The Star Wars Battlefront 2 single-player trailer teases cameos from Luke, Leia, and Kylo
The latest Star Wars Battlefront 2 trailer makes a great companion piece to our new Star Wars Battlefront 2 single-player campaign preview; not least because there's a lot to take in from its minute-and-a-half runtime. I was especially interested by all of those cameos from established Star Wars characters. Let's see what everybody's been up to in the decades-long gap between Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
This probably isn't C-3PO
Hate to start with a "nope" but I've gotta be honest: that probably isn't C-3PO we see at 1:01 in the trailer. It's tough to tell, but I think it has a silver finish instead of Threepio's distinct gold sheen. And besides, it doesn't look like R2-D2 is here, nor are any of Threepio's usual human companions. Nope, this is probably just a regular ol' protocol droid.
But that is definitely the Millennium Falcon
Oooh, Iden Versio is really pushing her luck getting into a dogfight with Han and Chewie at 1:09 - assuming Han hasn't lent it back to Lando again - not to mention shooting big holes in Maz Kanata's castle. Looks like the scoundrel pair has other places to be, though. I wonder if Ben Solo (Kylo Ren's normie name) has been born yet when this happens...
This could be Leia on Naboo
Speaking of Ben Solo, I think this is probably his dear mother Leia at 1:13. We only see this person from behind but the hair and outfit matches up with another view of Leia later in the trailer. Also of note: Leia has family and political ties to Naboo, being the daughter of Queen Padme Amidala.
We've seen Luke here before
A previous trailer teased this scene of Iden rather optimistically detaining Luke Skywalker (the one dude most directly responsible for sending her beloved Empire into a death spiral) at 1:15. He looks older than he did in Return of the Jedi but he's still rocking a black outfit. I'm looking forward to seeing Luke as a Jedi Master in his prime, before Kylo Ren's betrayal shatters his faith in the ways of the Jedi.
Leia's back at it again in hologram form
See what I meant about the hair and outfit matching? This hologram of Leia at 1:16 recalls her famous "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi" message, but with desperation replaced by well-earned confidence. Leia looks at least a few years older than she did in Return of the Jedi as well. Stands to reason that this scene takes place around the same time as Luke and Iden's encounter.
Maz doesn't look happy to see us
More like "Mad" Kanata, am I right? Sorry. Maz Kanata as we see at 1:17 is by no means a Rebel/Resistance agent, but the millennium-old alien keeps running afoul of the Empire/First Order nonetheless. I guess that sort of thing tends to happen when you're one of the galaxy's most notorious collectors of goods and information.
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The Emperor's Sentinel is super creepy
A flashback scene from before the Emperor's death? Nope. At 1:24 you're looking at one of the Sentinel droids that Palpatine commissioned to deliver his final orders in the event of his death. The fact that Palpatine had intimidating droids with hologram projector heads commissioned to serve roughly the same purpose as a company-wide email really says something about his leadership style.
Kylo Ren's on board too
It's not just the glove at 1:26; look at the very left side of the screen and you'll see a little bit of Kylo Ren's distinct helmet, too. EA confirmed in an interview with Redbull Games that Kylo Ren will appear in Battlefront 2's campaign with his very own mission. That adds an interesting wrinkle to the timeline, since there will need to be a pretty significant time jump to go from the Leia we saw earlier to her son being all grown up and ready to cut down Resistance sympathizers. Sounds like an epilogue to me.
We won't have to speculate on story beats much longer. Star Wars Battlefront 2 will be released on November 17, 2017. Until then, why not check out what players thought of the Star Wars Battlefront 2 multiplayer beta?
I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.