Port-o-remaster publishers Aspyr yesterday launched the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, bundling together the two 'What if Battlefield but Star Wars?' shooters originally released by Pandemic Studios and LucasArts in 2004 and 2005 (not to be confused with Dice and EA's uncolonic Star Wars Battlefront games from the mid-tensies). It's one of those rereleases that exists mostly for modern consoles, made a bit useless on PC by the fact that you can still buy and fully play the originals for half the price. It's made even less useful by launching in a right wonky technical state, with bad lag, crashes, and reportedly only three 64-player servers online at first.
]]>I appreciate when a mod knows the idea at its core, and makes just enough effort to realise that vision and release the mod. Too many mods got waylaid in Planet Half-Life screenshot roundup hell by a desire to make everything expansive and professional-grade. So I'm delighted by a mod for 2017's Star Wars Battlefront 2 which knows its core: it is funny to see dinosaurs do things that dinosaurs shouldn't be doing. So the JurassicFront replaces character models with dinosaurs, and away you go, shooting dinos around Naboo and the Death Star. That's the joke.
]]>On this week's episode of the Ultimate Audio Bang, we get all nostalgic as we pick our favourite FPS game modes over the years. It's mainly an excuse for me for me to bring up Gears Of War and it's long-forgotten Wingman mode, which I demand make a return to the series. I also learn that Hayden likes big games, big modes, and big comradery.
]]>Every month I throw half a dozen broken shovels at the sleeping forms lying around the RPS treehouse floor. I demand they dig a new hole for the monthly RPS Time Capsule of games we'd like to save from a certain year, and usually it isn't a problem. This time, however, the staff complained a lot about the year choice: it's 2005, baby, and they struggled. I'm okay with it though, because we ended up with a lot of cool abandonware and interesting choices I couldn't have predicted. Especially because, since I got to the Time Capsule first, I got to stuff in the most obvious choice.
]]>EA's exclusive reign over Star Wars game draws to a close with the news that Ubisoft are making an open-world Star Wars game, making this a curious week for the Epic Games Store to give away Star Wars Battlefront 2. For the next seven days, you can grab a free copy of Dice's for all sorts of authentically Star Wars-y zapping and swording in singleplayer and multiplayer modes. It has come a fair way since it launched crammed full of loot box crud. Once again, waiting for a freebie pays off.
]]>Disney have rebranded the Lucasfilm video games division, this time sending the Star Wars lords back to a name from 1986: Lucasfilm Games. That's the brand under which they developed games including The Secret Of Monkey Island and Loom. This seemingly is only a rebranding, mind, and they're not rebuilding the development studio. Because Disney run time on a loop, presumably they'll rebrand to LucasArts in 2025, essentially close it down in 2048, then return to Lucasfilm Games in 2056.
]]>Load you blasters and whip out your lightsabers, because Star Wars Battlefront 2 is the Epic Games Store's big freebie next week. I think I quite liked that one, it had a well fun mode where you got to run around and beat people up as General Grievous. You'll be able to claim it from Thursday the 14th January.
Before we get there though, this week's free game is the tactical roguelite, Crying Suns.
]]>The Dark side is defeated. Star Wars Battlefront - the 2004 one, not the 2015 one - finally has online multiplayer again. After over a half-decade of awkward workarounds and shuttered servers, a small update to the Steam and GOG copies of Pandemic Studios' galactic toybox lets us finally return to Star Wars' low-poly 64-player battlefields, assuming there are even enough players to fill a match these days.
]]>War never changes, but sometimes old wars wind down so we can have a bash at new ones. Dice are waving goodbye to Battlefront 2 with today's final update, letting people duke it out on Scarif - better known as 'that planet from the end of Rogue One'. There are other new bits and pieces, but the big picture news is that Dice are shifting their efforts to the next Battlefield. The end of Battlefield V is nigh too, you see, with one last big update due in June.
What lies over yonder war horizon? We don't exactly know, but we do know something with Battlefield in the name is planned for next year.
