Highlights
- Star Wars Battlefront relies on the Star Wars IP to determine its unique gameplay, with mechanics like lightsaber combat and blaster usage that differentiate it from other shooters.
- While lightsaber combat is not the primary focus of gameplay, being able to switch lightsabers on and off strategically can provide a tactical advantage, allowing players to move through maps undetected.
- If a third installment of Star Wars Battlefront is released, it should incorporate the ability to manually extinguish and ignite lightsabers, as well as improve lightsaber combat mechanics for an immersive and engaging experience.
Star Wars Battlefront would not need to introduce many new features as it had already refined its multiplayer gameplay well. There are likely mechanics from other shooters that could be drawn from as inspiration, but its adherence to the Star Wars IP is really what the franchise is oriented toward and that discerns what kind of gameplay will be involved. Blasters aren’t anything like ordinary, nonfictional firearms, for example, and lightsaber combat is absolutely unique when playing as legendary characters from the series.
Much of Star Wars Battlefront’s gameplay doesn’t actually have players hack-’n-slashing with a lightsaber, but it can if fans were largely enthusiastic about playing as a ‘hero’ or ‘villain’ character. This combat arguably has never been immaculate in its execution, but the fantasy of leading an army on an iconic Star Wars planet with a lightsaber in hand is still delivered adeptly. Moreover, Star Wars Battlefront included one seemingly small detail for lightsaber wielders that is actually incredibly paramount in understanding how to sweep a map with unsuspecting skill.
Extinguishing Lightsabers in Star Wars Battlefront Gives a Tactical Advantage
It’s simple on paper, but being able to switch a lightsaber on and off whenever players like is massively impactful in-game. Jedi and Sith alike are not particularly known for their ability to be stealth-oriented necessarily, and playing as one of them in Star Wars Battlefront makes it easy to want to rush into a room full of ordinary soldier opponents to cleave through them with lightsaber strikes.
However, players also draw a lot of attention to themselves while leaping and dashing around with a lightsaber brazenly brandished. The lightsaber will eventually ignite when players perform any neutral action such as dash, block an incoming blaster bolt, or strike down an opponent, but when crossing the map to flank an enemy spawn point or transitioning to the map’s next playable area it is highly advantageous to have lightsabers deactivated.
This way, players can sprint by without drawing nearly as much attention to themselves, especially on nighttime maps such as Endor where a lightsaber blade will paint a clear target on its wielder. Certain characters already stand out quite prominently and their shouted dialogue can also give away someone's position, but switching a lightsaber off is still a great means of infiltrating parts of the map relatively unseen.
Then, when in an optimal position, the player could ignite their lightsaber again and ambush their opponents. Such a strategy can’t work on every map, though it is still a great option to have that adds to a lightsaber wielder’s functionality. Star Wars Battlefront 3 was unfortunately canceled near the finish line and it is now unlikely that it’ll get picked back up in the near future as a result.
But if a third installment in the refurbished franchise does ever rear its head, it would be essential for it to include this mechanic allowing lightsabers to be manually extinguished and ignited. Lightsaber combat in and of itself is a completely different matter that could gain a lot from some revisions for a future entry, especially if lightsaber duel clashes could be made engaging and immersive while still being quick enough to accommodate the multiplayer mayhem going on around them in the meantime.
Balancing issues will always have an impact on the franchise due to its multiplayer and how strong certain legacy characters might be when they are introduced, whether they have a lightsaber or not. Nonetheless, this one mechanic should never be trifled with in Star Wars Battlefront as long as lightsaber wielders still play a prominent role.