Star Wars Battlefront Announced, Detailed

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Star Wars Battlefront Announced, Detailed

Posted by simoniker on Tuesday December 2, 2003 @08:02AM from the another-good-star-wars-game-alert? dept.

Tim Butler writes "Official Playstation Magazine has a few initial details regarding Star Wars Battlefront, a newly-announced online PS2 multiplayer game that borrows a lot from Battlefield 1942." The game, reminiscent of the previously covered Galactic Conquest mod for BF1942, has been confirmed for Xbox and PC as well, and is described as: "SOCOM's online-multiplayer experience, only with a wide variety of characters to choose from and a bunch of cool Star Wars vehicles to operate. You can play in the Galactic Civil War or the Clone Wars, meaning you can choose one of four armies to command (Rebels vs. Imperials or Republic vs. Separatists). [It] includes pretty much every major ride you've seen in a Star Wars flick." Update: 12/03 05:58 GMT by S : GameSpy adds that the developer is Pandemic Studios, creator of Star Wars:Clone Wars and the forthcoming Full Spectrum Warrior.

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I can already see it... by Aliencow · 2003-12-02 08:04 · Score: 1

So many "It's a trap"s ..
Will it ever stop? by ArchMagus · 2003-12-02 08:23 · Score: 1

Mien Got I'm getting tired of these tactical FPS games coming out like there's no tomorrow. It seems that the XBox is supported exclusively by those and a few choice sports games. I can't wait for the next big thing to come down the pipe. Cooperative story driven RPG's anyone (and yes, I know that Baldurs Gate was one, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.)
1. Re:Will it ever stop? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 08:41 · Score: 0
  
  "Cooperative story driven RPG's"
  
  YES! Thank you!!
2. Re:Will it ever stop? by Slider451 · 2003-12-02 10:44 · Score: 1
  
  Something like a multi-player version of KotOR? Bioware will come through for you, I'm sure. Have you tried NWN? HotU is in stores now.
  
  --
  Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
3. Re:Will it ever stop? by obeythefist · 2003-12-02 19:32 · Score: 1
  
  Story driven games will never be as big or as popular as they have been on the PC. Consoles seem to be purely for "twitch" reflex games.
  
  Console gamers want a different experience. They want FPS run and gun, they want to do it with an auto-aim function (because they like to use those simple gamepads instead of the flexibility of the mouse/keyboard interface). Console gamers become upset when they don't have unlimited ammo.
  
  The perfect example of this is DX2. Universal ammo! The designers probably assumed that console gamers wouldn't understand that certain weapons need to use different kinds of bullets. A bullet is a bullet, right?
  Console gaming is bringing about, to a large extent, the end of intelligent, story or plot driven gaming, which we only enjoyed for a brief moment, after Half Life and it's kin, but before the PS/2 began the end.
  I for one welcome our new console gamer overlords, and will be having my cognitive parts of my brain lobotomised and replaced with more twitch reflexes.
  
  --
  I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
4. Re:Will it ever stop? by li99sh79 · 2003-12-03 02:16 · Score: 1
  
  Story driven games will never be as big or as popular as they have been on the PC. Consoles seem to be purely for "twitch" reflex games.
  Console gamers want a different experience. They want FPS run and gun, they want to do it with an auto-aim function (because they like to use those simple gamepads instead of the flexibility of the mouse/keyboard interface). Console gamers become upset when they don't have unlimited ammo.
  Riiight, which is why RPGs are so poorly represented on consoles. I mean shit, compared to Doom, Final Fantasy VI just has lousy character development.
  Story-driven games are just as popular/prevalent on consoles as they are on the PC. Just look at all the attention being given to FF X-2 -sam
  
  --
  I was just here, where did I go?
Meanwhile... by ThePyro · 2003-12-02 08:24 · Score: 4, Funny

Shortly after the Star Wars Battlefront announcement, Rebel forces captured several dozen systems as Imperial troops deserted their assigned posts to camp AT-AT respawn points.
Another Canon Game by seen2much · 2003-12-02 08:30 · Score: 5, Insightful

It's really sad that with all the great expanded universe material out there, Lucasarts is sticking to making games based off the movies. I for one love Knights of the old republic. That is based 4000 years before the movies. And then the are the books. I would love to see a game based on the New Jedi Order books. But no let's play on Hoth and Tatooine again.

