Exclusive: Star Wars: Battlefront III Tech Dead
Flying mechanic won't be in new game
Posted 16 Jan 2009

Speaking to SPOnG, an ex-employee of Free Radical has confirmed that the leaked Star Wars: Battlefront III footage is genuine, but that crucial technology developed for the game is unlikely to make it into the final code.
The former employee, who wishes to be known only as Thomas Dudenaughty, told SPOnG, "It's genuine. However, it's my understanding that the game's been passed to a new developer, but the tech that allowed you to fly from the ground, to air, to orbit, to space dies with Free Radical's involvement. The new developer will be making it a cutscene every time you want to transition from ground to space."
We were told that the game mechanic would have offered "complete freedom".
The new developer is thought to be Rebellion, which has worked on Battlefront: Renegade Squadron for the PSP.
We were also told that Brian Crecente over at Kotaku, who picked up on a hooded character looking very Sith-like saying, "Stick to the plan Kenobi" was "on the money". It looks like another attempt to turn a Jedi to the Dark Side was to feature in the game. Whether this will make it into the final game is unclear.
You can see the video in full here.
The former employee, who wishes to be known only as Thomas Dudenaughty, told SPOnG, "It's genuine. However, it's my understanding that the game's been passed to a new developer, but the tech that allowed you to fly from the ground, to air, to orbit, to space dies with Free Radical's involvement. The new developer will be making it a cutscene every time you want to transition from ground to space."
We were told that the game mechanic would have offered "complete freedom".
The new developer is thought to be Rebellion, which has worked on Battlefront: Renegade Squadron for the PSP.
We were also told that Brian Crecente over at Kotaku, who picked up on a hooded character looking very Sith-like saying, "Stick to the plan Kenobi" was "on the money". It looks like another attempt to turn a Jedi to the Dark Side was to feature in the game. Whether this will make it into the final game is unclear.
You can see the video in full here.
Comments
1/9
Nice scoop on this. Shame really cause that footage almost looks like fun. As opposed to previous battlefront games which where just atrocious.
2/9
While the video looks technically brilliant, I can't help but feel that a play are that big (from ground, to orbit and onto ships) would leave the battles feeling very sparse unless there were a huge number of players on each side. Still, it's a shame we'll never get to find out.
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3/9
I doubt it would have been too hard for Lucas Arts to lend a helping hand to free radical at least whilst they finished off a game from THEIR OWN IP.
Grrrrr it boils my blood when I see quality disappear down the drain.
This would have been one of the few games with 'complete freedom'
Grrrrr it boils my blood when I see quality disappear down the drain.
This would have been one of the few games with 'complete freedom'
4/9
if they had stay'd with the "complete freedom" it would be the game of the year for sure... lucasarts is dissapointing me on every release..
5/9
Just let Free Radical make the best Battlefront ever...At leat,the new developer , should follow the steps of Free Radical...
6/9
darn, that feature looked awesome! ah well, at least this confirms the games alive and going to a new developer
7/9
darn, that feature looked awesome! ah well, at least this confirms the games alive and going to a new developer
8/9
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thats IMPOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
-Luke Skywalker, after finding out Darth Vader wasn't going to be in a cool game this year.
-Luke Skywalker, after finding out Darth Vader wasn't going to be in a cool game this year.
9/9
That is dumb. It looked like a good game. They should make it, it would be a big hit.
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