Star Wars Battlefront Outer Rim DLC Hands-On

Despite my thoughts on the launch content for Star Wars Battlefront, I still played it a bunch reaching the level cap. Even though there was still the single player content I can do on harder difficulties, there wasn't much to do in the game with the free Jakku DLC. EA and DICE have been releasing incremental updates from free maps and new outfits for the heroes, but the new Outer Rim DLC is the first substantial paid DLC for the game. I ponied up the $49.99 for the season pass just to play it two weeks early before it's release date for everyone else on April 5th, but at least there's new toys to mess around with and more stuff to do. The new maps in the DLC take place in the pipelines at Sullust, Jabba the Hutt's throne room and a garage in Tatooine. It's a breath of fresh air for Battlefront fans, but as of today they're not integrated into the main game's playlists. The Outer Rim content is on it's own playlist, oh yeah playlists are finally in the game, as you'll play Blast, Cargo, Droid Run, Heroes vs. Villains and new mode Extraction. These maps have their big and small variations depending on the modes just like the main game. Extraction is one of the main attractions for the Outer Rim DLC. This new mode is about escorting a shipment of supplies to an extraction point as the Rebels within the time limit while the Empire has to prevent them from doing so. Similar to Battlefield's Rush mode and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, new sections of a map opens when the shipment arrives at a checkpoint and time gets extended. Rebels can also use the shipment's squad shield as an advantage when progressing through a map. The DLC maps were clearly designed with Extraction in mind, so I'm curious how this gets integrated into the main game's maps. The action does get intense especially when the Rebels are just inching their way to the finish line while the Empire takes their last stand. This happened a lot during my matches when the Rebels were so close to winning and the Empire wins by the skin of their teeth. While it's not that original, Extraction is fun enough to play and a coordinated push when on the Rebels side is satisfying to pull off. Niem Numb and Greedo also join the Battlefront as the new hero and villain. Sure, they're not as iconic as the characters already in the main game, but they're both have interesting mechanics. Niem Numb is all about powering up his turret by killing foes while having proximity bombs, orbital strikes and the pulse cannon as it disposal. Greedo finally gets to shoot first with his confidence trait. As you score more kills with him, the more confident and reckless he gets with precision shots along with improved grenades. I'm happy DICE was able to make them feel like they can deal as much as damage as the other heroes and villains, but I wonder who's left to join in future DLC. Another big addition with the Outer Rim is Jabba the Hutt's contracts. These contracts lets you unlock the new weapons and star cards in the DLC by performing certain tasks. They range from getting targeting rifle kills, use smoke grenades and many more. I do like the fact the contracts force you to play around with the underused tools in the main game, but as of now, the majority of players are focusing on getting these over with as fast as they can, so matches can sometimes not live up to their potential. The catch is that you have spend some coins to get these contracts started and good thing I saved up some when this came out. Speaking of the new weapons, two new targeting rifles and blaster pistols are now in the mix. The Relby V-10 is a great rifle for medium to long range while the DLT-19X is the first true sniper rifle in Battlefront. For the new blaster pistols, the DL-18 is a great rapid fire pistol and the DT-12 is as good as the infamous DL-44 (despite it's nerfs in recent patches). The new star cards are also very useful in certain situations. The Dioxis Grenade is basically a poison grenade where it's radius contains poison that players lose health when in it. I tend to use it a lot during Extraction games throwing it near the shipment's location trying to scare players off from moving or stopping it. Adrenaline Stim lets you have a faster healing rate for a limited time and the Scatter Gun is a great card to use to kill foes at close quarters. More variety in the weapons and star cards is much needed in Star Wars Battlefront right now and luckily they're worthy additions to the arsenal once you complete their Hutt contracts. As mentioned earlier, playlists finally made to the main game along with quick match options. With quick matches, you can find any 40 player game or 16 player game, but if you prefer the old way of finding a specific mode, that's still there. For the Outer Rim playlist currently, no one wants to play Heroes vs. Villains after Extraction games, so that is a bit concerning and we'll see if DICE will change it up even though I can see why that's included to give the new characters the limelight. Speaking of Heroes vs. Villains, that and Hero Hunt got some necessary changes where players can choose the hero or villain they'll play as when it's their turn at the start of a round in HvV. Determining who gets to be the hero in Hero Hunt is now damage based instead of who gets the kill and you get to choose as well (most likely Luke Skywalker). The level cap also got raised to 60 and there's also a new evasive roll to use as well. Star Wars Battlefront's Outer Rim DLC is enjoyable for players to come back playing if they haven't been on it in weeks or even months. The new maps are a breath of fresh air, Extraction can have it's intense moments and there's at least more stuff to do with the Hutt contracts to unlock the new weapons. Nien Numb and Greedo are also fun to play as with their interesting mechanics. There's still some bugs and kinks to be fixed such as the long post-match screens, not earning money even though you are, losing level progress, etc. Bespin is next for DICE's DLC schedule in the summer and I'm really curious how they can keep it fresh yet also satisfy fans.