When it first launched in late 2017, EA and DICE's Star Wars: Battlefront II was a much-maligned, microtransaction filled disappointment. Nearly three years on, thanks to the tireless work of the developers who took player feedback to heart and consistently pumped out new maps, skins, characters, and game modes, Battlefront II will be remembered as one of the best Star Wars games fans have played in years. Now that we've downloaded our last gigabytes of planned content with The Battle on Scarif and DICE begins to move on to their next project, it's worth noting the features we all wanted in Battlefront II, but will sadly never get.
Deeper Space Battles
In the original Star Wars Battlefront II from back in 2005, space battles started on foot in your team's star cruiser hanger bay. There, starfighters and troop carriers lined the hanger like a ray-shielded used car lot as your trooper meandered around. The thrill of hopping into the cockpit of an ARC-170 and blasting into the cold void of space to engage other starfighters and a flotilla of imposing capital ships was second only to the rush of landing your craft in the other team's hanger to wreak havoc and sabotage. DICE's starfighter assault is undoubtedly no slouch even if it is a bit neglected compared to other game modes, but many fans wanted more. Bombing runs on the Fondor shipyards, and diving through the atmosphere of Kamino is fun for the first few parsecs. Still, the depth and freedom of the 2005 title's space battles is something starfighter fans have been clammering for in the newer title since before it was released.
More Vehicles
Firefights in EA's Star Wars: Battlefront II are intense engagements with blaster bolts and lightsabers flying everywhere. With enough battle points, players can send infantry scurrying before their mighty AAT droid tank or AT-ST. But these vehicles are few and far between with only a few options for committing vehicular manslaughter. Compared to the original Battlefront games, though, 2017's Battlefront II's vehicle offerings are quite weak with the force. Tons of new heroes and soldier classes have been added in DICE's subsequent updates, but the stable of vehicles has remained severely limited, much to fans chagrin.
Mixing Up Maps & Eras
Playing Battlefront II is like playing in a digital toy box full of characters and weapons from across Star Wars history clashing in environments from across the saga. Strangely, the game is limiting in that it does not allow players to mix up eras and maps. Want to engage Rebel scum as they shelter among the dusty crags of Geonosis or invade Kamino's cloning facilities as the First Order? Too bad, rules are rules, and Battlefront II remains a stickler for keeping characters in their proper places.
Landing & Crewed Ships
LAAT Clone Gunships bear down on their target, dodging erupting clouds of turbolaser flak to drop off their precious cargo of Arc Troopers on the droid's flank. The pilot bobs and weaves while gunners clear the landing zone with laser beams before finally, the troopers disembark under fire. Exciting, right? Unfortunately, these intense moments are strictly limited to cut scenes in Star Wars: Battlefront II. The ability to crew up with your squad in a single vehicle and land ships to drop off reinforcements would have been an exciting cooperative addition to Battlefront II's multiplayer. Until Battlefront III inevitably drops, we'll just have to settle for wiggling our mice and analog sticks and pretending we control those cutscenes.
Galactic Conquest
Probably the most requested feature since EA took over the Battlefront games, Galactic Conquest was a game mode in the 2005 Battlefront II that added a strategic layer to the chaotic battles. Players would vie for control on a galactic map, choosing which planets to engage the enemy as they made their way to the enemy's capital. A strategic over-game like Galactic Conquest would have given more weight to the otherwise self-contained online skirmishes.