]]>The pre-release Star Wars marketing push has already infiltrated unrelated games like Fortnite with special in-game events this week. Naturally, actual Star Wars games will be getting a bump of relevant content as well. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is adding some new Rise of Skywalker content tomorrow as part of the new Celebration Edition of the game.
]]>Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is out today, letting you follow in the roguish bootprints of young force punter Cal Kestis, played here by Archie of Archie comics. In celebration of his boyish padawan appearance, and the way he uses a deadly weapon like you’d use a torch app with dodgy permissions to find your keys, let’s make a list. A list of the least qualified Jedi (and Sith) in PC games.
]]>Last year was a good year for Star Wars games, since we got the release of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and there are more Star Wars game adventures to come, so it seems like a good time to check in on the best Star Wars games on PC. 2024 hasn't started off quite so well, with EA cancelling the Star Wars FPS game Respawn were working on. But there's a new Jedi game in the works there, Star Wars Outlaws at Ubisoft, and the mysterious Star Wars Eclipse at Quantic Dream. That's a lot of Star Wars still coming down the laser cannon, so you'd better get some practise with the Force in now. There are, of course, a lot of Star Wars games, from Lego adventures to podracing, amnesiac Sith and everything in between - which is why our list of the best Star Wars games is so useful. Whatever kind of Star Wars story you're after, you'll find something to enjoy on our list of the 10 best, right here, right now.
]]>HDR on PC hasn't improved much in 2019. Despite there being more HDR gaming monitors than ever before, the very best gaming monitors for HDR continue to be quite expensive compared to non-HDR monitors, and the situation around Windows 10 support for it is still a bit of a mess. However, provided you're willing to fight through all that, then the next step on your path to high dynamic range glory is to get an HDR compatible graphics card.
Below, you'll find a complete list of all the Nvidia and AMD graphics cards that have built-in support for HDR, as well as everything you need to know about getting one that also supports Nvidia and AMD's own HDR standards, G-Sync Ultimate and FreeSync 2. I've also put together a list of all the PC games that support HDR as well, so you know exactly which PC games you can start playing in high dynamic range.
]]>Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is a game so nice, they used its name twice. Not to be confused with the DICE-developed (and still growing) Battlefield-esque shooter, the Pandemic-developed original incarnation is still considered the pinnacle of pick-up-and-play Star Wars fun by many. A messy team laser-fight with a slew of game modes for both solo or online play.
But with Pandemic's demise sinking fan's hopes for a sequel, it has fallen on the community to keep the game and its multiplayer servers afloat, and they have done so with aplomb. Here are the mods you'll need to jump into online play, and a few wilder picks, including Tron and Mass Effect-themed total conversions.
]]>I dearly wish I had something funny or relatable to say about the year 2005, dear reader. But I was 10, too young to care that Star Wars was in a bit of a funk and deeply out of touch with the culture. The games were good, mind, even if I hadn't quite discovered PC gaming. Nope, I was cracking out rounds of Star Wars Battlefront bot matches on the sofa or replaying that one Republic Commando demo a few dozen times. Time being a flat circle, EA have detailed tomorrow's big Star Wars Battlefront 2 Cooperation Update. It's bringing back bot matches, the Republic Commando, and a forgotten jungle world from the depths of 2005.
]]>Let me take you back to 2005, when game names were probably just as stupid but at least a little less confusing. I'm like, twelve. I've just discovered multiplayer first-person shooters are a thing, that I like them, and that I like Star Wars: Battlefront 2 in particular.
My tag used to be "Oblivion", and my obsession grew to the point where I once joined a server and someone instantly said "oh no not this guy".
]]>Before we get to the lasers, you must wade with me through the ridiculous murk of stupid video game names. This is a mod for 2005's Star Wars: Battlefront 2, as opposed to 2017's Star Wars Battlefront 2. That makes it far more interesting to anyone who devoted several of their formative years to colonified Battlefront but bounced off its modern incarnation. Especially so once you remember Star Wars: Battlefront 3 was nearly a thing, and that this mod is chasing what was planned for that - along with much else besides.
