I remember in the spring of 1985 going to my first Star Wars movie. Actually it was a marathon of the original three. Chewbacca was there along with plenty of storm troopers. I was in awe of all of it. Then I watched the movies and fell in love instantly. I’m sure I love them for different reasons now than I did as a child. Star Wars, for me, has always been more about the memories surrounding them than the movies themselves, even though I love the movies too. One thing that I always wanted was to participate in those battles; the scale and the vehicles especially made my imagination go wild. Go forward a few months from the Star Wars marathon and I was on Star Tours, a Star Wars ride at Universal Studios. There was a laser show within the ride and the battle went on around me, it was magical. I wanted to do nothing but that ride the rest of the day.

Go forward to 1999 and Star Wars hype is heating up again for the new trilogy starting. On the N64 I had played Rogue Squadron and the Pod racing game. But they were still only one sided and only gave a glimpse of the battles I witnessed on the big screen, but I did love Rogue Squadron. The Phantom Menace came out and the best part was at the end with the battles raging on land and in space and with the Jedi, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon Jinn, fighting the Sith, Darth Maul. Again the size and scope captured my imagination but game technology still wasn’t up to the task.

In 2003 Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic released to rave reviews and community reception. I personally played it through 3 days without sleep once “the twist” was revealed. It was the most immersive and captivating experience within the Star Wars universe I had ever had. Darth Revan has stayed at the top of my favorite character lists for Star Wars ever since, probably because it was my Revan formed from my choices. I can’t remember for sure how many games in the universe came out after that but I remember seeing Battlefront for the first time, I can’t remember if it was E3 or another type of convention or just a trailer, and I knew right there it was what I had been looking for all this time.

Star Wars Battlefront released in 2004 it had large scale battles, 32 human players and the other 32 spots filled up with AI to make the battles seem larger, It had a lot of vehicles that filled different roles on the battlefield and had epic set pieces that we all have seen in the movies. My friends and I played it a ton. Then the following fall the sequel released with added features like space battles and flying vehicles in ground combat. You could also play as Hero characters like Darth Vader and Yoda. We also played this a ton as well. But with the Xbox 360 coming out we didn’t play for very long.

Shortly after that, the studio, Pandemic Studios, was shuttered. Our hopes of a Battlefront 3 on new gen consoles were killed. Then rumors were swirling that the studio that brought us the Timesplitters series were working on the sequel. Shortly after that rumor Free Radical was also shuttered, followed soon after by a leaked demonstration video they showed to people behind closed doors. It was received extremely well by the community. Soon after that we received word that Disney was buying the Star Wars license from George Lucas.

After how Disney handled the Marvel license I was very excited to see them inject new blood into Star Wars. Shortly afterwards, we found out that EA received the rights to all Star Wars games. Speculation ran wild about what that meant. Battlefront was one of the first things talked about around the web. DICE was a favorite among those discussions. Disney or EA wouldn’t say anything. E3 of 2013 we got a teaser trailer and announcement that DICE would be building this game. Battlefield fans, like myself, went crazy! We know how much of a perfect fit that would be for them to develop.

Today we got a glimpse into what we will be seeing later this year when the game launches, November 17th! One month before the movie comes out. I was hoping for a stage demonstration like they did for Battlefield 4 filling the stage with players and watching a match go down, even if it was scripted, I wanted to see the HUD and the vehicles in action. I wanted to see the map design and the hero characters. But we didn’t. I’m fine with what we got, it was beautiful, but we still have E3 which is really close and why I’m guessing they didn’t do that. I am excited! They showed that they know the material and the level looked straight out of the movie. I only wonder what memories will be created when the game is released this November.

Star Wars Battlefront Details

*Release date: 11/17/2015

*40 players

*No SP Campaign

*2 player cooperative mode

*2 player squads with shared inventory

*No space combat

*Free DLC that explains the downed Star Destroyer in first seconds of new trailer.