DICE has announced the Star Wars: Battlefront 2 Clone Commando class and the return of Instant Action mode, which was originally seen in the Pandemic-developed Star Wars: Battlefront games. These features join a few other major and minor additions coming to Battlefront 2 in 2019.
The addition of a Battlefront 2 Clone Commando class had been rumored for some time now, as dataminers have been finding Clone Commando-related information since as far back as 2018. DICE confirmed the class’ existence with a “Community Transmission” post today, featuring several GIFs of the class in action and details about the class’ mechanics.
Clone Commandos were originally created for the classic Lucasarts shooter Star Wars: Republic Commando. When Disney bought the rights to the Star Wars franchise, the Commandos and all other content from Star Wars video games was de-canonized, but the Commandos were brought back into official Star Wars lore by the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television show. Just like in Star Wars: Republic Commando, the Battlefront 2 Clone Commando class uses the DC-17m Repeating Blaster Rifle, which can be transformed into a grenade launcher with the quick addition of an anti-armor attachment. The class also has a short-range disorienting shockwave ability and a damage buff ability.
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DICE also announced the return of Instant Action mode, which allows players to participate in large-scale, Command Post-capturing battles against A.I. opponents. This mode was notably absent from DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront, despite being a staple of Pandemic’s original Battlefront games from the 2000s. Along with Instant Action, DICE is introducing a “contextual spawning” mechanic that allows players to spawn at Command Posts in both Instant Action and Capital Supremacy, similar to how things worked in the Pandemic games.
Unfortunately, the Battlefront 2 Instant Action mode appears to be single-player only. DICE did not specifically say whether it would allow for local or online co-op, but the company put a lot of emphasis on the mode as a single-player-focused one. An entirely separate co-op mode will also come to the game, however: DICE described the mode as a “large scale PvE adventure” where four players choose either Galactic Republic or Separatist Alliance and team up to attack or defend against A.I. opponents. It’s not clear if this mode will allow for up to four players or if it’s mandatory to have all four.
Finally, DICE announced the new Felucia map, three new Battle Droid appearances, a new skin for the Luke Skywalker hero that gives him an outfit from A New Hope, incoming The Rise of Skywalker content, and other additions and changes. The team’s Battlefront 2 roadmap puts the Felucia map, Clone Commando class, Instant Action mode, and four-player co-op mode all in September, with The Rise of Skywalker content coming in December (and/or possibly after).