It's been playable for years now, but the modders only recently got multiplayer working. You know. The good bit.
]]>The rolling, shielded, three-legged Droidekas are headed to Star Wars Battlefront 2 on June 26th, in the next big free update for the once-maligned online shooter. While of little narrative importance, their cool-as-heck design cemented them as one of the most memorable fighting machines in the prequels, and now we get to be them, if you can earn the points to buy in. Below, a video showing them off, along with a chunky new Clone Army hover-tank to drive plus a new Capital Supremacy map variant based on Naboo. The game of warring worlds is also under a fiver right now.
]]>Brace yourself. It is once again time to talk about boxes. When questioned yesterday by the UK government's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the vice president of EA's legal and government affairs insisted on describing loot boxes as "surprise mechanics". I read her language choice as partly a doomed attempt to move away from the stigma attached to loot boxes, and partly to do with an as yet un-passed US bill attempting to legally define the term, with the intention of banning both them and pay-to-win mechanics.
It also ties into her argument that loot boxes are more akin to Kinder Eggs than slot machines. Not that she'd ever mention the latter.
]]>Dice and EA have given a name and official rule-set to Star Wars: Battlefront 2's upcoming new mode. Capital Supremacy is due to roll out as a free update next Tuesday, March 26th and looks similar to the excellent Titan mode from the defunct Battlefield 2142. Large teams of mixed humans and bots work to hold points around a planetary battlefield. After holding territory long enough, a team can call in transports and ride them to the enemy capital ship where the attackers try to destroy it from within. While not exactly the same as Titan, it sounds similar enough to be exciting.
]]>Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the upcoming Star Wars game by Titanfall and Apex Legends studio Respawn Entertainment, will be a little less shrouded in mystery this April. In this official blog post, they announce that EA will be showcasing the game on Saturday, April 13th at the Star Wars Celebration convention in Chicago. If you've been off in a galaxy far, far away, Fallen Order is set shortly after the prequel trilogy, and tells the story of a young Padawan who somehow survived Order 66, the backstabbilicious Jedi purge carried out by the Emperor's loyal clone army.
]]>Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is still alive and kicking, despite being supplanted by Battlefield 5 as flavour of the week. The once-wonky shooter has seen some laudable improvements since launch (including loot boxes being almost entirely excised), and recent months have been especially kind. Today's update adds a new Clone Wars-era map, the Battle of Geonosis plus a young-ish Obi-Wan Kenobi playable. This is on top of recent updates including a Battlefield-ish squad-spawn system and General Grievous joining the baddies. I sense an impressive trailer below.
]]>EA made a show of cutting loot boxes from games such as Star Wars Battlefront 2, but they seem willing to go to court to fight for their presence in FIFA 18 and 19, and it might result in a legal battle.
After the Belgian Gaming Commission declared many kinds of loot box to be gambling, some studios restricted sales of random virtual rewards in the country. EA opted to disclose the odds on FIFA 19 loot boxes, but ignored the Commission's orders otherwise - continuing to sell packs of random virtual footballers. According to Belgian papers Nieuwsblad and Metro, this is now a criminal issue, and seems likely to end up in court.
]]>The exciting Starnews out of EA's E3 press conference was word of Respawn's game, Jedi: Fallen Order, but it wasn't the only Starnews. Proving that people in E3 press conferences will cheer at anything that moves, like some sort of motion-sensitive clapbots, EA today announced that Star Wars Battlefront 2 will start adding things based on the Clone Wars from the Star Wars prequels movies. I fell asleep during Attack Of The Clones yet several people in the E3 audience whooped today.
