Star Wars: Squadrons is the modern fighter we deserve
There’s a Tie Interceptor locked on to me. The first missile just barely missed thanks to my well-timed countermeasures, but the second round will be ready before I can do that again. I set my deflector shield to focus behind me, cut my thrusters by half, and try to shake them while bracing for the inevitable volley of laser cannon fire. My opponent chases me through the shattered hull of a long wrecked Star Destroyer, desperate to even the score after I successfully eliminated three of its companions. I turn hard into a bit of hull with a massive gash in it, put all of my ship’s power into my boosters, and flip my ship to greet my opponent head-on.
A pair of rockets keep the Tie occupied long enough for me to reset my ship’s power to its laser cannons. Both ships erupt with cannon fire simultaneously for a moment, but the shieldless Tie Interceptor is no match against this RZ-1 A-Wing face to face. Its hull splits apart, and as flame erupts from within, and I accelerate through the wreckage in search of my true objective.
I have been disappointed by space combat games wearing the Star Wars logo for longer than I can remember. Star Wars Squadrons, thankfully, is not those games. It’s something new, something significantly better, and I believe it will keep a lot of people occupied for quite a while.
Suit up, pilot.
Star Wars: Squadrons
Pros:
- Everything is just so pretty
- Ridiculously compelling gameplay
- Killer multiplayer experience
- VR/HOTAS support is great
Cons:
- Campaign feels like an afterthought
Star Wars: Squadrons What I like
Source: Windows Central / Russell Holly
Category | Star Wars: Squadrons |
---|---|
Title | Star Wars: Squadrons |
Developer | Motive |
Publisher | EA |
Genre | Flight Combat |
Players | Multiplayer Online |
Controllers | HOTAS, Mouse & Keyboard, Gamepad |
Launch Price | $40 |
But when you actually fly, it’s something genuinely fantastic.
Source: Windows Central / Samuel Tolbert
Each one of the eight ships feels different. They fly differently, they fight differently, and your loadout options for each makes a huge difference. In the right hands, each is incredibly effective, though I wouldn’t exactly call them balanced. It’s clear in most multiplayer dogfights, the fights will largely consist of X-Wing, A-Wing, Tie, and Tie Interceptors. The bombers and support ships are significantly more useful in the group combat scenarios, and honestly, that’s exactly what I wanted. Artificial balance goes against the core design of these ships and would have made Star Wars Squadrons bland and boring.
Source: Windows Central / Russell Holly
This game is gloriously Star Wars, warts and all. It doesn’t try to paint the folks on the side of the Empire as confused or just doing their job. Instead, it points a special light on what a bunch of bastards the people in charge are, and not just to those who disagree with them. They’re awful to their own people as well. It’s clearly been designed by people who love this universe of stories and wanted to leave their mark on it without sugar-coating, and as a result, Star Wars Squadrons is everything you would possibly want in a space combat game.
Star Wars: Squadrons Control options
Source: Windows Central / Russell Holly
Put simply, there are too many options for my fingers to enjoy gameplay on a keyboard. I could probably resolve this with a more functional mouse, but with my current layout makes playing this game less enjoyable than my alternatives. Some gameplay features like free look become more complicated when you use an Xbox One controller, forcing you to double-tap one of the joysticks to enable and disable the feature. Overall, using the controller is a great deal more comfortable and, frankly, more fun.
Star Wars: Squadrons What could be better
Source: Windows Central / Russell Holly
Star Wars Squadrons is everything you would possibly want in a space combat game.
Without spoiling anything in the story, the two characters you play in this campaign (one New Republic and one Empire) are members of elite squadrons in the middle of a fringe conflict away from any of the main Star Wars story. Each mission starts in your respective hangar bay, where you are either encouraged or flat out forced to engage with your fellow pilots and get little bits of their backstory. These aren’t so much written poorly as they are oddly placed. These interactions don’t feel attached to the rest of the game, making needing to complete them before moving on to the briefing feel awkward. Once you get to the briefing, you gain the information needed to help you choose the best loadout for the kind of fighting you’re going to be doing, and then you’re sent off to the actual gameplay.
The campaign mode’s 14 missions are split between two armies and four ships, which means more than half of those missions are largely focused on introducing you to those ships. By the time I got to the end of the campaign, I absolutely had a favorite pair of ships, but you could replace these squadmates, especially on the Empire side, and I probably wouldn’t notice.
Star Wars: Squadrons: Should you buy it? Absolutely
Source: Windows Central / Russell Holly
Ultimately, that’s what this game is. The online gameplay has always been the focus, from the moment it was first advertised to us. It’s a thrilling space combat game, rivaling many of the experiences I’ve had in Elite: Dangerous with the bonus of being set in one of the most iconic science fiction franchises of all time. If space combat is your thing, you need to own this game.
Suit up, pilot.
Star Wars: Squadrons
Pick a side and join the fight.
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