'Star Wars Battlefront II' announces inclusion of Darth Vader as playable character

"Star Wars Battlefront II" promotional photo. Facebook/ EAStarWars

With the release of the highly-anticipated video game "Star Wars Battlefront II" only over a month away, Electronic Arts dropped a major inclusion in the game. Darth Vader, one of the most iconic fictional characters of all time, is coming to the upcoming game as a playable character.

The company announced the news via the official PlayStation blog, revealing that the Sith Lord will come with some of his signature abilities, like the Force Choke, which he can use to lift up enemies while damaging them; and Saber Throw, wherein he sends his red lightsaber to slice through enemies, then recalls it using the Force.

Darth Vader will also have a triggered ability called Focused Rage, wherein he draws on his anger to boost his fighting capabilities and allow him to deal and take more damage.

With the addition of Darth Vader, "Star Wars Battlefront II" now includes three iconic villains from all three trilogies. Previously, the game confirmed that Marth Maul, the menacing antagonist from the prequel trilogy; and Kylo Ren, the central antagonist from the current Star Wars saga, will be appearing in the game.

The game also released a short trailer featuring Darth Vader in action in various locations like Jakku, the Death Star, and Yavin 4. It will be interesting to see if the game will allow some dream match-ups in its multiplayer mode. It would be fun to see Darth Vader going toe-to-toe against Darth Maul, and see which of them can best the other.

Other familiar characters included in the upcoming game are Boba Fett, Han Solo, and Rey.

In other news, the beta testing phase for "Star Wars Battlefront II" has been extended for two days, and will be available until Wednesday, Oct. 11. The beta began on Oct. 4 and was originally scheduled to end on Oct. 9.

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