]]>I like Star Wars: Battlefront 2. I enjoy its big dumb bombastic fights and completely unsubtle everything. For me, it's an ideal shooter for 15-30 minutes of Star Wars flavoured cooldown in-between more demanding games, especially now it's escaped from loot-crate hell. As such, more of it is always good, and now that the new one-shot prequel movie is out, there's some tie-in stuff coming to the game. This June 12th, players get to take a run on Kessel, and dress up as Alden Ehrenreich, a canonically separate character from Han Solo.
]]>There's a new Star Wars film on the horizon, so that means it's time for fully-armed and cross-promotional battlestations. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (now freed from microtransaction hell) is well-positioned to capitalise on this, and is rolling out its first wave of Han Solo themed content today. This includes a new close-combat map set in Jabba's Palace, some Return of The Jedi-themed alternate skins and a 2v2 Heroes vs Villains arena combat mode.
Credit where credit's due; it'd be missing a beat if the 'Solo' season for the game was exclusively focused on multiplayer content. Fortunately for people who only take orders from just one person, DICE added Starfighter battles to the single-player/co-op arcade mode.
]]>The next starwad of Star Wars Battlefront 2 content will cross over with the adventures of dashing spacerogue Hanthony Solo, cross-promoting his upcoming prequel movie. It'll let players visit Jabba's Palace, the co-working hub where Hanthony did some freelancing in his early days. His mates Leia and Lando will also get costumes based on the time they picked him up from Jabba's office party that got out of hand when everyone started feeding things into the shredder.
Not everything is about Hanthony, as The Han Solo Season will also bring the new 2v2 Hero Showdown mode, UI improvements, and more.
]]>Loot boxes in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, and FIFA 18 are games of chance and do violate Belgian gambling regulations, the country's Gaming Commission has declared. Their loot boxes will need to be removed, the Commission says, or the operators could face hefty fines and potentially prison time. This is a big development as governments view loot boxes and their ilk with an increasingly critical eye. The Commission started investigating loot boxes in four big games last year following Star Wars Battlefront II's fiasco, though ironically Battlefront II is the only game whose loot boxes they deemed not gambling - after its recent changes, anyway.
]]>When Dice announced the Night on Endor update for Star Wars: Battlefront 2 last week, you didn't have to look far online to see would-be stormtrooper players proudly declaring their intent to mow down a thousand fuzzy little bear-folk. Today, their bravado puts them at the top of the teddy bears' picnic menu. In the new (and sadly time-limited) Ewok Hunt multiplayer mode, it's the Ewoks doing the hunting, and they're frighteningly good at it.
]]>Ewoks are scary, okay? Those dead eyes, those chattering teeth; they look like a man bitten by a radioactive Teddy Ruxpin under a full moon. EA Dice clearly agree, as the next new playmode for their initially wonky (but now recovering) team shooter Star Wars: Battlefront 2 features a squad of terrified stormtroopers trying to hold out just a few precious seconds longer against an ever-growing tide of murderous teddy bears.
]]>Just last week, Alice reported that the much-maligned (and not without reason) Star Wars Battlefront 2 was seeing a rework coming to its loot crates. Now that the update has landed, it's clear to see that was a little bit of an understatement.
In short: Loot crates are largely banished, containing only cosmetic items and purchased solely with in-game credits. Every character and unit is unlocked from the start. Star Card progression is level-based, per class/hero/unit. Real money can only be used to buy cosmetic gubbins that can also be earned through in-game currency and more besides.
]]>Four months after turning off microtransactions in Star Wars: Battlefront II following the big stupid loot box mess, EA are about ready to launch a revamp of the game's progression system and microtransaction monetisation. The good news: nothing that actually affects the action will be purchasable with real money. The so-so news: yes it still has a lousy damn progression system getting in the way of the game. The weird news: it seems the only thing EA will sell for money is character skins, contrary to an exec's mutterings about the risks of upsetting people with a pink Darth Vader.
]]>Last year's explosion of negative press regarding loot crates in games (especially regarding their impact on Star Wars: Battlefront 2) is still being heard around the world. Now, the issue has reached the ears of a growing number of lawmakers.
