Star Wars: 5 Things We Want in Battlefront

It's official: Star Wars Battlefrontwill officially debut at Celebration Anaheim in April. What does this mean? Gameplay footage? A hands-on demo for the fans? A release date? We're not sure, to be honest, but we do know that this highly anticipated game is closer than ever before. 

After years of gamers screaming at LucasArts to make Star Wars: Battlefront 3, we are finally getting a new installment, except that it's coming from DICE, which, given their track record, makes the upcoming game even more exciting. 

EA is showed off Battlefront at E3 2014 with a teaser trailer, but that wasn't enough to satisfy us. Here are five features that would get us very excited about the new game:

Better & More Commandable A.I.

Given that the first two Battlefront games came out on ancient hardware, they can be forgiven for having A.I. that are nothing more than targets in a shooting range. However, that will not fly with all of the juice running under the hoods of current-gen gaming consoles and computers. I don't want enemy infantry standing stationary in the open and firing potshots at me that miss 90 percent of the time. Give me some stormtroopers with teeth!

In addition to better A.I., it would be neat to see A.I. that can be commanded by the player. Rather than feeling like a lone ranger amongst a fleet of automatons, it would be cool if we could take a small detachment of forces with us as we penetrate enemy strongholds and capture hardpoints - similar to the fire squads that we have seen in games like Brothers in Arms. However, this feature would be best if it was optional, and not forced on players that just want to fly solo.

Random Ship Layouts in Space Battles

Boarding an X-Wing Fighter, blasting TIE Fighters in space, then hopping out into the enemy dreadnaught to take over its control room was a rush in earlier Battlefront games. It created the true feeling that you were part of a bigger engagement knowing that, whether you were playing as infantry or pilot, there was an unseen battle going on all around you, the importance of which could not be measured.

However, as is the issue with many multiplayer maps, the battles can become a little mechanical after you memorize its layout. If Battlefront 3 randomized the interior of boardable ships, these fights would be a lot more intense and exciting, giving you that frenetic feeling you get while trying to get your bearings under a hail of incoming laser fire. 

Customizable Heroes

Introduced in Battlefront 2, heroes helped spice up the battlefield and make things more entertaining for the person controlling them, and a hell of a lot more difficult for any poor sap that had to fight them. However, players were stuck with traditional heroes and villains such as Yoda and Darth Vader.

For Battlefront 3, it would be really cool if gamers were allowed to create their own hero and choose from a variety of powers that they coukd unlock over a period of use. It would help cater to a generation of gamers that, since the introduction of Call of Duty 4's persistent player system, really enjoy the ability to level and customize their online characters.

Persistent Galactic Conquest

Does anyone remember Chrome Hounds? No? While that's understandable, it is also unfortunate, since the game had a feature I haven't seen in any games since - a persistent online war that players took an active role in, choosing a faction to side with, and seeing the war through until its end, at which point the war reset and players could choose a new faction to side with.

This would be perfect for Battlefront 3. The series is known to take on some of the largest wars in the Star Warscanon, and it would be cool to see each engagement have more impact than "one side won, the other lost." What if losing one battle meant losing the war? It would add a lot more weight to each multiplayer match played in this mode.

Don't Change Everything

While it would be nice to see plenty of new features on the shiny new Battlefrontgame, it would also be nice to see some familiar features come back. First and foremost - splitscreen is a must. In a time when we are seeing less and less games offer a split-screen option, it would be a shame to see this game, one that comes from a series that always had the feature, also do away with the feature.

Another thing that should stay the same is the class-based system with limited customizability. Some customization would be nice, as in the aforementioned custom heroes, but too much will make the game feel a lot like every other multiplayer game on the market. I'm all for innovation, but let's keep Battlefront, Battlefront, at least in this case.

While some of these might be (probably are) pipe dreams, we can at least hope to see them end up in the new game. What do you guys want to see in Battlefront 3? Let us know in the comments below!