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10 vehicles we need in Star Wars Battlefront
AT-ATs. Barges. Banthas? Here are the vehicles we’re dying to commandeer in Star Wars Battlefront.
Star Wars Battlefront
© EA
Given that Star Wars: Battlefront is not only the first mainstream game from a galaxy far, far away to be announced since the closure of LucasArts last year, but also the biggest licensed game to be launching around the release of Episode VII, it has a fair amount to live up to. EA's track record with online shooters isn't exactly solid (great concept, Titanfall, but shame about the longevity), and they're going to have to pay some serious fan service to keep people – even franchise aficionados – satisfied.
Both EA and DICE need to remember that games are meant to be fun, so it's ok to confine us to certain vehicles on certain worlds, as long as they also let us run riot a little now and then. We know that TIE-fighters and X-Wings are playable in Star Wars Battlefront (to name a few), as is the iconic Millennium Falcon, but there are plenty of other rigs we're dying to jump into and pilot. It’s not just about blowing stuff up, see? It’s also about looking cool while you’re blowing stuff up, harnessing that yee-hawing badassery that the original trilogy in particular did so well.
As DICE has closed off the prequel trilogy to us for some insane reason (at least for now), some of our wishes may never come true, but here they are anyway: the 10 vehicles we pray are drivable in Star Wars Battlefront.
1. AT-AT Walker
The coolest vehicle in the Star Wars universe by far is the AT-AT, the huge quadruped with front facing cannons and a terribly-designed, exposed neck that ruined everyone’s day on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. The tottering bambi of Star Wars machines, we already know they’re playable in Battlefront, but are they drivable? Rumours suggest they're on-rails and you can only operate the guns and turn the head, but that would be no fun at all unless you’re playing on a 60-inch screen and in full Imperial Commander cosplay. If we can't crush puny Rebel forces underfoot or plough through shield generators at will, we will be highly disappointed. Might as well charge into battle on a taun-taun (which, FYI, we won't turn our noses up at).
2. Sand-speeder
Speeder-bikes will be available on Endor, and they'll be a ton of fun. If Destiny's Sparrows have shown us anything, it's that piloting a paper-weight flying bike at suicidal speeds is dangerously entertaining, but imagine doing exactly that at breakneck speed between trees. Not a great time to be a blind ewok out for a stroll. On that subject, we'll also be spending time on Tatooine, home of the hovercraft-like sand-speeder. Not only are they zippy little numbers, they're also four-seater affairs, and would be ideal for crowding into with a handful of mates and tearing around in like a Warthog. Star Wars really doesn't have many ground-based vehicles, so the Sand-speeder would be a great addition.
3. Armoured Assault Battle Tank
DICE will almost certainly introduce prequel trilogy elements as DLC at some point; it’d be mad not to, and EA never misses the chance of an easy payday. While weaponised Pod-racers would undoubtedly be a tall glass of awesome-juice (just think about it for a second), their inclusion is unlikely. However, those fast, hovering tanks favoured by the annoying "Roger-Roger"-spouting Federation droids would work wonders. Powerful, manoeuvrable and defensive, they'd bring something different to any pitched land battle, even if their robotic pilots do fall apart like LEGO when touched by a lightsaber.
4. Slave 1
Almost as iconic as the Falcon herself, Boba Fett's weird standy-uppy fighter ship oozes merciless bounty hunter cool that simply isn't done justice by its owner's silly Benny Hill death. Slave One is a surprisingly slick little rust bucket, too, and could easily hold its own against a squadron of X-Wings, in space or not. Its unique vertical position would bring something new to the table in terms of handling, and its reliance on facing everything forwards would make for some interesting tactical flying.
5. Homing Spider Droid
Granted, these are not technically vehicles in the truest sense, but if you could remote pilot any droid in the Star Wars universe, would you go for a whistley little R2 unit or a colossal, laser-eyed death-spider? Right, exactly. Truth be told, we don’t expect to see the Homing Spider Droid even in Prequel Trilogy DLC, but we can only cross our fingers and hope. Mowing down gungans would be fun if all we had was a rusty old bicycle with barbwire woven through the spokes, but a towering arachno-droid would be uber-cool.
6. Bantha
Hear us out before you leave! We know they're not technically a vehicle, but remember how cool riding elephants was in Far Cry 4? Well, apply that to Tattooine's indigenous herd beast, incongruously decked out in their massive, massive dreadlocks despite evolving in a desert, and you've got a recipe for woolly, sweaty, sandy carnage. Charging across a battlefield on one of those beauts would only be marginally less fun than stealing it off a Tuskan raider in the first place. Should have left Ani's mum alone, Walrus-face.
7. Vader's Personal TIE-Fighter
Those jet-black solar panels, that dark matte finish, the hulking Sith lord in the cockpit who seems quite happy at this point to blow his only son into tiny bits before he's even had a chance to give him the whole "rule the galaxy together" speech... While there's no real evidence to suggest that Vader's TIE-fighter is any different to a standard TIE-fighter (besides the swanky wings, natch), we'd be prepared to suggest that the Emperor's right-hand cyborg wouldn't be seen dead in anything less than a GTE model. We imagine it would be faster and more defensible than the average grey TIEs, and would certainly pack more wallop. Not great if you get caught in an unbreakable spin cycle, mind.
8. Darth Maul’s Bloodfin
Like a huge, flying, death-dealing La-Z-Boy, Darth Maul’s curved hover-bike is the epitome of effortless sci-fi cool, and its name is practically begging you to accidentally spill its pint. Super-fast yet easy to manoeuvre, it’s unlikely to tote much firepower or weather too many direct hits, but it would be great for powering around the battlefield at entirely stupid speeds, ramming unsuspecting players or weaving between explosions. If your biggest hope is for Battlefront to make you feel like an utter badass, then Maul’s stylish little runaround must be on your wishlist.
9. Bespin Cloud Car
Perhaps not the most manoeuvrable of single-pilot security ships, and admittedly resembling a pair of Eighties sneakers with the Velcro stuck together, the Bespin Cloud Car is undeniably memorable. Given that DICE is focusing on land conflicts in Battlefront, we're unlikely to see Bespin as DLC (although a fair amount of blaster fire is exchanged in the sterile corridors of Lando’s Cloud City), but taking to the skies in a functional if not flashy Cloud Car would be awesome. Sort of.
10. Dune Sea Sail Barge
OK, we know what you're thinking, but let's consider this for a moment. Jabba's palatial sand cruiser can hardly turn on a dime, but its smaller cousins are nifty enough, sport some hefty laser cannons and, most importantly, feature a deck. Still not excited? OK, imagine flying around above the sands of Tatooine while a vicious firefight rages between two teams on top of the vehicle you're currently driving, as you laugh like Salacious Crumb and blast away at other barges, upon which, yup, more players are fighting. Now let that sink in for a moment. Oh, and if someone dramatically swings from our barge as it's about to explode, we won't even mind dying.
So there you go: the ten vehicles we hope to drive in Star Wars Battlefront. Are there any you fancy that we’ve overlooked – or do you find some of our suggestions dumber than Jar-Jar Binks? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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