The game features a full campaign story mode unlike 2015's Battlefront. The game's single player protagonist, Iden Versio, leader of an Imperial Special Forces group known as Inferno Squad, participates in multiple events in the 30 years leading up to The Force Awakens. There are segments in the campaign where the player is able to control other characters such as Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren. Players can also play in the Arcade mode – an offline single player or local co-op where players can choose which side to play on and which battle to play in. Battles vary from team battles to onslaughts. Alternatively, players can choose to do a custom match, where they can change some of the settings and location.
Instead of the paid Season Pass downloadable content (DLC) seen in the 2015 predecessor, this game is expanded with free DLC provided to all players with a free EA account. The DLC is free to all players, using a seasonal structure similar to Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege, according to Gavankar. The first season, released in December 13, 2017, was based on the movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and included hero Finn (John Boyega) and villain Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), the planet Crait as a ground map, and a space map above D'Qar. The second season, released in May 16, 2018, was based on the movie Solo: A Star Wars Story, and included Jabba's Palace and Kessel as ground maps, the new game modes Hero Showdown and Extraction, new character skins for Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, and Leia Organa. The next set of content was announced on June 9, 2018, during EA Play which will feature content from the prequel trilogy of Star Wars, centering on the origin of the Clone Wars with the planet Geonosis as a ground map, a new mode similar to Conquest, and new heroes Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and villains General Grievous (Matthew Wood) and Count Dooku (Corey Burton).
Campaign
The single-player story mode campaign in Star Wars Battlefront II takes place in the Star Wars galaxy, beginning around the time of Return of the Jedi, but largely between it and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Emperor Palpatine plots to lure an unsuspecting Rebel Alliance fleet into a trap using himself and the second Death Star, being constructed above the Forest Moon of Endor, as bait, seeking to crush the Rebellion against his Galactic Empire once and for all. The Imperial Special Forces commando unit Inferno Squad, led by Commander Iden Versio, daughter of Admiral Garrick Versio, and made up of Agents Gideon Hask and Del Meeko, is crucial to the success of this planned Battle of Endor, but the Empire underestimates the strength of the Rebellion as its fleet gathers at Sullust.
Plot
Iden Versio (Janina Gavankar) is being interrogated for the codes to unlock an Imperial transmission aboard a Rebel Mon Calamari Star Cruiser. She activates her droid, which sneaks to her cell and frees her. Iden had allowed herself to be captured in order to erase the Imperial transmission, which would reveal the Emperor's plan at Endor. She successfully erases it, then escapes the ship by launching herself into space where she is intercepted by the Corvus, the flagship of Inferno Squad. Iden confirms the mission's success to Gideon Hask (Paul Blackthorne) and Del Meeko (TJ Ramini), other members of her squad.
Later on Endor, Iden, Hask, and Meeko secure the perimeter around the ruined shield generator, and watch with shock and horror as the second Death Star explodes. Vice Admiral Sloane orders a full retreat, and Inferno Squad recovers TIE fighters to escape the moon, which is being overrun by Rebel forces. The Corvus is attacked during their escape, but Inferno fends off Rebel bombers. Iden meets with her father, Admiral Garrick Versio (Anthony Skordi), on his Star Destroyer Eviscerator.
Admiral Versio confirms to Iden that the Emperor has died. A messenger droid displays a hologram of the late Emperor issuing his last command: to begin Operation: Cinder. Admiral Versio sends Iden to an Imperial shipyard to protect Moff Raythe and his Star Destroyer Dauntless, which hosts experimental satellites vital to the success of Operation: Cinder. The Dauntless comes under attack from a Rebel Star Cruiser, but Iden is able to board it with Hask and disable its ion cannons. Afterwards, they are ordered to attack the Imperial shipyard in order to free the Star Destroyer from the locked clamps. Afterwards, the Dauntless opens fire on the Rebel cruiser, destroying it.
Meeko is sent to Pillio and ordered to destroy one of the Emperor's hidden bases. He encounters Luke Skywalker (Matthew Mercer), who helps him disarm the base's defenses and fend off the local wildlife. They discover that the base contains the Emperor's spoils of conquest. Meeko and Luke part amicably, and Meeko begins to question the Empire's goals and motives. Following this, Iden and Inferno Squad are sent to the Imperial-controlled world of Vardos, in order to retrieve Protectorate Gleb. As the satellites for Operation Cinder begin destroying the planet with terrible storms, Iden and Meeko try to evacuate the civilians in addition to Gleb, causing Agent Hask to betray them. Disillusioned by the Empire's attack on Vardos, Iden and Meeko escape off world, now traitors to the Empire. They seek out the Rebel Alliance and are taken to General Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), who gives them the choice to help stop Operation: Cinder, or to escape and make new lives for themselves. Choosing to help, they aid Leia Organa (Misty Lee) in protecting Naboo, destroying the satellites for Operation: Cinder and reactivating the planet's defenses. After Naboo is liberated, Inferno Squad joins the New Republic.
