Here's Star Wars Battlefront's free Battle of Jakku DLC in action
The first of Star Wars Battlefront's free DLC landed today for those who preordered the game and was revealed last night in a live stream on Twitch. The Battle of Jakku takes place 29 years before The Force Awakens - we're getting closer - and adds two new maps to the game as well as new mode Turning Point.
This particular battle is set after the Battle of Endor and is entirely responsible for the fact that Jakku looks so apocalyptic in The Force Awakens. The new Turning Point mode sees 40 Rebels and Imperials brawling for control. “At the edge of the map, the Empire has constructed a make-shift base as well as smaller fortifications strewn across the landscape," explains lead level designer Dennis Brannvall on the official site. "Following an emergency landing, the Rebels need to locate the enemy bases to attack and take control of them all.”
Rebels must capture one of three Imperial control points against the clock. Once one is captured, more will unlock and increasingly challenging blaster fire packed encounters lead up to a showdown at the Empire's base. There is a big focus on airspeeders and AT-STs in this map and the battle promises to bring all the chaos especially in the bigger of the two maps, Graveyard of Giants.
“There’s a David and Goliath theme to this,” says DICE concept artist Anton Grandert. “The epic, huge super structures of the Star Destroyers contrast against the tiny but brave Rebel soldiers fighting the Imperial forces.” Check out the Michael Bay-esque explosive gameplay in the trailer above. For non pre-orderers and season pass holders, the Battle of Jakku will be available to download on the 8th of December.
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Louise Blain is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in gaming, technology, and entertainment. She is the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming show and has a weekly consumer tech slot on BBC Radio Scotland. She can also be found on BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, Netflix UK's YouTube Channel, and on The Evolution of Horror podcast. As well as her work on GamesRadar, Louise writes for NME, T3, and TechRadar. When she’s not working, you can probably find her watching horror movies or playing an Assassin’s Creed game and getting distracted by Photo Mode.