--

"Beware the squirrels"
1. Re:Another Canon Game by Trillian_1138 · 2003-12-02 09:09 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I wholeheartedly agree. At the same time, this is something that hasn't been done before (at least not in the Star Wars universe). I realize it will probably just be Battlefield 1942, but hell. Battlefield 1942 kicks ass, and I'm ready and willing to shell out some cash to play a well-done version of the same basic game, set in the origonal and new trilogies. I think for this type of game, where there can't really be a plot, setting it in the same time-line as the films makes it BETTER.
  
  Online FPS don't have the ability to truly tell a story, so I don't think it's unreasonable to use a story everyone already knows.
  
  I, for one, am eagerly looking forward to this game.
  
  -Trillian
  
  I still agree that Lucasarts should expand outside the movies. Well I bought and enjoyed Rebel Strike, by the end it was pathetic. WE'VE DONE THIS ALREADY! DOZENS OF TIMES!
2. Re:Another Canon Game by Gothic_Walrus · 2003-12-02 09:10 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Just so you know, you're most definitely not the only one who feels this way.
  Gabe, of Penny Arcade, covered this about a week ago in their news section (fourth post down, second of Gabe's).
  Having new games in unestablished territory would be great. Come to think of it, any games set in timeframes not covered by the movies could be extremely cool. Look at KOTOR. The developers were bound by some basic Star Wars rules, but they didn't have to worry about fitting the storyline into a movie's plot. Not having story constraints almost definitely made the game a better one. It's not a very fair comparison, but...
  The Episode I Game = Crappy game
  KOTOR = Great game
  There's definitely support for games outside of the movie timeframe, but we'll have to wait. Look at how long it's taken to get the original trilogy on DVD.
  The way things look right now, it seems like we'll get some non-canon Star Wars games...in 2008.
  
  --
  Goo goo g'joob.
3. Re:Another Canon Game by Gothic_Walrus · 2003-12-02 09:14 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Addendum: anyone else think it's ridiculous that Lucasarts has released three Rogue Squadron games, all dealing with the same events and time period?
  
  --
  Goo goo g'joob.
4. Re:Another Canon Game by CrisDias · 2003-12-02 09:15 · Score: 1
  
  Not being a SW-novels reader I ask: would Jedi Academy qualify as Expanded Universe game?
5. Re:Another Canon Game by TrueBuckeye · 2003-12-02 09:18 · Score: 1
  
  But I'm getting a bit sick of the "clone wars" happening in gaming. BF is outstanding. After a year I still play it far more than I should, but they are just taking it and reskinning it for Star Wars. I want to play KOTOR because it is different. It actually puts you in the universe. But on the other hand, we already have a BF mod with Wookie skins and AT-ATs. Why do we need to go out and buy a whole game? And how long until we see LucasArts filing suit against the Galactic Conquest team? http://www.galactic-conquest.net/
  
  --
  Was that night on the marge of Lake LaBarge I cremated Sam McGee...
6. Re:Another Canon Game by ilsie · 2003-12-02 09:29 · Score: 1
  
  I'm ready and willing to shell out some cash to play a well-done version of the same basic game, set in the origonal and new trilogies. I think for this type of game, where there can't really be a plot, setting it in the same time-line as the films makes it BETTER.
  
  Although I would tend to agree with that statement, it has been done before. Pretty much the exact same game as MS's Age of Empires, set in the SW universe, with Darth Vader and stuff. For some reason, I just didn't find it as fun as AoE, though.
7. Re:Another Canon Game by Trillian_1138 · 2003-12-02 09:43 · Score: 1
  
  Unfortunatly, Galactic Battlegrounds was a bad RTS game, Star Wars or not. By "same basic game" I meant as Battlefield 1942 (which this game is being compared to, and rightly so). And because it's difficult, if not impossible, to give an online FPS a good storyline, have a pre-established storyline can only help the game. By contrast, it IS possible (and needed) to have a good storyline for a RTS, but they got lazy and pumped out Galactic Battlegrounds.
  
