Star Wars Battlefront Walker Assault now easier for Rebels!

The Star Wars Battlefront open beta was a great first gameplay taste for players looking forward to bringing their Star Wars battles to life, and it was all too accurate for many players.

That's because the Walker Assault mode in the beta recreated that iconic battle on the ice planet of Hoth, and saw the Rebels desperately trying to hold their lines against the onslaught of the evil Empire and their terrifying totterring AT-AT walkers. More often that not, it was all too much for the Rebel forces, who ended up being obliterated by the end of the match, mostly because those huge beasts were nearly impossible to take down.

At the time, players wondered if the toughness of the level was intentional, reflecting the way the battle turned out in 1980s The Empire Strikes Back. But developers DICE wanted to make it clear that this was a balancing issue, and apparently it has been tweaked considerably for the full release of the game.

Now the AT-At's have been given a weak spot underneath which deals massive damage when attacked. It's more dangerous to get into position to draw a bead on it but you can make a real difference to the struggle, even as a lowly footsoldier. This comes into play when their shields have been taken down, giving every player a chance to make their mark - by exploding a lumbering weird looking tank thing.

The developers have also tweaked many other parts of this mode, including the damage of weapons and gun emplacements, with the ultimate aim being giving players on both sides the same chance to win. But let's take a moment to think on the many thousands of Rebels who died in the nearly futile struggle for Hoth in those early days, and the precious few heroic fighters who managed to hold out and win against the evil forces of the Empire in the broken beta days.

Star Wars Battlefront is out on PS4, Xbox One and PC from the 17th of November 2015.