Star Wars and gaming fans were recently treated to roughly 20 minutes of gameplay footage for Star Wars: First Assault, a downloadable first-person shooter that was to be released on the Xbox 360 via the Xbox LIVE Arcade. The game was canceled in 2012 following the purchase of the Star Wars franchise by Disney and the ensuing “media blackout”. The video gives an extended glimpse into what was considered the first stepping stone to Star Wars: Battlefront III.
The beta footage starts with a fly-by of a Tatooine spaceport that has been taken over by Imperial forces; soon, the player (who is a stormtrooper) is dropped into the dusty, vacated streets. From the get-go, there are plenty of elements that those familiar with games like Battlefront and Call of Duty will pick up on. The match seen follows a capture-the-point style of gameplay and shows off the use of the blaster rifle and thermal detonators; interestingly, the game adds a unique spin when the match ends with a rush to prevent the opposing team from being evacuated out of the map.
Mind you, there are no other players in the map; according to Extracheat13 (the uploader of the video), “the beta only had this one level and I couldn’t spawn bots or add another player”.
An early screenshot of the Tatooine spaceport map
Sadly, this game will never see fruition; though, it is interesting to see how it may have paved the way for the newest entry in the Battlefront franchise. Speaking of, Star Wars: Battlefront III is set to release soon on November 17 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.