STACK July 2017 Issue 153

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@ E3 2017
For the second year in a row,
EA has staged its own event
at the same time the E3
circus is in town. Last year, EA Play
was held a mere five-minute stroll
from the Los Angeles Convention
Center and during the first two
days of E3.
This year, EA Play ran from
Saturday June 10 to Monday
the 12 th , and moved across
town to the Palladium in
Hollywood. Like last year,
the public were invited
to attend and by the
scheduled kick-off time on
Saturday afternoon,
a queue wrapped
around three sides
of the extensive
site.
Inside, the
lines to play
Star Wars:
Battlefront II were equally as long.
One sunburnt fan told us that he’d
waited in line for over three hours
to play the 15 minute multiplayer
demo.
A short presentation preceded
the multiplayer that now offers up
a tweaked class system with four
new options for players – assault
trooper, heavy trooper, specialist
(for all the snipers out there),
and officer class with the ability
to heal.
The massive 20v20 Assault
on Theed from the Episode I
demo featured iconic character
cameos (if you were lucky
enough to find them)
– from Han Solo and
Boba Fett, to Rey
and Darth Maul.
The multiplayer has
undergone quite
an overhaul; the
gameplay
has been
tightened
and it looks
fantastic.
We were
fortunate enough
to get a behind-closed-
doors look at the new single-
player mode. The inclusion of a
campaign mode in Battlefront is
something everyone – including
even Simon Pegg – has pleaded
for. Development here is being
handled by Motive Studios,
headed up by Jade Raymond,
an accomplished developer who
helped bring the Assassin’s Creed
franchise to life for Ubisoft.
Events, as is now well-
publicised, take place between
Return of the Jedi and The Force
Awakens, and, according to the
dev leading the presentation, has
been scrutinised by the Lucasfilm
story group to ensure all the
details fall within strict Star Wars
lore. You play as elite Imperial
special forces soldier Iden Versio,
and after a brief run-through
presentation of a level, we were
surprisingly handed the controller
to play through it ourselves.
Under Rebel attack, we get our
first look at a space battle (another
feature requested by fans of the
game), chasing X-Wing fighters
sat in a TIE Fighter. It’s a classic
070 JULY 2017
visit GAMES FEATURE
EA PLAY
Play time
At EA
StarWars:
Battlefront II
Words Paul Jones and Alesha Kolbe
StarWars:
Battlefront II