EA DICE has made some rather daft decisions with Star Wars Battlefront, no single player, no bot support, no classes and the like, but this hasn’t knocked Producer Jesper Nielsen from his stride. He took to Reddit to help explain the choices that were made and to give some more details on the game.
Having already called the game “incredibly fun and immersive”, he took the time to explain his definition of immersion. Agreeably ripping on the overuse of buzz words like “innovation”, something EA is prone to doing, he said, “Of course it means something. Has it been overused? Surely. Just like innovation, etc. But those words still mean something. In this case it really refers to the feeling of being present at those famous SW locations. Running around in the Endor forest is just so cool!”
He went on to talk about how visuals and audio are key to creating a sense of immersion, valid points all. He said, “it’s not all about the graphics. The visuals are obviously a big part of creating immersion, but so is a lot of other things. Like sound, as you mention. Oh, the sounds and music in this game… it’s amazing! I still think it’s what I love the most about it. Something so magical there. But yes, content is also important. Will the final list of content please everyone? Maybe not, that’s always hard to do, but I think most will be more than satisfied”
Speaking about the aforementioned daft moves, he goes on to talk about his understanding of peoples feelings. Though he remains convinced that they will come around, saying, “I completely understand a lot of the reactions – of course it can feel disappointing, frustrating, etc. However I do think once people try it out, they will enjoy the game for what it is; an absolutely spectacular and fun experience.”
Vehicles always played an important part in Battlefront and Battlefront II, this seems to be a returning feature of the game, speaking about vehicle importance he said, “Yeah, I understand what you mean. Don’t think I can say anything other than a) vehicles are receiving a lot of focus and b) this is not a Battlefield port, at all.”
He also spoke about the limited nature of vehicles in the game, like the AT AT’s on Endor which are on-rails rather than under player control. Being under NDA, he said, “All I can reference right now is the showcased gameplay clip with AT-AT’s on Endor that are on-rails. – Once you try it out and/or see gameplay, you will understand why it’s important they’re on-rails. They’re the objective and they need to be going in certain directions.”