Everything we’ve seen from the forthcoming Star Wars: Battlefront II so far has been highly positive. All signs point to a game that successfully builds off its predecessor with more content, tighter gameplay and—most importantly—more explosions. But screenshots and tautly edited trailers can only give but so much of an accurate picture of how the game will be. The best way to know if it’s any good is to grab a blaster and tear Naboo apart yourself.
That’s why it’s such good news that DICE’s Battlefront II will get an open beta a month before the game actually hits shelves (or more realistically, your console’s games’ page). The open beta starts on Oct. 6 and runs through Oct. 9, but if you preorder the game you can hop into the beta two days earlier than less dedicated fans. Players will battle across the Theed Galactic Assault map, which was showcased at E3 last month. Hopefully this will give the developers enough time to work out any kinks ahead of the game’s Nov. 17 release.
Also included is a Starfighter Assault battle, but details about the dogfighting mode won’t be revealed until Gamescom in August.
Click here to watch Battlefront II’s explode-y recent trailer.