As covered by the Hawaii Tribune Herald, the latest force to get involved is the Hawaiian state government, members of which have proposed two new laws that could have massive repercussions on the industry if they were to become nationwide law.
]]>Electronic Arts quietly notannounced a new Battlefield game during their conference call last night, alongside notdelaying BioWare's Anthem. They said very little about it, because they acknowledge its existence but haven't formally announced it, see. Will it be set in the past, near-past, present, near-future, or future? Battlefield 5? Bad Company 3? Hardline 2? 1944? 2143? Hut hut! It's all a big mystery for now. Assuming EA follow their traditional Battlefield behaviour, they'll likely formally announce the game in May or June then release it in mid-to-late October.
]]>“You probably don’t want Darth Vader in pink,” said Blake Jorgensen, chief financial officer of Electronic Arts. “No offence to pink but I don’t think that’s right in the canon.”
That was a month ago. Jorgensen was speaking at a technology conference about his company’s latest shooter, Star Wars Battlefront 2, and the furore about loot crates which had engulfed the game upon release. At the time, EA had decided to temporarily disable the unpopular microtransactions, but resisted changing the system outright. For example, they didn’t want to make it so loot boxes contained only cosmetic things like character skins. The reason, said Jorgensen, was that this risked breaking Star Wars canon.
It is 36 days later and you can now download Darth Vader in pink.
]]>Oh look, Star Wars has snuck up on me again. At midnight tonight, cinema goers that are enthusiastic enough to brave the crowds will get to ogle The Last Jedi, sci-fi's premier space wizard opera. Cinema screens aren't the only place you'll find new Star Wars, though - EA are dropping a batch of free Star Wars Battlefront 2 content today, giving you the chance to get new Star Wars under your fingers as well as across from your eyeballs. That stuff gets everywhere.
The Last Jedi DLC brings a couple of new heroes, multiplayer maps and ships, though I'm most interested in the three new chapters for the singleplayer campaign.
]]>Keeping up with what the heck is going on with Star Wars Battlefront 2 is a tall order. The first-person shooter is now inextricably linked to the loot crate debate and the subsequent temporary removal of microtransactions, though the change did little to improve the game's reputation. The developers are still trying though: ahead of tomorrow’s season of content themed around The Last Jedi, DICE has pushed out an update that tackles the game's main bugbears, the economy and progression. The good news is that the focus seems to be on giving players more rewards, but the process is ongoing.
]]>When Electronic Arts turned off microtransactions in Star Wars Battlefront 2 over that whole stinking loot crate progression system mess, they said they would bring 'em back after a rethink. Well, EA's chief financial officer said on Tuesday that is still very much the plan. While he isn't sure how and when microtransactions will return, he seems fairly certain they wouldn't include cosmetic items which seem goofy or out-of-place in Star Wars - no pink Darth Vader, for starters.
]]>Following the Star Wars Battlefront 2 microtransaction debacle, last week the Belgium Gaming Commission launched an investigation into whether loot boxes came under their purview. VTM news (beware of the sloppy Google translation) have now reported on their conclusion, which is a resounding 'yes'.
Elsewhere in the world, Hawaiian politicians have spoken out, calling for legislation to end the sale of loot boxes to minors. So, will we be seeing greater restrictions on what games companies are allowed to sell any time soon? It's complicated, but probably not.
]]>Star Wars Battlefront 2 has no end of health problems, though at least it's now had some of its rougher edges patched up. The first official update, Patch 0.2, fixes save issues and spawn problems, as well as vehicle damage being calculated incorrectly and more. The devs also boast that they've made "major improvements" to the games stability and performance, so it might be worth checking to see how the game runs now if your computer was having problems before.
One of the fixes concerns players receiving high level Star Cards when they shouldn't have, which means that one of my gripes with the progression system was the result of a bug. Don't get too excited though - I've got plenty of other gripes.
