Since the equally loved and hated space battles of Battlefront II, players have clamored for a more robust combat mode involving spaceships. DICE and EA have been teasing a new vehicular combat mode for a while now, and this week at Gamescom they finally showed it off the eager masses. the newly revealed Fighter Squadron mode pits two teams of 10 humans against one another with an additional 10 AI pilots in the skies to flesh things out. The first to 200 points wins, with AI kills counting for one, human pilot kills worth three, and major objectives in the form of AI shuttles worth twenty.
The trailer kicks off by showing that one of the modes contained within the in-atmosphere combat is an escort mission of sorts. Likely to take the form of a capture the flag style engagement in which players vie for control of a mobile capture point.
The trailer also showed off various ship types as well as ground defenses. The strong implication is that a perks system will be at play in some way, judging by the wording of “support on the way”. The presence of both Slave One and the Falcon suggest that “hero” class ships will also be usable. It has been confirmed that these matches will host up to 20 players.
Whether or not these speculations will hold true, and just how intense the dogfighting is remains to be seen. But if this trailer is anything to go by, this new mode will be a worthy successor to the space battles of the previous game.
