of Yoda.
The Original Trilogy
For those of you old-school Star Wars fans, these first set of maps will be right up your alley, going back to where it all started.
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Tatooine (Mos Eisley)
Be careful while venturing into the Mos Eisley Cantina, where you’ll bump into a wretched hive of scum and villainy, and who knows, maybe old Ben Kenobi can help you save the day?
Mos Eisley Spaceport: Obi-Wan Kenobi warned Luke Skywalker that he’d never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than Mos Eisley spaceport, and he was right. The famously lawless port on the surface of Tatooine was home to Hutt servants, rogues and smugglers of all species, lowlifes and fugitives, and desperate people trying to make a living any way they could.
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Hoth
Be sure to don three layers of those fancy parkas because the sixth planet of the Hoth system is cold this time of year. Also, don’t forget the Skywalker lightsaber, which could help you against lurking predators.
Hoth is the sixth planet in the remote system of the same name, and was the site of the Rebel Alliance’s Echo Base. It is a world of snow and ice, surrounded by numerous moons, and home to deadly creatures like the wampa.
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Yavin IV
A planetary moon with a rich, even Dark (Side) history, Yavin IV will be one of the most fun surfaces to explore. Just watch out for those pyramid shaped Holocrons or dark passages that might cause you to stray from your path.
One of a number of moons orbiting the gas giant Yavin in the galaxy’s Outer Rim, Yavin 4 was a steamy world covered in jungle and forest. It was the location of the principal rebel base early in the Galactic Civil War, and the site from which the Rebellion launched the attack that destroyed the first Death Star.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Bespin (Single Player Only)
The beautiful city in the clouds is one of great importance in a galaxy far, far away. We can hope that during this portion of the game that the Falcon will be at our disposal, to make this journey complete. You better hope Lando doesn’t make any deals with the Empire or your campaign adventure will end prematurely.
Secluded from galactic turmoil by its location in a little-visited sector of space, Bespin is an astrophysical rarity. An immense gas giant surrounded by a number of moons, the planet contains a band of habitable atmosphere among its endless clouds. The most well-known of these ventures is the opulent Cloud City, formerly under the administration of Lando Calrissian. During the tail end of the Galactic Civil War, the Empire garrisoned Bespin and took over Cloud City.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Endor (Single Player Only)
The sanctuary Forrest moon is one that will allow you to hide from your “enemy” in waiting. Plus, if you can get a few Ewoks to team up with you, your foe does not stand a chance.
Secluded in a remote corner of the galaxy, the forest moon of Endor would easily have been overlooked by history were it not for the decisive battle that occurred there. The lush, forest home of the Ewok species is the gravesite of Darth Vader and the Empire itself. It was here that the Rebel Alliance won its most crucial victory over the Galactic Empire.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Death Star II
Relive the Rebellion’s crushing defeat of the Empire, by going full-throttle on a trench run for the ages. We can hope for a character expansion back so you can play as Wedge or even Lando.
Hoping to crush the Rebellion once and for all, the Empire began construction of a second dreaded Death Star near Endor. But the project ran behind schedule; Death Star II was only half-finished, and the Emperor himself visited to oversee its completion.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Sequel Trilogy
If you want to explore the maps of newer content, then these worlds are definitely for you:
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Jakku ( Single Player Only)
Try and remain classified while in combat in this desert world filled with Dark Side secrets. Who knows, you might stumble upon a clandestine scavenger or find some one who is a big deal to help you in your efforts.
A harsh desert world, Jakku is a lawless place that’s home to thieves, outlaws and refugees. During the final years of the Galactic Civil War, Jakku was the site of a secret Imperial research base and served as a jumping-off point for warships heading into the Unknown Regions. The Empire made a last stand above the frontier planet.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Takodana
You might need the help of Maz in this battle, or if you’re fighting for The First Order, you’ll get to utter the words “traitor!” to your once companion and ally. Who else wants there to be the option of stumbling upon the Skywalker lightsaber and using it against your completion on this level?
A lush green world in the galaxy’s Western Reaches, Takodana has long served as the base of operations for the diminutive pirate queen Maz Kanata, whose ancient castle is a haven for smugglers, brigands, scouts and spies from numerous worlds.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Starkiller Base
Did you know that Starkiller Base was once the planet Illum, from Star Wars The Clone Wars? Unfortunately, your mission will be to blow up the once Jedi safe haven, but it’s the price you must pay in order to save the galaxy from the wretched First Order.
Deep in the Unknown Regions, the First Order has constructed a superweapon that uses an entire planet as its weapons platform. The deadly Starkiller harvests energy from its system’s star, contains it within magnetic fields inside its base’s planetary core, and then converts that energy into an ultra-powerful beam that blasts through hyperspace, able to sterilize the worlds of a distant star system with a single shot.
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D’Qar– Space Battle
A lush world in the Outer Rim, D’Qar is the principal base of General Leia Organa’s Resistance. Rebel pilots first surveyed the planet before the Battle of Endor.
