EA and DICE hedge their bets with the legions of fans of the original trilogy. Players gather in multiplayer games that pit foot soldiers from the Empire and Rebel Alliance against each other. The Millennium Falcon and Slave I are absurdly overpowered in the Fighter Squadron mode, but if you're sticking to the fiction they probably should be.
It overflows with reverence for the source material - but does that make it a good video game in 2015? Star Wars Battlefront, published by Electronic Arts and developed by DICE, is the latest marketing salvo launched just ahead of the new film, The Force Awakens. And, if you listen closely, the crackling hum of a lightsaber indicates the nearby presence of a certain Jedi. TIE fighters scream as they strafe the battlefield. Soon after you join the battlefield, blaster rifles fill the air with the familiar, metallic echoing pew-pews innovated by Ben Burtt and guarded closely by Skywalker Sound.
R2-D2's beep-boops spatter over the minimalist menu. John Williams's timeless score blares as the title card recedes into the screen just as it does in the classic films. The first thing you'll notice in Star Wars Battlefront is the sound.
