Elite Squadron allows players to participate in combat on foot, in ground vehicles or in space. Players are also able to enter capital ships and, once the shields are down, fight the enemy inside on foot. The ground-space transitions are accompanied by short cutscenes while the game loads the next area. The same is also true of entering or exiting a capital ship. This is the first Battlefront game to allow players to fly from ground to space battles. The consequences of each battle will depend on the players actions, meaning that each individual enemy killed can affect the outcome of a result. The battlefront will not be one giant, seamless map, but a compilation of inter-connected, smaller size areas, each one capable of affecting the other.
Elite Squadron features “Heroes and Villains” gameplay.
It includes playable characters such as Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, The Emperor and Kit Fisto, and the Heroes and Villains mode (Assault Mode) last featured in Star Wars: Battlefront II. Also included is General Rahm Kota, a character from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, as well as other characters from Renegade Squadron, such as Col Serra. Also, the Galactic Conquest mode features a new mechanic not seen in previous versions, where two players are able to share a single PSP, and compete against each other in a strategy based game mode. Players are also able to mix characters from the Star Wars saga and put them into locations and situations that never happened within canon. The story mode has been called “a huge step up from previous story modes”, and was praised for incorporating the controls into the mission. As players made progress in the story and completed objectives, they would unlock customization props.