One of the biggest surprises at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga! The game is the newest installment in the long running LEGO Star Wars series and promises to recreate all nine Skywalker saga films in LEGO bricks, from The Phantom Menace all the way to The Rise Of Skywalker.
More exciting news out of E3! Video game distributor, Limited Run Games announced that they were partnering with Lucasfilm to re-release physical editions of several classic Star Wars games, including Shadows of the Empire, TIE Fighter, Episode I: Racer, and Dark Forces, as well as other (non-Star Wars) classic LucasArts games like The Curse of Monkey Island. Some of the re-releases will be as (physical) collectors editions for their original console (like N64 and Gameboy), while others will be released (on disc) for modern consoles (like the PlayStation 4).
We have even more news from E3! After dropping almost 15 minutes worth of awe inspiring gameplay footage from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order(as well as that surprise Lego Star Wars trailer),EA and Respawn have declassified another trailer for the upcoming video game.
Tomorrow EA Play will be kicking off in Los Angeles, and with it comes new reveals from the highly anticipated video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The new single player adventure game that's being developed by Respawn puts you in the shoes of Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis during the time after Order 66.
Out of all the huge reveals that came out of Star Wars Celebration Chicago last month, one of the most exciting ones was the upcoming video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The game, which is being developed by Respawn, is set between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope and follows Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis(Cameron Monaghan) as he struggles to survive during the Jedi Purge.
This past week has been a very exciting one for video game fans. Between events like EA Play and E3, there has been a plethra of video game announcements and trailers. This includes the world debut of gameplay from Star Wars Battlefront II. The Battlefront II gameplay seems to have captured the world's attention as the trailer for the upcoming sequel was the most viewed trailer out E3 (even though it technically didn't debut at E3, but at EA Play a few days before). Polygon is reporting that the Battlefront II trailer topped the list of most viewed videos from E3, with 8.7 million views since its debut on Saturday.
This past week has been a busy one for Star Wars reporters, as numerous press releases have been announced by Lucasfilm in the last seven days concerning Star Wars: Celebration Europe 2016 & Star Wars gaming. As far as Star Wars gaming goes, it has been the E3 Conference - an annual video game conference hosted in LA - that has got Star Wars fans talking.
The hype train has steamed right ahead, as EA revealed some fresh details about future projects that they have in store for Star Wars fans in the months to come. You can watch the official E3 'Star Wars: A Look Ahead" 2016 trailer down below:
The main projects that EA Star Wars informed fans about included:
Star Wars: Battlefront - DICE stated their intention to "bring in more characters, more planets and more environments from across the Star Wars Saga."
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes - Capital Games and John Salera (E.P., Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes) aim to "bring characters from all the films, all the TV shows and even beyond"
Star Wars: The Old Republic - Bioware and James Ohlen (Director of Design, Old Republic) wish to tell "stories beyond the Old Republic"
Untitled Visceral Game
Untitled Respawn Game
On the latest podcast installment of The Star Wars Underworld, head writer Dominic Jones stated that EA's 2016 announcements were comparable to EA's announcements in 2013. Dominic felt that EA production companies were working on some 'cool' projects, but have been unable to divulge any information of 'substance' to the general public. Initially, I was excited by what EA disclosed to fans with this trailer and subsequent disclosures, but I did find Dominic's point very striking. I began to question what EA actually told us. Was this truly a 'big' announcement? Or were we shown merely a glimpse of the potential of these projects? (i.e. a lot of rhetoric from creative designers and project makers, but little to show for it thus far)
This article will provide a brief overview of what was actually divulged to us, before coming to a personal conclusion about the degree to which we truly 'learnt' something tangible about the future of Star Wars gaming. Star Wars: Battlefront
'Star Wars: Battlefront' (2015) remains one of the most popular games of the Star Wars gaming franchise and E3 provided some insight into further developments to the relaunched game. The major E3 'Battlefront' announcement concentrated on the new 'Bespin' DLC map pack, which will be made accessible to the public on July 5 2016. Season Pass holders however, will be able to get their hands on this downloadable content as early as next week: June 21 2016.