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Crait
Now uninhabited, Crait is a mineral world dusted by a layer of white salt, reflecting the planet’s sunlight. It was once the site of a Rebel Alliance outpost, and has become a haven for the fleeing Resistance forces.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Unknown Regions
In the galaxy’s Unknown Regions, former Imperial officers, nobles and technologists plotted a return to power, building fleets and armies in secret. This movement became the First Order, ruled by Supreme Leader Snoke, and is now ready to reclaim the Imperial legacy.
These maps will allow you to venture into the Unknown Regions, where the Dark Side looms and where the First Order rose from the ashes, as well as some other planets that you may not be familiar with yet:
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Sullust
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Vardos ( Single Player Only)
A planet located in the Jinata system that was home to Iden Versio and Garrick Versio. It was described as an “Imperial utopia.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Fondor– Space Battle ( Single Player Only)
A planet located in the Colonies region of the galaxy. In the last years of the Galactic Republic, an important part of Eriadu’s economy. After the Battle of Endor, Commander Iden Versio of Inferno Squad was recalled to a shipyard above the planet and received orders for Operation: Cinder from her father and a sentinel droid.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
HEROES
Each hero has unique abilities for you to customize and master. Choose the right moment to call in your hero and turn the tide.
Play as your favorite Star Wars characters, in a wide variety of game modes, with most of the 14 characters confirmed, with a few still unofficially revealed.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Han Solo (confirmed)
Thanks to Battlefront II, being a scoundrel is no longer a bad thing, and actually positive for the greater good. Using your DL-44 pistol, the Empire or First Order does not stand a chance.
Smuggler. Scoundrel. Hero. Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon, was one of the great leaders of the Rebel Alliance. He and his co-pilot Chewbacca came to believe in the cause of galactic freedom, joining Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa in the fight against the Empire.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Chewbacca (confirmed)
Be as surprised as Han Solo when using the up-to-date Wookiee bowcaster, when obliterating your game-play enemies. Being a walking carpet never felt so good.
A legendary Wookiee warrior and Han Solo’s co-pilot aboard the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca was part of a core group of Rebels who restored freedom to the galaxy. Known for his short temper and accuracy with a bowcaster, Chewie also has a big heart — and is unwavering in his loyalty to his friends. He has stuck with Han through years of turmoil that have changed both the galaxy and their lives.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Yoda (confirmed)
Size matters not, especially when you choose to play as Yoda. Jump frantically around the screen, where even the likes of Darth Maul will not be quick enough to best you in combat.
Yoda was a legendary Jedi Master and stronger than most in his connection with the Force. Small in size but wise and powerful, he trained Jedi for over 800 years, playing integral roles in the Clone Wars, the instruction of Luke Skywalker, and unlocking the path to immortality.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Luke Skywalker (confirmed)
Get your hands on the iconic green-blade before The Last Jedi drops, allegedly, besting your foes using the Force or mad lightsaber skills. During the single-player mode, don’t be surprised to see the famous Jedi pop up in the forest of Endor.
Luke Skywalker was a Tatooine farmboy who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the greatest Jedi the galaxy has ever known. Along with his friends Princess Leia and Han Solo, Luke battled the evil Empire, discovered the truth of his parentage, and ended the tyranny of the Sith. A generation later, the location of the famed Jedi master was one of the galaxy’s greatest mysteries.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Rey (confirmed)
Once The Last Jedi is released, I’m hoping we get a double-bladed lightsaber made out of her scavenger staff as an update for the game.
Rey is a Jakku scavenger, a survivor toughened by life on a harsh desert planet. When the fugitive droid BB-8 appeals to her for help, Rey finds herself drawn into a galaxy-spanning conflict. Despite dismissing herself as “no one,” she learns that her life is being shaped by the mysterious power of the Force.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Finn (confirmed)
It’s unknown if you’ll be using a pistol or the Skywalker lightsaber, but one thing is for sure, you’ll have the opportunity to be as brave as Finn, making you a big deal in the process.
FN-2187 was trained since birth to serve the First Order as a stormtrooper, but a skirmish on Jakku awakened his conscience and drove him down a different path, one that proved both heroic and dangerous. He helped Poe Dameron escape the First Order – picking up the nickname Finn in doing so – and then sought his own freedom alongside Rey and BB-8.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Poe Dameron (rumored)
Poe Dameron is a commander in the Resistance’s Starfighter Corps and one of Leia Organa’s most-trusted operatives. The son of a rebel fighter pilot and a rebel commando, Poe grew up on stories of Alliance campaigns. A decorated X-wing pilot, he can fly anything – which is fortunate given how often his headstrong nature leads him into trouble.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Villains
If you are more of a Dark Side connoisseur, these tainted characters are for you:
Boba Fett (confirmed)
Even though the so-called best bounty hunter in the galaxy went out like a punk in Return of the Jedi, you’ll have a chance to redeem the Kamino born Fett, and who knows, maybe even fly out of the sarlaac pit once again.