  -Trillian
8. Re:Another Canon Game by Telastyn · 2003-12-02 10:14 · Score: 1
  
  Well that's because it was based off of episode I. Kotor was even a better movie than episode I...
9. Re:Another Canon Game by Gothic_Walrus · 2003-12-02 10:23 · Score: 1
  
  The definition I hear most often is that anything that isn't a movie is EU.
  I'm still not sure about the Clone Wars cartoons, though.
  
  --
  Goo goo g'joob.
10. Re:Another Canon Game by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 11:45 · Score: 0
  
  um would you believe they all take place in alternate universes of each other? no?
  
  crap.
11. Re:Another Canon Game by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 11:48 · Score: 0
  
  Force Commander was a Star Wars RTS with a storyline, but nobody but me liked it. Galactic Battlegrounds is just a skin for AoE2, which is pathetic. As for this upcoming game, I hope it's more like BF1942 than SOCOM. If there's any license that would be good for a squad-level simmy-combat type game like SOCOM, it ain't Star Wars. Stargate SG-1 would be better for that.
12. Re:Another Canon Game by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 11:50 · Score: 0
  
  I'd much rather relive the Clone wars, Halo style.
  
  The chance for 64 player co-op or bigger would be awesome, if not impossible.
13. Re:Another Canon Game by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 11:56 · Score: 0
  
  Technically, RS1 covered the missions Luke Skywalker led between episodes IV and V. RS2 recapped the major battles of the movies and covered the missions Wedge Antilles led between Hoth and Endor. It tied into the original trilogy very tightly, and it was worthy of the Star Wars title in every way. RS3 should only be purchased for the extremely fun multiplayer modes. I pretend it doesn't have any single player missions.
14. Re:Another Canon Game by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 13:51 · Score: 0
  
  KotOR, good game, breaks continuality however.
15. Re:Another Canon Game by blincoln · 2003-12-02 14:28 · Score: 1
  
  Lucasarts' position is that the markets for both EU and gaming material are already relatively small, and mixing them together would result in an even smaller one.
  
  I tend to agree with them. I read four of the EU books years ago, and they were - IMO of course - terrible. It was like some sort of bad fanfiction Star Wars/generic sci-fi crossover story.
  
  KOTOR is the *only* thing I've seen outside the films that adds something cool to the mythology. Every other book and game I've seen either rehashes the original trilogy or adds in completely lame new material.
  
  --
  "...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
16. Re:Another Canon Game by Maserati · 2003-12-02 14:51 · Score: 1
  
  You must have read some of Kevin J Anderson's stuff. THat man just plain can't write, the Dune books were particularly painful - we'd have been better of with Melanie Freaking Rawn writing 'em. Try Zahn or Stackpole for decent EU stuff Especially Zahn.
  
  --
  Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
17. Re:Another Canon Game by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-03 14:57 · Score: 0
  
  It may be ridiculous from a lack-of-creativity point of view, but since all three games sold pretty well, I think Lucasarts' accounting dept feels it was a pretty good move.
it's all about the interface by Flunitrazepam · 2003-12-02 08:32 · Score: 3, Insightful

I tried getting into SOCOM on the ps2 after years and years of quake on the computer. I just can't see how the console players are going to have a chance against the WASD computer players unless you can plug in a keyboard and mouse, or they come up with a radically new user input system.

--
1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
1. Re:it's all about the interface by TrippTDF · 2003-12-02 09:16 · Score: 1
  
  Agreed. I cringe when I have to play an FPS on a console... it's nearly impossible to aim while you are moving. I don't think that a design for a controller would have to be "radically" different though. You just need a more ergonomic design that lets two or more fingers on the left hand hit keys, and then a tiny track ball for the right thumb, and a couple of buttons for fingers on the right hand to fire guns. It would be a pain in the ass to learn, but it would be a compact, console friendly answer to the keyboard and mouse... they take up a fair amount of room.
2. Re:it's all about the interface by Acidic_Diarrhea · 2003-12-02 10:19 · Score: 1
  
  Or...you could just use a mouse and keyboard - readily available for the PS2.
  
