Anyone who has played the Death Star DLC for Star Wars Battlefront knows that DICE tried something pretty neat with that, where they gave multiplayer maps some story and narrative dressing, to contextualize gameplay, and make the objectives more meaningful with a narrative framework.
This is something that DICE and Criterion (who are working on the game too) will be doing in Star Wars Battlefront 2 with all maps. Speaking on the Battlefront Podcast, Criterion Designer John Stanley confirmed that putting that kind of narrative contextualization is part of the developers’ drive to make the experience more authentic.
“Yeah, each of the maps will have a narrative focus, and we’ve tried to make it so that the objectives then tie into the map. And that’s important to help with the narrative, but we want to make sure we are switching up the gameplay and making the gameplay feel right for that level, too,” Stanley said.
“I think for a lot of Star Wars players, it’s all about immersion, and some of that immersion will come from setting that narrative and the setting, and what’s going on in the level, plus we have things like the audio, or making the ships handle really authentically… all of those layers come together and hopefully make for an immersive experience.”
All of this sounds rather exciting, and is actually a pretty good way to stop multiplayer games from blending into one another and beginning to feel trite- instead, the narrative offers some contextualization and meaning for everything you do. Hopefully, they strike the right balance, and don’t go overboard on overloading every game with cinematics when people just want to play.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 launches on PS4, Xbox One, and PC this November.