News update: Star Wars Battlefront II's Last Jedi season is here
Star Wars Battlefront II's Last Jedi content has finally dropped. The free DLC includes two new maps: Crait and D'Qar, two new playable heroes: Captain Phasma and Finn, two new hero ships: Tallie Lintra's A Wing and a major upgrade for Poe Dameron's X Wing. It's not just about multiplayer either, with a handful of new story chapters that bridge the gap between the Return of the Jedi and the Force Awakens, detailing the story of the rise of the First Order.
The 9.97GB update also includes major changes to the multiplayer, including hero and weapon tweaks, and bug fixes. You can find the full list of changes over at the official Battlefront II forums .
It's also recommended that you stay away from the extra story content until you've watched the new film, to avoid any potential spoilers.
That being said, here's absolutely everything you need to know about Star Wars Battlefront 2.
Star Wars Battlefront 2: Everything you need to know
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is finally here. Announced at this year’s Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, EA’s sci-fi-themed shooter sequel arrived just before the new film in the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. But, what new goodies does it bring to the table, and does it look to improve on the original’s mistakes?
For starters, there’s a proper single-player campaign this time around. A welcome addition considering that the original Battlefront reboot was multiplayer only, this year we’re treated to a proper fully fleshed-out campaign, putting you in the shoes of an Imperial soldier. It’s good being bad.
And, the multiplayer has been expanded too, with a new class-based combat system and multiplayer matches spanning all three Star Wars eras. If that doesn't have you convinced, here's absolutely everything you need to know about Star Wars Battlefront 2, including UK price, singleplayer and multiplayer details and post-launch DLC details.
1. Star Wars Battlefront 2 UK price and release date: How much does it cost?
Star Wars Battlefront 2 released on 17 November in the UK for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. As it stands, you can currently buy the regular physical edition of the game for just £47, and the Elite Trooper Deluxe Edition – which includes a handful of different combat upgrades for your multiplayer classes, and cosmetic items for both Kylo Ren and Rey – will set you back £70.
2. Star Wars Battlefront 2 campaign: What's the story?
Star Wars Battlefront 2 has a fully-fledged single-player campaign. The 2015 original was a tad lacking in offline content, shipping with a multiplayer focus and a handful of split-screen, wave-based skirmishes for offline battles.
That’s not the same this year, though. This year, we're thrust into the role of Iden Versio, the leader of Inferno Squad, an elite special forces unit of the Galactic Empire. Along her journey, you'll witness the destruction of the second Death Star on Endor, with the story focusing on the Empire's fall from power, and the introduction of the First Order - the bad guys in the recent sequel trilogy.
Now that the credits are rolling after finishing the roughly 5-hour or so campaign, I'm impressed with what EA has managed to achieve. Without delving into spoiler territory, Dice's writers have managed to create an excellent story that fits well with the rest of the exhaustive Star Wars universe. Iden's story is – big spoiler – not quite as Imperial heavy as I'd have liked, but given this is Lucasfilm's handiwork I can understand not wanting to humanise the bad guys so much. After all, every Star Wars film likes to keep a massive divide between good and evil.
Still, the short-ish story introduces a handful of new characters, including a wise-cracking alien officer, and also gives you a brief bout of playtime with Star Wars' iconic heroes. I won't spoil who you play as, but let's just say it's the usual Star Wars culprits.
The gameplay too serves very much as an introduction of what to expect in the multiplayer but doesn't feel tutorial-heavy. You'll be taking part in starfighter dogfights, and blasting at enemies on the ground. In short, it's a fresh take on Star Wars lore and offers enough gameplay variations to keep you engaged until the credits roll.
Speaking of which, while details are a little scarce, there is some free story DLC coming to Star Wars Battlefront 2 as part of the 'Last Jedi' season on 13 December, along with some extra multiplayer content (more on that later).
3. Star Wars Battlefront 2 multiplayer: Modes, maps and planets
When it comes to Star Wars Battlefront 2's multiplayer, there's plenty to get your teeth stuck into. At least, compared to the amount of content the original had to offer at launch.
