Dropzone is Star Wars Battlefront's take on King of the Hill
Stay on target.
Star Wars Battlefront has a King of the Hill-style mode that can be played on planets such as Tatooine, Hoth, Sullust and Endor.
Drop Zone sees "tight" eight versus eight matches where Rebel and Empire teams fight to capture and control drop pods that fall through the atmosphere onto planet surfaces.
EA has yet to release gameplay footage of Dropzone, but we do have the screenshot, right, that offers a glimpse of what it looks like.
Like in most King of the Hill modes, Drop Zone tasks players with triggering a short Drop Zone claim process. Your team wins if it captures five pods, or controls the majority of them after the 10-minute match is up.
EA said if a pod is constantly changing possession, with no team able to defend it long enough to claim it, another pod will be sent down to give the teams two pods to fight over and, hopefully, break the stalemate.
Captured pods need to be defended, but you'll want to be quick on your feet to avoid being hit by explosives or an Orbital Strike.
"This goes hand in hand with our design philosophy behind many of the game modes in Star Wars Battlefront," lead level designer Dennis Brännvall said.
"We're promoting the idea of a fast, action-packed game where you need to be mobile and think on your feet. Camping doesn't really pay off."
Claimed pods begin to open, revealing Power Pickups. There's a risk reward mechanic here, because it takes a moment for the pod to open, so sticking around for the Power Pickup is dangerous. Plus, when your claimed pod is opening up, another pod will hit the surface elsewhere, so it may be better to ditch the reward and head to the new pod instead.
As for tactics, you'll want to use Droids and Turrets to create makeshift defenses. A Turret defends an area, while a Viper Droid outlines where enemies are coming from.
Brännvall added that each map has been created to support Drop Zone. The Swamp Crash Site on Endor, for example, sees the fight take place around a crashed GR-75 transport ship with containers from the craft strewn across the landscape. One section has a waterfall overlooked by an Ewok village. Here, you have to jump down into the pool below to claim the pod.
Drop Zone is included in the Star Wars Battlefront beta, due out on PC via Origin, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in early October. The beta also includes the 40-player Walker Assault on Hoth, and the wave-based Survival Mission on Tatooine.