]]>The Star Wars Battlefront 2 singleplayer campaign has already been judged , but here are my thoughts on the multiplayer front - loot crate warts and all.
]]>EA's fully armed and operational microtransaction station has fallen, for now at least - but in-game payments will return to Star Wars Battlefront 2. The sci-fi FPS has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons over recent days, due to the inclusion of a paid loot crate system that, many felt a) gave people who paid an unfair advantage and b) was arranged in such a way as to unduly coax people into repeatedly paying.
It's a story that has eclipsed the release of the game itself. And that's apparently the reason behind EA's unexpected announcement that they're turning off SWBF2's microtransactions.
]]>The hosts of the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show, have accidentally overdosed on EA games this week, and they don't like it. You could say they're in a ... critical condition! Ha ha ha. But seriously, don't buy the new Need For Speed.
]]>Star Wars Battlefront 2’s campaign is a gorgeous shooting gallery that takes you to amazing planets, both old and new. But is it any more than that? These are my thoughts on the single player part of the game, and I’ll be following up with a review of the multiplayer after the game properly comes out this Friday.
]]>A long time ago, a man worked out how to merchandise popular entertainment at a hitherto unprecedented level. 40 years later, C-3PO lunchboxes in Woolworths have given way to microtransaction loot crates in EA's Star Wars Battlefront 2. With the game out this week, millions of voices are already crying out in terror about the time and/or costs involved in accessing every character, weapon and rechargeable grenade variant. I'm here to cut through the noise and examine how loot crates, unlocks, payments, and grind work within SWBF2 - and how incorporating this oh-so-2017 goldrush into an online shooter disrupts the experience of playing it.
]]>Dice have boldly gone back to the drawing board once more to rework the progression system of Star Wars Battlefront 2, now making the high-end hero characters take less time to unlock. They've cut the unlock costs of fellas like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader by 75%, meaning players won't have to grind for squillions of 'credits' to play as their playground heroes. This follows Dice reworking -- but not removing -- the progression system of packing upgrades into loot crates. Those crates can optionally bought with real money, which is a whole other stink.
Oh and for fancy-pants Star Warriors with cash to flash, Battlefront 2's Deluxe Edition is out now - but not its regular edition.
]]>We’ve already been told that Star Wars Battlefront II will hand out expansions, maps and characters for free a la Titanfall 2. But we weren’t totally clued in about what that stuff would be. Well, we are now. Sadly, there are no laser glaives, the iconic weapon beloved by fans. But there are: ships, maps, gear and a campaign expansion. Remember that on top of this two new characters will arrive - the coward and imperial whistleblower Finn, and heroic tin woman Brianne of Tarth Captain Phasma.
What a time we live in, when Star Wars is crassly monetised. What a world! The idea this dear little mom & pop franchise of movies, comics, cartoons, toys, novels, statues, t-shirts, nappies, waffle irons, Christmas decorations, and tiki mugs could ever be used to wring pennies from pockets... it doesn't bear thinking about. But EA were trying to do just that with Star Wars Battlefront 2, packing upgrades into virtual loot crates that can -- optionally -- be bought for real money. Scandalous! So with the game's launch now mere weeks away, EA have announced changes to make loot crates and progression slightly less gittish.
]]>“Loot” used to be such a nice word. It brought to mind coffers piled with doubloons. Today it is often followed by the word “crate” and an expression of disgust. After recent controversies over the inclusion of loot boxes in games like Middle-earth: Shadow of War and Star Wars: Battlefront 2, the issue of this psychologically iffy practice has been brought up in the UK parliament in the form of two written questions submitted by a Cambridge MP. In short, they ask the government: what do you plan to do about “in-game gambling”?
]]>The recent Star Wars Battlefront 2 [official site] open beta showed the game itself has come on leaps and bounds since the first one, but the way progression was tied to a loot crate system left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths.
EA have responded to that criticism, and released a statement that clarifies some things about how the system will work when the actual game comes out. Players that pay will still have an advantage over those that don't - at least in the short term - but the most powerful items will be unlocked independently of loot crates.
