Star Wars: Squadrons PC, PS4, Xbox One
Motive’s dogfighter wisely focuses on strategy over spectacle
Developer/publisher EA (Motive)
Format PC, PS4, Xbox One
Origin Canada
Release October 2
Nothing is quite so true to the spirit of Star Wars than pinching things from the past. This latest entry in EA’s oeuvre is a firstperson starfighter simulator that casts an eye back to the ’90s heyday of the X-Wing and TIE Fighter series, and centres on the giddy delight of being thrust into a dogfight – illuminated by distinctive green and red lasers that streak across the cockpit, soundtracked by angry squeals from Imperial TIE fighters on your six. More importantly, it echoes a past when what you bought was what you got. So yes, this feels like a reaction to Battlefront II’s troubled launch.
It’s focused and intricate in a way that Star Wars games haven’t been for a while, and that starts with the ships you pilot. Step into the cockpit of one of the eight on offer and you’re presented with an array of retrofuturistic buttons and faux-CRT screens that instantly evoke a sense of nostalgia, but these visual flourishes are more than childhood memorybait. For instance, in your pilot’s peripheral vision is a power management system similar to the ones found in the X-Wing games of old, which shifts the focus of your craft’s capabilities, letting you min-max your thrusters and lasers.
Our first taste of the impact they offer comes in Dogfights, a 5v5 team deathmatch that gleefully serves up instant gratification. We plump for a nimble TIE fighter, and it’s immediately noticeable how a ship will rocket across a map when you put everything into the thrusters, and lumber when you max out your weapons. Knowing when to shift power becomes second nature quickly, and more abilities, such as boosting in faster vehicles, are present as well, so there’s a need to engage meaningfully with the controls rather than just hop in and blast away. These early matches give us hope that it’ll be a playground for battles of wits, even if some of our early rounds see plenty of chases where Yakety Sax would make a more appropriate soundtrack choice than The Imperial March.
Still, it’s all useful practice for the game’s other multiplayer mode, Fleet Battles. In it, two teams of five (as well as plenty of AI craft that make for fine ion cannon fodder) attempt to destroy their oppositions’ capital ships.
There are distinct phases of play, where you’ll be told to attack your enemies’ ship – be it a Star Destroyer or MC 75 – or defend your own. The strategy behind the game’s systems becomes more overt here as well. If you think you can potter up to a capital ship, hurl a missile into a thermal exhaust port and get a medal, you’ll be greeted with a dismissive volley of lasers. Instead, it requires teamwork, flagging human opponents to your team, knowing when to play the objective and when to change your craft for the situation.
When our team is struggling, we swap into a U-Wing, a support class, and focus on resupplying teammates, which keeps them in the fight for longer. It might not offer the same immediate thrill as slaloming through the fight in the X-wing, but then we can hop back into that role when it’s our turn to attack. There’s a strong whiff of hero shooter to how it all works, which is why it’s too soon to tell if Squadrons has the legs (or, rather, wings) to keep us invested for the long haul. But considering the potential satisfaction of mastering how each ship handles, as well as the implications for an evolving meta as favoured strategies are formed and countered, the early signs are encouraging.
It’s away from the action where the biggest surprise comes, however: Star Wars: Squadrons won’t feature any form of microtransactions. It’s a remarkably restrained move, especially as your progression through the game is tied into unlocking components that can alter your ship’s abilities, alongside the usual array of cosmetics for you to drape over your pilot and craft. It’s laudable, although how long the goodwill generated will last will be dependent on how much time we’ll need to invest to earn items. Still, this anachronistic streak, and a reduced price point at launch, positions this as the most endearing EA Star Wars game yet, where the reward for your time is the joy of mastering the starfighter, rather than a costly Jar-Jar Binks decal.
There’s a need to engage meaningfully with the controls rather than just blast away