This week, EA unveiled the final expansion to the Star Wars Battlefront series with the Rogue One: Scarif DLC. Inspired by the upcoming film, Rogue One™: A Star Wars™ Story, fans can experience epic battles on the new beach-world planet Scarif.

The game incorporates a brand new multi-stage Infiltration mode, which is broken up into three parts. In the Approach stage, Rebels have to race to enter the shield gate and land on Scarif. Players will be selected at random to play the brand new U-Wing ships, and others must play as X-Wings to provide a safe passageway towards Scarif. Next, players head to the beaches of Scarif for the Distraction stage. Rebels need to work on blowing up a cargo ship before the Imperials wipe them out. If successful, players are taken to the Extraction stage, where Rebels need to deliver data tapes to the extraction point. If you're familiar with the game, it's most similar to the traditional Cargo game mode, but with minor changes. Having played the mode multiple times, the data tapes prove to be the most challenging aspect of the entire mode. If you jump pack using the data tape, you immediately drop the data tape and someone else has to retrieve it. The new maps are visually stunning and offer new challenges—from navigating the thick jungle vegetation or the maze-like asteroid fields outside of Scarif.

Players can even play as heroine Jyn Erso and the villainous Orson Krennic, the Imperial Director of Advanced Weapons Research. Each present tons of new strategies to choose from, including Jyn’s deadly melee and Krennic’s defensive manuevers. When playing as Jyn, players can utilize her versatile blaster and toggle between a blaster pistol and a blaster rifle using Rifle Extension. She also has a Sonic Imploder and a new ability called Truncheon Surge, which is essentially a badass melee attack. Director Krennic has his own abilities to choose from, including a powerful Armor Breaker blast and a buff for nearby Imperials called Wrath of the Empire. Make sure to deploy C2-B5, a devious astromech that boasts a Squad Shield, Dioxis Defense and Scan Ping. This is one of the first times where Star Wars fans are actually able to experience the space action and play as the characters before the new movie is released.

The latest additions to the game include three new playable blasters, including the A180 Blaster Pistol. Used by Jyn Erso in the upcoming film, the A180 is one of the most unique blasters in the game. Instead of the traditional Star Card format, this blaster is completely customizable. Reconfigure the blaster into a sniper rifle for long range attacks, or switch it into an ion launcher, similar to the TL-50 Heavy Repeater. The best part about this blaster is the rifle mode, where you can unleash a flurry of blasts for a short period, without any fear of overheating. The DT-29 blaster used by Orson Krennic is also available for gameplay. The heavy blaster is very similar to the DT-12, also used by Greedo in Battlefront, and packs a punch with a strong rate of fire.

New Star Cards include the Sonic Imploder, which acts as a cross between a Flash Grenade and a Thermal Imploder. It sounds like a dream come true, but the Star Card actually works more like a severely nerfed Thermal Imploder. Just wait until you have to unlock “5 Kills with the Sonic Imploder” for one of the latest Hutt Contracts, it’s definitely a mind-blowing challenge. If you’re playing as a Rebel on the beaches of Scarif, be sure to look out for one of those elusive U-Wing Power Ups. Rebel players can take to the skies and play as a gunner from a U-Wing, raining down blasts of damage on Imperials overhead. On the other hand, Imperials also get a Tie Striker Power Up, but unfortunately, they aren’t given any actual game play from overhead. The Star Card just acts like a separate droid or an Orbital Strike attack overhead.

Overall, the graphics are stellar, and the gameplay is definitely fast paced and action-packed. Season Pass holders were granted access to the DLC on Tuesday, December 6, and others can purchase the DLC separately in two weeks. Let the countdown until Rogue One commence!

Star Wars Battlefront is available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Origin PC. Rogue One: Scarif DLC is available for Season Pass holders now, two weeks before it becomes available for individual release on December 20th.

Written by Jade Nicolette

Twitter: @nicolette_style