LucasArts may not be providing gamers with a third installment in the Battlefront series any time soon, but the company could be providing a game with a little bit of multiplayer action.
It’s public knowledge that LucasArts is working on multiple games which may or may not be related to Star Wars and in late August a title of one of those mystery projects was revealed. Uncovered through the typical trademark/registration searching that happens from time to time, Star Wars: First Assault was discovered and now it appears that the once enigmatic game is a XBLA title.
An official announcement still hasn’t been made by LucasArts, but the facts are out there as the box art for First Assault was uncovered. Found by an eagle eyed member on NeoGAF, there’s not much known about Star Wars: First Assault other than it’s bound for XBLA and will feature Stormtroopers and Rebel forces shooting stuff up. Having a title such as First Assault certainly alluded to some potential shooter based action and it seems as if the game will be rather predictable in that sense.
Since there are no details on First Assault as of now it’s a bit difficult to get a gauge of what the game will be and if it’ll be the latest disappointment to come out of LucasArts. I won’t go into deep analysis mode regarding the title as it’ll likely boil down to being a simple arcade shooter with a decent multiplayer mode thrown in. At this point I’m sure fans of Star Wars have a very specific vision as to what they want to experience in a video game, but if LucasArts can deliver a decent shooter along the lines of Gotham City Impostors in the “it’s kind of dumb but fun department” then I may be ready to suit up.
The soon to be arrival of First Assault on XBLA is interesting since it marks a new direction for LucasArts. After developing high profile games that go nowhere (Indiana Jones PS3/Xbox 360, Battlefront 3), it could be possible that LucasArts is delving into, if not just testing the waters, in developing smaller games for digital platforms. LucasArts likely won’t abandon triple-A games development as evident by Star Wars 1313, but it would be nice to see the company diversify a bit if it means we’ll see a more steady flow of releases in different genres and brands.
Given the XBLA nature of Star Wars: First Assault it’s unknown when we could learn more about the game since some arcade games can literally pop up on us at anytime in respect to their final release date.
So would a possible FPS/TPS Star Wars game for XBLA be a worthy substitute for a new Battlefront game or should have LucasArts given us something entirely different?