The Bespin expansion pack appears to be extremely reminiscent of the popular Original Trilogy location used in the original Star Wars Battlefront II. It is undeniable that the graphics look far more colourful and enhanced in 2016 when compared with the 2005 version. However, based on the clips seen in the trailer, the 'Bespin' design concept doesn't seem to differ between the two games. The DLC pack contains new maps, new weapons, a new mode and new characters. Gamers will now be able to play as the smooth-talking Lando Calrissian, voiced by Billy Dee Williams himself, and the ruthless bounty hunter, Dengar.
The DLC pack looks pretty awesome, but did we really get any information about other, perhaps more intriguing, future 'Battlefront' projects. We know that there is a Death Star DLC pack in the works (for Fall 2016), a new DLC pack slated for 2017 and the small matter of a 'Battlefront' sequel in 2017.
Of course we should be excited about the Bespin DLC pack, but I believe that the announcement was embellished and presented as something tangible, when in reality there was little 'substance' to the new information we received. We were told diddly squat about other future 'Battlefront' projects. Rating: 5/10 Lego Star Wars
The other big Star-Wars related E3 press announcement centred around Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is scheduled to hit stores on June 28 2016. A new 3 minute trailer was released, which you can be viewed down below: In addition to this, E3 announced that the 'demo' of the game is now available to gamers on multiple platforms, namely Xbox and Playstation. The demo gives gamers the opportunity to experience the Lego version of the 'Nimma Outpost' level on the planet of Jakku. You can take a look at the demo trailer down below: Attached to this trailer, a 'demo' synopsis was posted: "In the Niima Outpost demo, players can experience new features coming to LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, including taking on stormtroopers in intense Blaster Battles, utilizing Multi-Builds to explore the wreckage of Imperial Star Destroyers, and piloting the Millennium Falcon in dogfights against First Order TIE fighters."
I found this announcement to be very exciting because I believe that Lucasfilm had managed to get the right balance of launching a thoroughly entertaining, cinematic-type trailer for the Lego game, whilst also disclosing official gameplay from the game itself.
Of course, the advantage for Lego Star Wars was the timing of the E3 convention. The game is set for release in less than two weeks and E3 is a perfect forum to market the new Lego game - a gaming franchise which has grown increasingly popular over the last few years. Overall however, the advent of the demo, plus a new trailer release, meant that whilst we learnt nothing 'new' per say, fans were given new content which would cater to the interest of fans (which I believe Battlefront lacked).
Rating: 7/10
Untitled Star Wars Games The other major announcement of note centred around the reveal of 'new' Star Wars gaming projects in the 'A Look Ahead' Star Wars trailer. The two projects publicised in the trailer, which have received the most interest, have been the projects which are currently being undertaken by Respawn and Visceral. No actual footage was released by Respawn, instead we managed to see two actors fighting with lightsabers whilst wearing motion capture suits. Little information was divulged about the Respawn game, other than the fact it will be set in a "different Star Wars era".
Whilst the Respawn game looked exciting, it was the project being undertaken by Visceral which I found most compelling. Visceral disclosed some concept art and early footage of the game itself. The Lucasfilm Story Group and Doug Chiang are working in collaboration with the game's creative lead, Amy Hennig, which says to me that the 'story' will be a significant aspect to the game. Based on the footage we have seen so far, it seems like the game will be set in the period of the Original Trilogy, as many of the images resonate closely with the 'Empire', as conveyed with the appearance of TIE fighters and Star Destroyers in the video below:
The location in the video looks to be Tatooine, but of course this remains unconfirmed by Lucasfilm. Could this be Tatooine post-A New Hope? We shall have to wait and see, but my expectations for this game are higher than any other project that has been publicly disclosed to us at E3. The early signs for the Visceral and Respawn game are very promising indeed and it is great to see Lucasfilm and Disney are intent on creating innovative Star Wars games.
