Wars gets a little bland when you see the same battlefields over and over again.
Star Wars: Battlefront is a fun game, but it lacks variety. Right now, it only features maps based on four planets: Tatooine, Hoth, Endor, and Sullust. We know that Electronic Arts will add more locations via downloadable content (all of which you’ll have to buy, minus the free Jakku pack that’s comes out for everyone in December).
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Yavin 4
Above: Imagine an AT-AT making its way over those trees.
This is the planet (or moon, whatever) that the Rebellion used as its headquarters during A New Hope. Yes, this is the place that the Death Star was seconds away from blowing up. While Endor’s moon is full of redwood-like forests, Yavin has more is more of a rain forest. We’ve seen it in plenty of games before, including the original two Battlefronts and Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (in the now noncanon Expanded Universe, Luke established the new Jedi Order on Yavin 4). Endor is currently my favorite planet in Battlefront because the trees and even terrain give players so many places to hide and run through. Yavin could have a similar feel.
Ord Mantell
Above: Ord Mantell is a junky place.
Ord Mantell is a rocky planet known for its large junkyards. It also attracts a lot of bounty hunters. This was the place Han Solo mentions in The Empire Strikes Back when he reminds Leia about the bounty hunter that made him realize he needs to pay off his debt to Jabba. It’s also a starting planet for the Smuggle and Trooper classes in the massively multiplayer online game Star Wars: The Old Republic. All of those piles of junk could make for interesting, uneven terrain that gives players plenty of places to hide.
Naboo
Above: It’s a beautiful place. Let’s fight a war there.
Yes, I hate the prequels just as much you do, but Naboo is a pretty cool planet. So many destinations in Star Wars feel like they’re well past their prime, but Naboo is a beautiful place that feels like a romantic European city on steroids. So, why don’t we ruin it with huge explosions and some AT-ATs? Naboo also has a lot more variety than most Star Wars planets. Some areas are relatively flat, others surrounded by cliffs, while buildings dominate other locations. It also has swamps, which presents a sort of terrain that could make for a different style of shooting experience.
Dantooine
Above: A good place for a picnic or a battle.
Dantooine is one of the first planets mentioned in Star Wars that we don’t actually get to see in any of the films (right after Alderaan). This is the place that Leia told Grand Moff Tarkin was the home of the secret Rebel base. We got our best look at Dantooine in the classic role-playing game Knights of the Old Republic, where it served as the headquarters of the Jedi. Dantooine is largely uninhabited, but it’s valleys of grasslands and lakes make it a pleasant place. Also, it’ll give those AT-STs and AT-ATs plenty of room to stomp around in.
The Death Star
Above: We got Death Star.
How can you have a Star Wars game without the Death Star? Mind you, you can’t exactly fit ground vehicles like the AT-ST or AT-AT in it, which would limit what kinds of modes the location can support. Still, it would be a great place for smaller, infantry-based modes with indoor environments, something that Battlefront doesn’t have a lot of at the moment. Most of all, the surface would make great location for the game’s all-spaceships mode, Fighter Squadron.
Alderaan’s graveyard
Above: Kind of a pretty for a place echoing in the moans of dead souls.
Speaking of a place that would be great for Fighter Squadron and … well, only Fighter Squadron. Alderaan was famously blown up in A New Hope, but it’s debris could make a great place for a space fight. Imagine trying to get a lock on a TIE Fighter while avoiding giant chunks of a planet.
Bespin/Cloud City
Above: Sadly, you can’t really fit an AT-AT in there.
This is another location that is a bit limiting (I don’t think you can fit AT-ATs here), but it’s such an iconic location from the films that it really deserves a place in Battlefront. I mean, it’s a floating city surrounded by clouds. It’s just cool. Not only can ships fight in the skies, but infantry can explore the inner parts of the city, including the carbonite freezing chamber from the end of The Empire Strikes Back.
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Felucia
Above: One of the best things in the prequel trilogy was on the screen for like 3 seconds.
We only saw this planet for a few seconds in the movie (that one Twi’lek Jedi, Aayla Secura, bit the dust here in Revenge of the Sith), but it was an amazing place. Felucia is a planet covered in colorful, giant mushrooms. It looks more like something out of Alice in Wonderland than Star Wars. It was actually a map in Battlefront II, but we think that the place is so cool that it needs adding to the new game. It would stand out from every other location in the game, and all of those giant plants could make maps into fungi-filled labyrinths.
Serenno
Above: It’s like a galactic Castlevania.
Serenno is the home world of Count Dooku. Fittingly, the place has a gothic feel unlike any other planet in Star Wars. We’ve mostly seen this planet in the cartoon series The Clone Wars, but it’s so cool and unique that it would make an awesome addition to Battlefront’s thin roster of worlds. Plus, Serenno offers plenty of dramatic landscapes surrounded by high cliffs and tall buildings, which could make for interesting maps with lots of verticality in play, making jetpacks particularly useful.
Dac/Mon Calamari
Above: It’s a map! Well, it should be.
Remember Admiral Ackbar from Return of the Jedi? You know, the “it’s a trap” guy. This is the home world of his species, the Mon Calamari. Most of the place is under water, but it has cities above the waves large enough for big battles. We’ve already got ice, volcanic, desert, and forest levels. Let’s add a water one to the mix. Of course, Star Wars has plenty of aquatic worlds to choose from, but none of the other ones have a connection with everyone’s favorite minor character.