‘Star Wars Battlefront’ is capitalizing on the high amount of hype for E3 2015.

DICE / EA

THE FROST SIDE… AND THE BITE

Game: ‘Star Wars Battlefront’

Developer/Publisher: DICE/Electronic Arts

Platform(s): Xbox One, PS4, PC

Release Date: Nov. 17, 2015

One-sentence pitch: ‘Star Wars’ meets ‘Battlefront.’

Star Wars Battlefront is the kind of game that gets me feeling nostalgic while also hopeful for the future, wondering where in the galaxy I’m going to end up. There were countless nights spent in which my brother and I would be huddled around an old tube television, facing off against each other on a less than desirable split screen, hoping to get the best of one another as we were fully immersed in our favorite universe. As much as it feels like it, this isn’t an exclusive experience; there were millions of others just like us that have the same emotional connection to the game. Aside from that, what’s not to get excited about when we have the prospective child of Star Wars and Battlefront within our reach? Needless to say, there’s a lot on the line for EA with this title. They have a roller coaster of public opinion and reception, and if they aren’t able to deliver with such a highly anticipated product, it could get ugly.

The hype for Battlefront goes back further than its initial teaser that was shown at E3 2013. If you go back to November of 2006, there were early rumblings of the third installment being developed, however, they were quickly shot down by Free Radical Design, as they had lost the rights to the franchise.  Fast forward a couple of years to 2008, when there was a leaked video of a pre-alpha version of the game. The video footage came from a laid-off employee, and for being pre-alpha, the videos looked pretty damn sweet—it had me and a small circle of friends prospective. Of course this started to build hype at the possibility of the project coming back to life in different versions that were rumored as Star Wars Battlefront Online and Star Wars First Assault Version 2, but nothing ever came to fruition.

DICE / EA

In April 2013, when LucasArts was acquired by Disney for a cool $4 billion, things were not looking great for the future of Star Wars video games. Star Wars 1313, a game that was looking pretty promising based on the gameplay we saw, was permanently halted along with any other active franchise. Although it was a controversial move, it’s understandable why Disney wanted start off on the right foot and wipe the slate clean before announcing or starting any new projects.

It wasn’t long after (E3 2013) that we received our first official word on the rebranded Star Wars Battlefront, with a short teaser trailer during EA’s press conference. At the time it was also announced that the reboot would be under development of DICE using the Frostbite 3 Engine.

Since that time, we still haven’t seen an overwhelming amount of gameplay footage of the game, with a few screens here and there. However, we did get one bad ass trailer that came out of this year’s Star Wars Celebration.

Star Wars Battlefront is undoubtedly going to look to make some waves at this year’s E3, and with a Nov. 17 release, it only makes sense to make themselves shine above the rest at their biggest marketing opportunity. I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be getting a lot more in game footage shown off, as well as hands-on opportunities for event goers, but heck, I’d even be okay with another one of those action-packed, in-engine trailers.

DICE / EA

Battlefront has been a long time coming. Through ups and downs and cancelled products, it’s good to know that we’re finally going to have the opportunity to play a current-gen version of the game we all love. I’m really hoping that aside from some of the questionable moves that have come as of late with DLC and preorder bonuses, EA can bypass all of that and deliver a truly exceptional product.

How will ‘Star Wars Battlefront’ fair at E3 this year? Is the force going to be with this one? Let me know @TarynGStark, and be sure to follow us @YouNerded.