With his customized Mandalorian armor, deadly weaponry, and silent demeanor, Boba Fett was one of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy. A genetic clone of his “father,” bounty hunter Jango Fett, Boba learned combat and martial skills from a young age.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Iden Versio
The main character, Iden Versio, who is the daughter of Imperial Admiral Garrick Versio, both hail from the planet Vardos. This is a world that is a proud member of the Empire, with the often oppressed non-human species of the time treated fairly there, which is rare for the regime of the Galactic Empire.
Iden is a graduate (with honors) at the Imperial Academy on Coruscant. She also served as a TIE Fighter pilot at the Battle of Yavin, where the novel begins, is one of only a handful of survivors, which includes the ruthless Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Emperor Palpatine (rumored)
Using Force lighting or the red blade is always a blast, where we hope to have a chance once again, when November rolls around.
Scheming, powerful, and evil to the core, Darth Sidious restored the Sith and destroyed the Jedi Order. Living a double life, Sidious was in fact Palpatine, a Naboo Senator and phantom menace. He slowly manipulated the political system of the Galactic Republic until he was named Supreme Chancellor — and eventually Emperor — ruling the galaxy through fear and tyranny.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Darth Maul (confirmed)
This deadly Sith assassin gives you the option for a dual-bladed lightsaber, which will come in handy when facing the likes of the allusive Yoda.
A deadly, agile Sith Lord trained by the evil Darth Sidious, Darth Maul was a formidable warrior and scheming mastermind. He wielded an intimidating double-bladed lightsaber and fought with a menacing ferocity. Though he fell in battle against Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Zabrak from Dathomir would prove to be much harder to destroy than originally believed.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Darth Vader (rumored)
After seeing Rogue One, who else wants to wreck shop as Vader? Yeah, me too.
Once a heroic Jedi Knight, Darth Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force, became a Sith Lord, and led the Empire’s eradication of the Jedi Order. He remained in service of the Emperor — the evil Darth Sidious — for decades, enforcing his Master’s will and seeking to crush the fledgling Rebel Alliance. But there was still good in him.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Kylo Ren (confirmed)
Tap into to your unstable side as the Kylo Ren, who is an unstoppable Force on the battlefield. Who else is hoping we get to fly his TIE-Silencer in the game?
A dark warrior strong with the Force, Kylo Ren commands First Order missions with a temper as fiery as his unconventional lightsaber. As a leader of the First Order and a student of Supreme Leader Snoke, he seeks to destroy the New Republic, the Resistance and the legacy of the Jedi.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Captain Phasma (confirmed)
Clad in distinctive armor of salvaged chromium, Captain Phasma commands the First Order’s legions of stormtroopers. A tough veteran commander, she has no use for fancy titles or complex war rooms, preferring to lead her troops in battle against the First Order’s enemies.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
All the game modes
With this breakdown of all the different game-play modes, you’ll have a better idea of what to expect, with also a first player campaign canon story-mode this time around.
Multi-player
Blast
- Fast-paced, close quarters combat.
Strike
- Strategic, objective-based battles.
Heroes vs Villains
- Where iconic Star Wars characters go head-to-head
Starfighter Assault
- Intense dogfights across high atmosphere and space.
Galactic Assault
- Epic 20 vs. 20 all-out warfare.
"Not ready for multiplayer yet? No problem. Perfect your skills and try out all your abilities offline."
Arcade Mode
- Split-screen co-op
- Solo-mode
- Also, earn awards you can use in other venues.
There is an important feature — Battle Points — that not only allows you to bring more of your Star Wars legends into game-play modes but your favorite hero ships as well, including the iconic Millennium Falcon.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Another important and upgraded feature is the Star Card:
"These powerful collectibles exist for everything you can spawn in as, be it a Trooper, a vehicle, reinforcement, or hero. You can find them in crates or craft and upgrade them using parts. The rarer tier card, the more powerful its effect in battle. Choose the right Star Card for the right situation and get ready to fight."
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
First-player campaign: Inferno Squad
Last, and certainly not least, is the game-play mode I’ve really been looking forward to, the single-player campaign, featuring Inferno Squad‘s Iden Versio.
Before we cross enemy lines, and most certainly before you begin the campaign mode, be sure to read Inferno Squad by Christie Golden, which you can read here, as well as check out both of our reviews:
Read the Non-Spoiler Review on Inferno Squad here.
Read the Full-Spoiler Review on Inferno Squad here.
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
The novel gives you a complete breakdown on the campaign’s main character and her origins.
"Star Wars Battlefront II single-player campaign debuts an untold story, helping bridging the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. As Iden Versio, Special Forces soldier is equally needful on the ground as she is in space, you fight for the future of the Empire, in a galaxy breaking apart, with a few familiar faces along the way:"
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Versio encounters a presence strong with the Light Side, as well as another who has turned to the ways of the Dark Side:
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm
Next: A guide on where to start with Star Wars canon
There are perks if you pre-order the game, which includes a multiplayer beta available starting Oct. 4, which you can reserve your copy of the game here.
What aspect of Battlefront II are you looking forward to the most? Tell us in the comments below and on our variety of social media pages.
The game drops this November 17, on the PS4, PC, and Xbox One, changing the gaming galaxy far, far away forever.