Rating: 8/10 Conclusion
So, what in fact did we learn from this year's E3 convention about the 'future' of Star Wars gaming? Depending on your interpretation of 'learnt' and 'future' will determine your response to this question. I would argue that we perhaps didn't learn as much as we would have liked at the E3 2016 conference, when one considers the amount of content and gaming projects Lucasfilm are working on at the moment. Yes we were provided some thrilling trailers and the release of a game demo, but I feel that Lucasfilm have been purposefully coy about revealing anything 'major' at the 2016 E3 convention.
Why has this been the case? I believe that the main reasons are related to both timing and readiness. In a way, the E3 Convention has come a bad time for some Star Wars gaming projects because of scheduled release dates and an upcoming Star Wars convention. Star Wars: Celebration is set to kick off in less than a month's time and Lucasfilm have made it clear that 'gaming' will be a big presence at Celebration London. In addition, the newest installment of the Lego Star Wars franchise is set for release in less than a fortnight and so Lucasfilm would want to focus their marketing efforts on that game rather than Battlefront and other Star Wars games. Finally, many of these projects have release dates slated for 2017 and this means that production of these games is still at a relatively early stage. EA and Lucasfilm will not want to release any footage that isn't as aesthetically easy on the eye as it could be.
All in all, I will have to end on a quotation made by Dominic Jones in his own opinion piece on the E3 'A Look Ahead' trailer. "There is lots of talk about an exciting future but E3 never showed anything of substance"
I feel Dominic's quotation supports the points I have made in this opinion article. We were given some content to whet our appetite with, but not enough to make us feel fully satisfied with the content that we consumed. Sources: EA Star Wars YouTube, Star Wars YouTube
Follow The Star Wars Underworld on Twitter @TheSWU for more updates about this story and other breaking Star Wars news.
It's The Star Wars Underworld's E3 special! Dominic and Ben are joined by Chris from E3 to talk about all the Star Wars news that came out of the event. They discuss the future of Star Wars virtual reality, The Old Republic, and Visceral's upcoming Star Wars game! Plus lots of Star Wars Celebration updates, and very intriguing details about what we might have seen from The Emperor on the old Live Action Series. All this and much more!
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits shelves later this month, but if you just can't wait to get your hands on it you are in luck! In advance of E3, the annual video game convention taking place this week in Los Angeles, a new trailer for the game was released as well as the official demo! The demo, which appears to only be available on the Play Station 4, will allow fans to play the Nima Outpost level from the game. The trailer that was debuted is surprisingly straight laced for a Lego Star Wars installment, featuring dialogue from the film rather than the new content that was recorded by members of the cast, including Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Harrison Ford. Check out the trailer and the demo preview below,
The annual video game convention E3 takes place this week in Los Angeles and in advance of the convention, all the major companies having been making reveals about what fans can expect from them in the future. We got a general update on Star Wars video gaming from Electronic Arts, and today we got an exciting announcement from Sony regarding an upcoming Star Wars virtual reality experience. During their presentation, Sony debuted a preview for a new addition coming to Star Wars Battlefront, the "X-wing VR Mission". The mission will allow you to fly an X-Wing and do battle against TIE Fighters using Sony's upcoming Play Station VR headset. Check out the preview below,
No word yet on when this will be available, though the PlayStation VR doesn't launch until October of this year so don't expect it before then. E3 attendees will have the opportunity to try out the demo of the X-Wing VR Mission when the show kicks off this week.