  --
  I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
3. Re:it's all about the interface by August_zero · 2003-12-02 11:41 · Score: 1
  
  Usually with console FPS, all of the other players are going to be in the same boat control and interface wise, so once again it boils down to how well you can manipulate your given controller. (on x-box anyway, I don't have the PS2 BBA so i really can't say how many PS2 gamers are using mouse/keyboards)
  
  If I had to play against mixed company, I would definately go mouse, the thumb sticks can't even come close for accuracy, but for comfort, leaning back in an easy-chair with a console controller beats the computer desk anyday of the week.
  
  --
  On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
BF1942 game play on a PS2? by 77Punker · 2003-12-02 08:37 · Score: 2, Interesting

It's crazy to expect an online-only title for a console! Besides that bit of obviousness, one of the best things about bf1942 is the great mod scene. That can't happen on a PS2. Oh well...they'll still try. Hopefully it'll have the great single player game that bf1942 does not.
What?! by hookedup · 2003-12-02 08:43 · Score: 3, Interesting

No Trade Federation!? They've only got the meanest droid army around!

I'd love to play as one of the droidekas
1. Re:What?! by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 11:18 · Score: 0
  
  The seperatists are the trade federation so i'm sure they'll have the droideka's etc.
2. Re:What?! by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 16:23 · Score: 0
  
  Oh, I see, thanks.
3. Re:What?! by dupper · 2003-12-02 17:21 · Score: 1
  
  The Trade Federation is part of the Seperatists, who are in the game.
Hell YES! by FortKnox · 2003-12-02 09:14 · Score: 1

One stupid game where I do -not- have to rush the death star trench! ITS BEEN DONE TOO MANY TIMES!

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Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Lucas does it again. by Kelz · 2003-12-02 09:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

They took the Age of Empires engine, dropped in their art, and added new campaigns, and called it Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds.

They are taking the Battlefield 1942 engine (or something that looks like it), dropping in their art, making their own maps, and calling it Star wars: Battlefront.

Whoa there, deja vu. Musta been a glitch in the matrix.
1. Re:Lucas does it again. by JExtine · 2003-12-02 13:52 · Score: 1
  
  Yea... but for PS2 and with headsets!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wonder how similiar this is to BF1942 mod... by antdude · 2003-12-02 09:56 · Score: 0, Redundant

Galactic Conquest is a Star Wars mod for Battlefield 1942.

--
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Another star wars game? by Flunitrazepam · 2003-12-02 10:09 · Score: 1

I got a baaaaad feeling about this!

--
1) Your analysis is based on bad assumptions so your result is way off. 2) You're a sick bastard for fucking a horse.
Link to screenshots by sidvishus9 · 2003-12-02 10:11 · Score: 1

http://www.playstationmagazine.com/slideshow/0,4 371,a=113620,00.asp
They already tried something like this by MBraynard · 2003-12-02 10:12 · Score: 1

Clone Wars, especially on Xbox Live. It was good for maybe a few hours at best, but I quickly lost interest.
Re:Hotel Greased Up Yoda Doll by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 10:28 · Score: 0

You need a new angle.. this is an insult to the hard work of trolls all over the world.
This game is going to kick arse! by Logik9bar · 2003-12-02 11:23 · Score: 1

I can't wait for this game i'm sure it's going to have heaps of fun stuff. Controlling ATATs is going to be a blast while {hopefully} running about on Taun Tauns should be fun. If they put speeder bikes and jetpacks in the game i'm am going to soil my pants!
Re:Hotel Greased Up Yoda Doll by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-02 11:30 · Score: 0

d00d youve got some major issues.either you're gay or youve just had a really really fucked up childhood. 2nd of all the song doesnt work....try singing it to the song....and finally this one thing i dont get is you use some of the lines from the song and then you add your own,whats up with that? if you spent some of your intelligence on other things,more productive things other than sad sad song you might get somewhere!
Am I the only one... by UserChrisCanter4 · 2003-12-02 20:00 · Score: 1

Am I the only one who saw that headline and read: "Star wars game announced, delayed"?