]]>The free open beta test for Star Wars Battlefront 2 [official site] was supposed to end last night but Electronic Arts have decided to continue its mission to explore strange new modes, to seek our new players and new impressions, to boldly go where all those movies and books and comics and toys and cartoons and t-shirts and waffle irons and popcorn makers have gone before. The open beta will run for another two days and now end on Wednesday. You might fancy a go, as young Matthew Cox declared that "while Battlefront 2 surpasses the audio visual spectacle that was the only exceptional feature of the first entry in the series, it's also a deeper and more interesting game."
]]>While the Star Wars Battlefront 2 beta was a lark, the full game is still a month away. In the meantime, there’s still the much-loved original Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Last week, Disney brought back official multiplayer support for the Steam and GOG versions, and it looks like this has reawoken the mod scene a little bit, with Star Wars Battlefront Conversion pack -- it adds 25 maps and five extra game modes -- getting an update to make it work with the official multiplayer.
]]>Star Wars Battlefront 2 [official site] can make the same claim as its predecessor: you’ve never seen Star Wars looking this pretty outside of the movies. Birds flutter around the lush vegetation on Naboo and Takodana, and explosions scatter dust and dirt everywhere as laser fire lights up the battlefield.
I’ve been playing in the beta, and I’m happy to report that while Battlefront 2 surpasses the audio visual spectacle that was the only exceptional feature of the first entry in the series, it's also a deeper and more interesting game.
]]>Grab your crysknife, zip up your stillsuit, and boldly go into battle as Star Wars Battlefront 2 [official site] has launched its weekend-long open beta test. Until Monday, all and sundry are invited to download the beta through Origin. It packs several maps and modes, with everything from spaceship battles and urban infantry combat. Multiplayer is the focus but it does have a dash of solo action in the Arcade mode - not part of the singleplayer campaign, mind. We've have some thoughts on the beta later but for now, here's word that it's out.
]]>Online multiplayer has officially returned to Star Wars: Battlefront II with the launch of a new update ripping out the Battlefield-y shooter's dead GameSpy techguts. The update is now live for Steam and GOG versions of Battlefront II -- no, EA don't seem to have released a patch for the CD version -- and the pair do support multiplayer between each other, as you would hope. Though it does all seem a bit bugged right now.
Wait. Were you thinking of the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront II? No, this is obviously 2005's Star Wars: Battlefront II. I can't believe you've made such a foolish and flagrant syntaxical slip-up. Did you not see the colon? You should feel ashamed of yourself.
]]>"Pew pew!" goes the spaceship in new Star Wars Battlefront 2 [official site] viddies warping out of Gamescom, showing off the starfighting action in Dice's boldly-going shooter. Spaceship battles were added to the previous Battlefront in a paid expansion but this time they're free for everyone, which is grand. Starfighter Assault mode will pit teams against each other to complete (or block) multi-stage objectives, which I assume all revolve around blowing things up. The one EA are showing off now is the Battle of Fondor, so named because the Rebel Alliance was obsessed with fondling the door of an orbital shipyard.
]]>October the 6th be with you. (And also with you.) Lift up your Electronic Arts, as they've announced that the free multiplayer open beta test for Star Wars Battlefront 2 [official site] will start on October 6th, letting all and spacesundry fight around several corners of the Federation until October 9th.
]]>We already knew that Star Wars Battlefront 2 [official site] was doing away with season passes, instead doling out post-launch maps, modes and characters for free, but that doesn’t mean EA and DICE won’t be trying to tempt you to part with your cash in other ways. Battlefront 2 will feature optional microtransactions, letting players purchase crates with in-game currency and real cash. An EA-sponsored video from BattlefrontUpdates breaks down how this will work below.
