Star Wars fan project aims to remake Free Radical's Battlefront
A new hope?
It is a period of civil war. Star Wars followers finally have EA's new Battlefront to play, but other fans still long for something else: the cancelled Battlefront project once in development at British studio Free Radical Design.
Free Radical's Battlefront was canned a decade ago this year - despite being nearly completed - but is still fondly remembered for the hugely ambitious gameplay it originally promised.
TimeSplitters developer Free Radical was building huge maps which boasted seamless ground to space battles - something missing from DICE's new release.
Now, fans of Free Radical's effort at Russia-based Frontwire Studios are attempting to remake this version of Battlefront, retitled Galaxy in Turmoil. The project is live now on ModDB. The small developer is also asking via Reddit for anyone else with coding experience to get involved.
A huge amount of gameplay from Free Radical's game has previously leaked online, showing off its various levels, characters and capabilities.
Recapturing all of this will require plenty of work, but the game will face a far larger challenge should Star Wars publisher EA get involved.
The project is set to be released for free, but any game using the Star Wars license without permission risks evoking LucasArts and EA's ire - especially one which highlights the official Battlefront's shortcomings.
As you can see from the videos below, the fan project is very much still in its early stages. Time will tell if it progresses further.
