Why 'Star Wars: Battlefront' Won't Have Space Battles

Game Rant

By GR Staff

Published May 9, 2015

Why won't 'Star Wars: Battlefront' have space combat? Because DICE wants to keep the action focused on one location, creating the large-scale battles that define the 'Battlefront experience.'

As revealed at last month's Star Wars Celebration in Southern California, DICE and Electronic Arts' Star Wars: Battlefront revival will have many of the features that made the original two games so popular: large scale Rebel-vs-Empire battles, levels ripped straight from the original trilogy (and a couple of new locations, too), and lots and lots of bots.

Know what it doesn't have? Space battles.

That may not sound like a big deal, but the omission of space combat has fans up in arms, and with good reason: Star Wars Battlefront II featured space battles, and some players consider them one of the best parts of the game. Removing popular features from a game is never a good sign. Add in the ten year gap between Battlefront's console editions and players' lingering distrust of DICE following Battlefield 4's disastrous launch, and gamers' outrage isn't just understandable, it even seems a little justified.

Electronic Arts and DICE have heard the complaints, and while nothing's going to change, DICE General Manager Patrick Bach took to the Official PlayStation Magazine (re-reported by PlayStation Universe) to explain why space battles didn't make the cut. It's not, as some fans speculated, because DICE is lazy, or because developers are rushing to get Battlefront out in time for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Instead, it's all about keeping the game focused.

We want players to stay in the same [environment] - we don't want players to fly off and do something over *here.* It's about the Battlefront experience, so we want to keep you in-atmosphere and fighting with the infantry.

Basically, Battlefront will not include space battles because developers want to keep combat centered on a single (if expansive) location. At first glance, that makes sense: Battlefront includes spaceships, they're just confined to the atmosphere. Of course, Battlefront II gave space combat its own mode, called Space Assault; if space battles were air-only, it'd be easy to keep fights tight and chaotic.

Space battles aren't the only feature missing from the new Star Wars: Battlefront. The game won't ship with a dedicated single player campaign either, although solo players can replicate the online experience using bots.

Thankfully, Star Wars fans who are skeptical about DICE's offering have other options for Jedi-based gaming this fall: Disney Infinity 3.0 ships with two Star Wars-themed playsets focused on the original and prequel trilogies, with a third based on The Force Awakens coming later this winter.

No word yet on whether or not Disney Infinity includes space combat - Game Rant will keep you posted.

Star Wars: Battlefront comes out on November 17, 2015 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: PlayStation Universe