]]>Each year E3 rolls around like a giant evil worm, crushing all that's good and pure. BUT that worm also announces lots of exciting gaming news as it wreaks its carnage upon the Earth. Here we have gathered every announcement, reveal, and exciting new trailer that emerged from the barrage of screamed press conferences over the last few days. And lots of it looks rather spiffy.
A rather enormous 47 PC games were either announced, revealed, or updated upon, with new trailers, information, and released dates that will all be missed by at least three months. We've collected the lot, with trailers, in alphabetical order, into one neat place, just for you.
]]>Oh thank goodness, EA might be learning. After years of DLC packs and season passes which empty pockets and split playerbases, they are slowly (or partially, at least) turning away from that. Following the example of Titanfall 2, Star Wars Battlefront II [official site] will release new maps, modes, heroes, weapons, and vehicles free for all players. EA announced that during their E3 presentation-o-rama today, also showing off some swish action spanning all the Wars in a new trailer as well as hosting a lengthy live demo of actual gameplay. First, the fancy E3 2017 trailer:
]]>Electronic Arts are kicking off E3 this year with their own press conference, which starts at 12pm local time here in Los Angeles. That’s 3PM Eastern, 8PM in the UK…around fifteen minutes from now. You can watch the conference live in the stream below, and I’ll be covering the main stories as soon as they happen.
Highlights will include more details on Star Wars: Battlefront II, hopefully letting us know what to expect from the singleplayer campaign, and a closer look at the just-announced Need For Speed Payback. Also sports. Lots of sports, including the two most popular varieties of football in the form of FIFA and Madden. The latter almost certainly won’t be announced for PC, which is a shame because American Football is a turn-based strategy game, so PC should be its natural home.
Edit: there's a strong suggestion that we'll get at least a teaser trailer for BioWare's mysterious Project Dylan, which probably has nothing to do with either the Nobel Prize winning electric Judas or The Magic Roundabout.
]]>After a long stretch of mumbling and leaking, EA have formally announced Star Wars Battlefront II [official site] for a November 17th launch. The boldly-going shooter's big addition is a singleplayer campaign, and a new trailer reveals that it focuses on a baddie whose story winds through thirty years of Star Wars history. She and her merry band of elite spacefascists have been in the cracks of the big stories, and we'll get to see her meeting big-name characters and whatnot while blasting zapguns. Here, check out the trailer:
]]>A cheeky peek at Star Wars Battlefront II [official site] has leaked out ahead of the official fan frenzy at the Star Wars Celebration this weekend. The wee teaser trailer will surely be pulled from the datanet by prowling cyberlawyers soon but it seems to introduce a little of the singleplayer campaign, as well as showing that the game will span the heptalogy and include everyone from Darth Maul and Yoda to Rey and Kylo Ren. Point your peepers at this before the cybersuits yank it and repossess your orbs:
]]>As Old Father Time grabs his sickle and prepares to take ailing 2016 around the back of the barn for a big sleep, we're looking to the future. The mewling pup that goes by the name 2017 will come into the world soon and we must prepare ourselves for its arrival. Here at RPS, our preparations come in the form of this enormous preview feature, which contains details on more than a hundred of the exciting games that are coming our way over the next twelve months. 2016 was a good one - in the world of games at least - but, ever the optimists, we're hoping next year will be even better.
]]>Many, many Star Wars games are coming from Electronic Arts, that much we already knew. EA took to their E3 stage today to repeat that, this time showing a few behind-the-scenes peeks with concept art and mocapmen from Battlefront II, Visceral's mysterious Star Wars game, and Respawn's equally mysterious own long time ago 'em up. Expect Battlefront II next year and Visceral's game in 2018. Here, have a look:
]]>Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen had several Star Wars games to discuss during an earnings call yesterday. I'm not entirely sure how an earnings call works but I imagine if you keep mentioning Star Wars games that your company is publishing at some point in the near future, everyone is happy.
"How many Star Wars will there be Mr Jorgensen, and when can we expect them?"
"Many and soon."
Wild applause breaks out in the boardroom.
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