Earlier today EA held their annual press conference in advance of the E3 video game convention which takes place this week in Los Angeles. During the conference a video previewing the upcoming Star Wars content was shown to fans in attendance and those watching the live stream. While there weren't any major reveals like we were hoping for, we did get some quick looks and exciting teases at what's to come from the games. If you haven't seen the video yet, be sure to check it out here first. I'll be breaking down what we learned from the video about the future of Star Wars gaming below,
Star Wars Battlefront
There are still three more expansion packs from the first installment in the rebooted franchise to be release, with the Bespin expansion coming early next month, the Death Star expansion coming in the fall, and a still to be revealed expansion coming in early 2017. On top of that there is a sequel in the works that will be released later in 2017. During the video, there is lots of talk from the teams at DICE (who designed the first game) and Motive (who are working with DICE on the sequel) about bringing fans into the Star Warsgalaxy like never before as well as bringing new characters, planets, and eras into the game. No word on adding story, but EA GM Jade Raymond did mention that they had listened to what fans wanted when developing the sequel. Hopefully that's a good sign. Now, on to what they actually featured in the video.
Well hello, what have we got here?
We got a quick look at the Bespin expansion of the game, including Lando (who will be a playable hero in the expansion) and a couple of new locations. There's no denying Battlefront is a beautiful game, let's just hope they have the content to back it up.
We also got a very quick look at some early work being done on the Death Star expansion. It looks as if fans will be able to play the famous trench run from A New Hope, which is pretty exciting. I'm still holding out hope that they will be able to work some content from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, hitting theaters this December, into the Death Star expansion. If not main characters, then perhaps some of the new stormtrooper designs? I'm not optimistic, but I can dream right?
Then there's this quick shot that appears to be either from the final expansion or the sequel. It appears that the Trandoshan bounty hunter Bossk (seen in The Empire Strikes Back and The Clone Wars) will be a playable character in a future Battlefront release.
Respawn Entertainment
No actual footage from Respawn's recently announcedStar Wars game was shown, however we did see two actors dressed in motion capture suits fighting with lightsabers. Raymond did mention during the presentation that this was set in a "different" Star Wars era and that the games was a third person action adventure. Given that--as we'll discuss momentarily--Visceral's game appears to be set in the Original Trilogy era, it sounds as though Respawn's game will find itself in the sequel or prequel era (my money is on sequel era, given EA's history with Battlefront).
Untitled Visceral Star Wars Game
This is where things get a bit more exciting. While no title or details about the game were revealed we did get a look at some concept art and hear from the game's creative lead Amy Henning, who is apparently working with the Lucasfilm Story Group on creating the story for this upcoming game. I was also pleased to see that Doug Chiang worked on this game too. Chiang worked on the prequels and The Force Awakens as a concept artist,and is someone I am very glad is helping shape Star Wars going forward. Now, onto what we saw,
The game appears to be set in the Original Trilogy era, or not too long before it, based on the ship designs and the Imperial logos seen in the footage above. It also appears to take place, in part at least, on Tatooine (the presence of the twin suns in the background of the concept art suggests that it is Tatooine and not, say, Jakku). Speaking of the concept art, those appear to be Imperial agents in the foreground. The helmets they are wearing resemble that worn by Agent Kallus on Star Wars Rebels, which suggests to me that we might be seeing Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) Agents in the game.
The character seen in the footage appears to be the hero of the game. There were reports last year that Visceral's game would center around Han Solo (which would make sense given that Phil Lord and Chris Miller's Han Solo Anthology film is also slated for a 2018 release), however this seems unlikely now. Granted, this could be a placeholder character used in this preview to hide a later reveal about Han Solo. However, given the Imperial presence on Tatooine, I would guess that this game takes place after Han, Luke, Chewie, Obi-Wan, and the droids blast their way out of Mos Eisley. We don't get the sense in A New Hope that the Empire pays much attention to Tatooine before Leia drops Threepio and Artoo off with the Death Star plans. After an embarrassment like that, it would make sense for the Empire to tighten its grip on the planet to ensure they aren't seen as weak by the locals.
Finally, we also got a quick look at one of the developers computer screens that showed an early rendering of a TIE fighter in another environment in the game. The location doesn't scream Tatooine to me (I actually get a bit of a Naboo vibe from it), but it's too early to tell for sure.
Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes were both also featured in the video, however there wasn't enough new content from them to merit in depth analysis. Both games are already available and their presence in the video appeared to just show off what we already knew they could do.
There certainly was some interesting stuff shown off by EA when it comes to Star Wars, however they lacked the mind-blowing announcement or trailer that E3 is known for. With Star WarsBattlefront already on the market and no new games coming out this year, EA is in a weird place with what they can actually show us. In some way it feels like EA is stuck in 2013 when it comes to Star Wars. There is lots of
talk about an exciting future but they never showed anything of substance. There's always a chance that they're saving the really cool announcement for Star Wars Celebration next month in London, but typically E3 has been the place where big Star Wars gaming announcements are made and Celebration is for more niche reveals.
The Electronic Arts press conference took place this afternoon in advance of the E3 video game convention taking place this week in Los Angeles. As part of their presentation, EA made several Star Wars announcements relating to upcoming content from Star Wars Battlefront as well as new games coming out soon. EA's Jade Raymond announced that Motive would be joining DICE on the sequel to Star Wars Battlefront to include new content from the new films. She announced that Respawn would be exploring a "new era" of Star Wars in their game.
A video preview for the upcoming games was also shown at the event. Concept art and early in game content from Visceral's game was shown. It also confirmed that legendary Star Wars concept artist Doug Chiang would be working on the game. The video also showed the team at Respawn working with motion capture technology on lightsaber battles. Meanwhile the team's at DICE and Motive spoke about what was upcoming. Previews for upcoming content for The Old Republic and Galaxy of Heroes were shown.
Check out the video below,
While what we got certainly is cool (I'm very intrigued by what we saw of the Visceral game), the lack of any solid announcements about what's to come either in terms of new games or Battlefront sequels was disappointing. Hopefully, they're saving the announcements for Star Wars Celebration next month in London (where it has been announced that Star Wars gaming will have a large presence).
Let us know what you thought of the Star Wars updates in the comments below!
New gameplay footage from Star Wars Battlefront was revealed earlier this week at E3, blowing minds and getting us even more excited for the game. So far we have seen footage of a"Walker Assault" on Hoth and a co-op mission on Tatooine. The Tatooine gameplay in particular raised some eyebrows due to the appearance of a Star Destroyer crashing in the background at the end of the match. IGN recently spoke with DICE general manager Patrick Bach who explains how you, as a player, actually have a hand in bringing the Destroyer down:
""We have a concept we call Battle Beyond," Bach told IGN, "The cool thing with this is it's actually part of the player feedback. So depending on which side is winning or losing, these events actually change." The atmosphere around the battle reflects the success of those on the ground. When the Rebel Alliance is dominating on that particular Tatooine map, part of the visual representation of their success is a flaming Star Destroyer sinking into the surface of the planet. Each map will feature appropriate and different means of communicating the state of the battle for each side. Bach explained, "It's what you usually do in a UI, you make it bluntly obvious. It's slowly hinting at who's winning, and I think it's a brilliant concept to give you the information and emotion you need to understand or change your plans.... You don't need a gauge blinking. It's part of the world.""
Early on many drew a connection from this imagery to one of the most breathtaking scenes from the second teaser trailer for Episode VII: The Force Awakens which shows a crashed Star Destroyer half buried in a desert landscape. That landscape was confirmed to be a new planet called Jakku at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim. A Battle of Jakku DLC for Battlefront was also announced at the convention, which lead many fans to believe that the crashing Star Destroyer was actually on Jakku and the footage was from the DLC. Several sites(I won't name names) even claimed that because Boba Fett appeared in one of the shots, and the battle of Jakku happens approximately a year after Return Of The Jedi, that Battlefront inadvertently confirmed that Fett survived being eaten by the Sarlaac. This news can now put those rumors to rest. Hopefully we will see some actual gameplay from that DLC soon, which is slated to be available to current players December 8th, and even earlier for those who pre-order the game.
Nevertheless, it's awesome to know that DICE is coming up with creative ways to make the battles in the game that much more realistic. Star Wars Battlefront comes to Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC November 17th!