For starters, we have the 14 multiplayer maps. Pick up Star Wars Battlefront 2 and you'll be fighting on the Death Star II, Kashyyyk, Ryloth, Jakku, Endor, Hoth, Kamino, Starkiller Base, Yavin 4, Mos Eisley, the Unknown Regions, Naboo, Takodana and Fondor. For comparison, the original Star Wars Battlefront launched with only 4 different locations.
As for multiplayer modes, we're treated to space battle-filled Starfighter Assault, which has you taking out enemy flagships and thwarting enemy bombing runs. There's objective-based Galactic Assault with boots on the ground combat and team deathmatch-style Blast. There's also Strike, a capture the flag-like game mode, and Heroes vs Villains sees you pitting iconic Star Wars characters against each other.
4. Star Wars Battlefront 2 multiplayer: How do the classes work?
More of the original game’s biggest criticisms? It didn’t have class-based multiplayer combat. Rather, you choose your loadout on any character skin, it felt a little basic, and there wasn’t this rock, paper, scissors-like system found in, say, Blizzard’s Overwatch or Call of Duty .
Multiplayer classes are a thing, though. in Star Wars Battlefront 2 you can choose from four distinct classes; Assault, Heavy, Officer and Specialist, each with their own specific set of weapons and abilities. The Assault class, for instance, is your typical run-and-gun soldier, complete with a shotgun and fast firing weapons, while the officer class supports the rest of the team with health buffs, but has less health than the other classes and only has a pistol at his disposal.
5. Star Wars Battlefront 2 characters: Who can we play as?
The best thing to come out of EA’s Battlefront reboot lies in its playable hero classes in multiplayer. Playing as Luke Skywalker, cutting through an army of Stormtroopers was a real thrill – there was nothing quite like it – and that returns in the sequel.
And there's more than ever, too. Like the original, creative liberties are taken into account when it comes to heroes going head-to-head with villains. After all, Yoda was long dead before Kylo Ren was a thing, but seeing them duke it out in a multiplayer match is a common occurrence.
As it stands, the current list of heroes includes Darth Maul, Yoda, Kylo Ren, Rey, Han Solo, Boba Fett, Leia and Luke Skywalker. Both Finn and Captain Phasma will also be available as soon as The Last Jedi expansion drops on 13 December.
6. Star Wars Battlefront 2 locations: What eras can you play?
If you're not a fan of the original Star Wars trilogy, 2015’s Battlefront wasn’t for you. If you like the prequels and those ongoing sequel movies, then this ought to pique your interest.
All three Star Wars eras are playable in Star Wars Battlefront 2 . In particular, the prequel, sequel and original trilogy eras are found in the game's multiplayer, with single-player reserved solely to the original trilogy and the rise of the First Order. Will we ever get to play as JarJar, though? One can only hope.
7. Star Wars Battlefront 2 space battles: Fighting off the ground
Massive space battles are Star Wars Battlefront 2's raison d'être. As with a lot of the sequel’s flashy features, the original didn’t have them at launch, focusing solely on air-to-ground combat. This may have been due to design limitations or, perhaps, just a complete lack of oversight on EA’s part. There was a hefty backlash when this didn’t appear.
But, space battles are here, and they're glorious. Criterion – best known for the Burnout series – handled the vehicle side of things this year, and weaving between asteroid fields and flying through imperial dockyards in high-stakes dogfights is a real treat, and makes for one of the best multiplayer game modes in this year's Battlefront.
8. Star Wars Battlefront 2 season pass: There isn't one
The best bit about Star Wars Battlefront 2, though? EA's sequel does not have a season pass. There’s no question that it divided the Battlefront community during its inception following the original’s launch, and is a system that's constantly been criticised.
But, it isn't here this year. Of course, it’s worth remembering that Titanfall 2 launched without any paid DLC; all of it was free. Star Wars Battlefront 2 adopts a similar model, with free maps, weapons, characters and game modes.
The first free content drop is the 'Last Jedi' season, which features two new heroes: Finn and Captain Phasma, two new maps: Crait and D'qar, as well as a bunch of in-game challenges. There's also going to be a new section of singleplayer, called Resurrection, which picks off where the campaign left off. Expect the Last Jedi season to drop on all platforms on 13 December, and more information can be found on the official EA website .
