From Bespin to Boba Fett, get a look at what could have been.
Pre-alpha footage of Free Radical’s cancelled Battlefront game has surfaced, giving us a taste of what the full game might have been like. Ever since LucasArts pulled the plug more than three years ago, the ill-fated project has been the subject of many leaks and much speculation, but nothing on this scale. Past to Present, a site specializing in digging up content from unreleased and cancelled titles, has uploaded nearly an hour of gameplay showing off a lot of features – some more complete than others.
The video’s tour of duty includes maps in familiar Star Wars locales like Cloud City, Kashyyyk, Mustafar, and Tatooine. The standard playable units return from Battlefront II, filling the battlefield with stormtroopers and rebel soldiers. Special hero units are back as well: we see gameplay of series veterans Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker. IG-88, infamous assassin droid and newcomer to the Battlefront series, also makes an appearance. A barebones version of Galactic Conquest is shown, though there also appear to be several ‘Challenge Missions’ like speeder bike racing and special objectives on classic maps like the Death Star.
The gameplay itself is unpolished and bug-ridden, but the game’s ambition is visible throughout. Seamless transitions from ground combat to space dogfights are indeed possible, even if the framerate doesn’t quite hold up. Texture pop-ins abound and the AI should probably drop that second letter, but that’s to be expected in a build that was never intended to see the light of day.
There’s a lot of promise here, which only makes it more disappointing that the project is long-dead. Despite the fact that the game was nearly complete at the time of cancellation, fans should continue to look elsewhere for a new hope.
Source: Past to Present
