Aspyr Media has announced Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection.
The anthology bundles in Star Wars: Battlefront 1 and Star Wars: Battlefront 2, and boasts some impressive features. Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection will have 64 player online, and new content based on Episodes 1 to 6 (sorry, Rose Tico fans).
Here’s a roundup of what has been added across both games, courtesy of the official Star Wars blog:
Star Wars Battlefront (Classic)
- Includes Bonus Map: Jabba’s Palace
Star Wars Battlefront II (Classic)
- Includes Bonus Maps: Bespin: Cloud City, Rhen Var: Harbor, Rhen Var: Citadel, and Yavin 4: Arena
- Includes Bonus Heroes: Asajj Ventress & Kit Fisto
Key Features
Traverse the Galaxy in Campaign Mode & Galactic Conquest
- Galactic Conquest: Devise your strategy, recruit your troops, and execute your tactical vision for conquering the galaxy.
- Star Wars Battlefront Campaign: Experience iconic battles from Star Wars Episodes I-VI
- Star Wars Battlefront II Campaign: Join the rise of Darth Vader’s elite 501st Legion of Stormtroopers
Massive Locations with Up to 64-player Online Support
- Fight on the Ground: Wookiee warriors, jet troopers, droidekas, and more in massive multiplayer action
- Drive Iconic Vehicles: Speeder bikes, AT-STs, AT-RTs, and more in offensive and defensive battles
- Pilot Legendary Starships: TIE fighters, X-wings, and more in space and air dogfights
Expanded Hero Assault
For the first time ever, Hero Assault is playable on all ground maps including: Death Star, Kashyyyk, Kamino, and Naboo
- Fight with Heroes: Mace Windu, Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and many others!
- Battle with Villains: Darth Maul, General Grievous, Darth Vader, and many others!
As you can see from the trailer, Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, Aspyr has opted not to apply a visual remaster to the two games. What we do get is some upresolution work so that the characters, and backgrounds, are clear shapes without blurs. The result is a somewhat Minecraft-like voxelization, which is definitely not photorealistic. But, it does have a campy visual appeal of its own.
Impressively, they have managed to maintain reasonable broad resemblances for immediately recognizable characters like General Grievous and Aayla Secura. It does effectively evoke the atmosphere and presentation of Star Wars as well as the original games did in the early 2000s.
What’s most interesting is the promise of 64 player online. Aspyr didn’t mention if they were able to enable cross-play across platforms in some way, so that may not be a guaranteed feature. But one can always hope, if this proves popular, that they can add it later.
Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collectionwill be released on March 14, 2024, on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam, including dedicated Steam Deck Support.
You can watch the official trailer below.
