Star Wars Battlefront 2: Galactic Assault Maps Revealed Ahead Of Beta

Star Wars Battlefront 2 officially arrives Nov. 17. For those who are marking their calendars, yes, we’re only a little more than a month away. While we continue to wait, EA has just revealed the maps that will be featured in the 40 player Galactic Assault mode. The maps include Naboo, Kamino, Endor, The Death Star 2, Hoth, Jakku, Starkiller Base, Takodona, Yavin IV and Kashyyyk.

We anticipated the latest Battlefront 2 announcement when the official @EAStarWars Twitter account first teased a “massive amount” of information was slated to drop this week. The Star Wars Battlefront 2 Galactic Assault map announcement also precedes a beta event, which starts Oct. 4 for players that preordered the game and Oct. 6 for everyone else.

The first mode in the beta release will include 40-person battles on the capital of Naboo, where players will take charge of either Republic Clone Troopers or The Separatist Droid Army, with access to four classes: assault, heavy, officer and specialist, in addition to some playable “beloved Star Wars heroes.” The second feature in the upcoming Beta will be StarFighter assault, a tactical, dog fight based mode that promises to give fans a considerable upgrade to the simplistic “fighter squadron mode from the first game.

There’s a lot going for Star Wars Battlefront 2. Everything from the inclusion of a single player campaign, to the emphasis on free DLC, to the embracing of elements from all eras of the Star Wars mythos implies that the developers over at EA are acutely aware of the massive disappointment that was 2015’s Battlefront.

But if there is anything that Dice did right the first go around, however, it's the realizing of the Star Wars environmental canon. Criterion designer John Stanley sat down with the Battlefront podcast to shed some further light on the narrative focus the maps will boast in Battlefront 2.

“I think for a lot of Star Wars players, it’s all about immersion, and some of that immersion will come from setting that narrative and the setting, and what’s going on in the level, plus we have things like the audio, or making the ships handle really authentically… all of those layers come together and hopefully make for an immersive experience.”

With every news story, I become more assured that this title is on the right track. Star Wars Battlefront 2 hits shelves Nov. 17 for PS4, Xbox One and Windows.