Nothing in this trailer plays out even remotely like an actual game of Battlefront II does. Nothing in this trailer plays out even remotely like anything in The Rise of Skywalker will. And yet”and yet“there’s nothing quite better to get you in the mood for a new Star Wars movie coming out this week than something as hype-laden as this.
Yes, after what has felt like eons, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theatres this week, and Battlefront II is celebrating in style. The game itself has received a “Celebration Edition” upgrade that lets fans pay to unlock basically every cosmetic appearance in the game since its release (ever wanted to run around as a slightly more damaged version of General Grievous? Now you can!), and, starting tomorrow, players will get access to three new hero skins for Rey, Kylo Ren, and Finn based on their appearances in The Rise of Skywalker.
There’s also a new map inspired by the planet Ajan Kloss”the jungle world briefly glimpsed in the trailers. It will be added to Battlefront II for players to battle on as either the forces of the Resistance or First Order, bolstered by new support classes like the Jet Trooper and Sith Trooper for the First Order, or the Gunner and Spy for the Resistance, roles filled by new aliens seen in Rise. At first it’ll only be available in Battlefront II‘s co-operative modes, before being made available in other modes on December 20 to tie in with the film’s official release.
But even if you don’t care enough for Battlefront II to hop in yourself and blast some scum, rebel or otherwise, you can enjoy this new trailer for the update that sees the First Order invade Ajan Kloss to hunt down the last of the Resistance…until Rey races into battle to save her friends and face her destiny.
Like I said, this is not how anything in The Rise of Skywalker is going to go. This isn’t even how your average game of Battlefront II plays out (there is, frankly, nowhere near enough people camping at the back of the map picking people off from a zillion miles away with a sniper rifle). It is understandably dramatized for the sake of a fancy trailer.
But my god, is it dramatized well or what? The Rise part is cool as hell, but that cut to all the different eras of Star Wars (Leia! Obi-Wan recreating his “Hello there!” Poe blasting TIE Fighters! Republic Commandos!!!!) before returning to Rey and Kylo Ren’s duel is just…good. Good Star Wars-y Star Wars vibes, even if it’s selling you on a game that doesn’t really exist like this. A nice warmup for what’s to come this week.
Battlefront II‘s Rise of Skywalker content drops sometime today.
The Rise of Skywalker, uh, rises, December 19. As if you’d forgotten.