Next Gen Star Wars: Battlefront Features Dogfighting Mode After All

Fear not, young Padawans! It looks like every geek’s dream of flying an X-Wing or TIE Fighter is only a few months away from reality thanks to Star Wars Battlefront’s newly revealed Fighter Squadron mode landing this fall.

Despite EA’s openness about the new Battlefront lacking the fan favourite space battles of its PS2 and Xbox predecessor, we now know that large scale dogfights will in fact return to the series – only, they’ll remain within a planet’s atmosphere. A brief teaser posted on the EAStarWars Twitter page on Monday reveals multiple X-Wing Starfighters flying towards a battalion of 12 or so TIE Fighters high above the misty sea of an unknown planet.

When news of a next gen Battlefront game broke at the beginning of the year, many fans were up in arms about what seemed to be a lack of diversity in game modes. An offline mode, playable heroes and villains, and vehicle-centric combat were all features many feared would not be returning; Fortunately recent trailers proved the existence of offline play and controllable heroes and villains, and now we can confirm dogfights will contribute to the diversity of gameplay.

While it’s not technically the same breed of outer-world space battle fans found in Battlefront 2, the relatively restricted nature of keeping vehicle combat within the confines of a planet may yet create some exciting gameplay opportunities. The Battlefront trailer shown at E3 2015 featured a jaw dropping in-game sequence where a TIE fighter swooped through a canyon targeting an opponent, and the prospect of multiple ships having to adapt to a planet’s unique geography and conditions is, in this Star Wars nerd’s opinion, far more exciting than duking it out in open, empty, ol’ space.

Star Wars: Battlefront launches November 17th of 2015 on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Stick with us for further coverage of the game as more news continues to emerge.