If the reveal of the multiplayer gameplay from the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront, which was released today during the EA press conference at E3, wasn't enough for you then check this out. EA has also released a gameplay video showing off the Co-Op Missions gameplay, specifically "Survival Mode." The video also shows off the Tatooine landscape and characters. Check it out below,
Star Wars: Battlefront will hit shelves on November 17th, 2015, with
"The Battle of Jakku," it's first DLC, being made available for free on
December 7th (or December 1st if you pre-order the game).
Today during their presentation at E3, EA announced their first Star Wars mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. The game will feature characters from the prequels, The Clone Wars, and the original trilogy. John Salera, Executive Producer at EA Capital Games, describes the game as follows,
When we set out to make STAR WARS: GALAXY OF HEROES, we wanted to
tap into the fantasy of collecting characters and starfighters and then
let people enjoy the fun of playing with them creatively. We’re
bringing this idea to life by allowing players to take part in
battles with collections of their favorite heroes, characters,
and ships from across the Star Wars™ universe. From the classic trilogy and Star Wars Rebels™ and Star Wars™: The Clone Wars™ animated TV shows, to the prequels films and beyond, we’re giving players a truly extensive Star Wars experience.
The game will be available from the Google Play and iOS stores later this year.
By: Dominic Jones
It's been three years since the last amazing cinematic trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic was released. Today, Bioware released a brand new cinematic story trailer for a new expansion of the game titled "Knights of the Fallen Empire." Check it out below,
The expansion will be available as of October 27, 2015 and is free to all subscribers. It is described as, Step into an epic story-driven adventure as your character becomes The
Outlander, a veteran of the Great Galactic War. A third faction
threatens the galaxy as we know it, and your choices will determine the
fate of both the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic. Knights of the
Fallen Empire includes the first nine chapters, fueled by BioWare-style
cinematic storytelling, that kicks off a new player-driven story arc
that puts you at the center of a conflict where your choices have impact
on outcomes including unexpected twists and betrayals. Choose your
path…join or betray companions, old and new…and shape the future of the
entire galaxy as well as your own. Best of all, this is only the
beginning…
IGN has a few more details about the game. According to IGN, The CG trailer was created by Blur, the studio responsible for The Old
Republic’s previous, similarly spectacular animated story vignettes. IGN
will debut an extended version of the Knights of the Fallen Empire
story trailer following EA’s press conference.
If you weren't among the 3000 or so lucky fans at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim who were able to see gameplay from Star Wars Battlefront at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim last month, then mark your calendar fro June 15th! Niklas Fegraeus, Design Director on Star Wars Battlefront revealed in a post titled "Dear Galaxy" on the EA Star Wars website that the game would finally debut its gameplay to the general public during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on June 15th.
Star Wars: Battlefront is slated for a November 17th release date on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
It's finally happened! For years fans have been asking for a third installment in the Star Wars Battlefront series and EA has delivered. EA announced during their presentation at E3 that their DICE studio will be working on Star Wars: Battlefront. The game will be designed utilizing the Frostbite 3 engine. The announcement came with a short teaser for the game featuring a snowpeeder being shot down by an AT-AT. Check out the teaser below:
The official StarWars.com Blog confirmed in the official press release that players will be able to play as "the Empire, the Republic, the Rebellion, and other factions". No word yet on a release date for the title, but seeing as there was no gameplay footage shown I wouldn't expect it to see until next year at the earliest.
This site is not endorsed by Lucasfilm Ltd. or Disney and is intended for entertainment and information purposes only. The official Star Wars site can be found at www.starwars.com. Star Wars, the Star Wars logo, all names and pictures of Star Wars characters, vehicles and any other Star Wars related items are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of Lucasfilm Ltd., or their respective trademark and copyright holders. All original content of this site, both graphical and textual, is the intellectual property of The Star Wars Underworld - unless otherwise indicated.
