Two incredibly popular Star Wars games— 2004’s Battlefront and 2005’s Battlefront II—are coming back in a new classic collection that will bring 64-player online action to consoles for the first time as well as other new features and bonus content, too. And you won’t have to wait long as these classic Star Wars shooters are launching on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC in March.
Revealed on February 21 during Nintendo’s latest Direct, the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection contains both Star Wars: Battlefront and its sequel in one package. These two games, developed by Pandemic (RIP), were primarily third-person shooters that played a lot like EA’s Battlefield games, with large open maps, vehicles, and objectives to complete. To be clear, these aren’t the same Star Wars: Battlefront games developed by Dice and published by EA in 2015 and 2017. These are the OG entries in the franchise which were originally available on PS2, Xbox, and PC.
This will be the first time that either of the original Battlefront games will be playable on Nintendo consoles. (One of the portable spin-offs did land on the Nintendo DS.) According to porting studio Aspyr, all previously released bonus content and DLC will be included, and Steam Deck will be supported too.
Oh, and I’m happy to report that the games will include solo play, all their original modes, campaigns, and even offline split-screen support for up to two players. Once again, you and your best friend can stay up way too late playing Galactic Conquest against each other.
Bonus content and new features, too
For the first time, the bonus characters of Asajj Ventress and Kit Fisto will be playable on PlayStation. (They were previously Xbox-only.) They join the other playable villains and heroes—like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Yoda, and Han Solo—who can be used in battle by players for a short time.
However, they are also all available in Hero Assault, a mode that includes only these powerful characters duking it out in a giant battle. Aspyr has confirmed that this mode—which could previously only be played on Tatooine—will now be playable on all ground maps in Battlefront II, which is wonderful. All bonus maps and DLC maps are included, too.
Sadly, Aspyr didn’t confirm if crossplay would be included, only confirming cross-gen support (PS5 vs PS4 / Xbox Series X/S vs Xbox One). Hopefully, crossplay is included as an option. I also hope these games will support 60FPS or more on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. I’d love to be able to kill Ewoks and Stormtroopers at 120FPS.
All this can be yours when Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection launches on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC on March 14 for the odd price of $US35.01. If you already own the original Battlefront or Battlefront II on Xbox or Steam, you’ll get a 20% discount when pre-ordering the games.
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