History is littered with the corpses of games that never made it to the public, but thanks to a group of preservationists, we may have got a look at what would have been an instant classic: Star Wars: Battlefront 3.
Free Radical Archive comprises of people who uncover lost information about canceled projects from developer Free Radical, who has worked on beloved series like TimeSplitters, the original Battlefront games, and one game I would love to see get a modern remake, Haze. I pride myself on being the only games journalist with a Haze tattoo.
The team’s most recent discovery is apparently a forgotten Wii build of Battlefront 3, a sequel to one of my favorite games of all time, Battlefront 2. The video shows some cutscenes that appear to occur after Order 66 was given, where clone troopers hunt down a Jedi in hiding. The footage looks far more cinematic than anything from the older titles. It was achingly close to completion before it was canceled, so it’s no surprise that the footage looks so good.
There’s also a clip showing a Jedi Fighter taking off from the city-planet Coruscant to join a space battle taking place just above the buildings. This is a huge immersion improvement to the previous space battles that took place entirely in space, with the nearby planet shown in the background.
The boots-on-the-ground combat looks largely unchanged, but I think that’s a good thing as it was stellar to begin with. No frills, just clone troopers blasting droids, rebels taking out stormtroopers. Simplicity at its finest.
There is one addition that looks great, however. X-Wings and other fighters can now fly just above ground battles and lend air support, functioning like jets in the Battlefield games. If you love to take flight, there was also uncovered footage of a spin-off game, Elite Squadron.
There’s also the return of heroes, so you’d have been able to play as Han Solo or Darth Vader and help turn the tide of battle in your team’s favor. The whole video makes me incredibly nostalgic for Battlefront 2. I pre-ordered EA’s Battlefront remake back in 2015, and I was so disappointed I swore off pre-orders forever.
Luckily for us, the Free Radical Archive community isn’t done. It’s not going to give us a glimpse at what could have been and just leave us wanting more. No, the community plans to mod the game and release it for free so we can actually play it. “As this game was canceled during development, there are still bugs and issues which we hope can be resolved through future modding.”
While you wait for an unofficial Battlefront 3, check out our list of the best Star Wars games you can play right now.