DICE Reveals Offline 'Star Wars Battlefront II' Arcade Mode

The beta for Star Wars Battlefront II arrives next week, but before you storm the streets of Naboo or fight rivals in space, DICE has one more mode to reveal: a variant simply called Arcade.

Arcade works as a quick pick-up game or as a way to test new class builds before you try them online. Either way, you’ll only face AI teammates and enemies in the fully offline mode. While you play in Arcade, you can still earn valuable rewards towards your online career. With each match, you gain in-game credits to use for purchasing Crates, which contain valuable Star Cards, or skills, to use in combat. In addition to finishing matches, you’ll also get credits for completing series of challenges.

Before you step into an Arcade match, you’ll have to tinker with its many settings first, such as the overall difficulty and the classes used by all AI units. You can also opt to jump into a Battle Scenario, which are pre-built matches. On PC, you’ll play through Arcade alone, but console players have the ability to play these matches in local split-screen mode with a friend.

You can try out Arcade during the beta next week. The full features of the game mode won’t be available until the final version of Star Wars Battlefront II's official debut, but you can try a 10-versus-10 match with AI allies and opponents or a “Hero versus many scenario” in which you control Darth Maul as he faces a multitude of foes on Naboo.

If you pre-ordered the game, you can participate in the beta as early as October 4. The general public can join in on the action on October 6. The early preview ends a few days later on October 9. For more information on the game’s multiplayer mechanics and modes, check out our hands-on impressions from E3 and the new space-themed Starfighter Assault.