Star Wars: Squadrons
Hop in your X-wings and TIE fighters for squad-based space combat on both sides, in a small-scale outing that takes the franchise back to gaming basics
quadrons is a welcome return to the world of classic Star Wars titles that were all about epic space combat, whether that’s the PC flight sims of the X-wing series or more arcadey console hits like Rogue Squadron.
Those looking to blow up the Death Star and hang out with their favourite characters will, however, be a little disappointed. This isn’t the most involving single-player campaign, and it’s better to view the 14 missions as a tutorial to
Sacclimatise to the game’s daunting controls and mechanics, such as learning to divert your ship’s power to engines, lasers and shields at any given moment. It’s also a good way to introduce you to the different craft at your disposal, beyond the obvious X-wings and TIE fighters.
In comparison, the squad-based multiplayer – which is the core Squadrons experience – puts you straight in at the deep end, where you can easily get blitzed before you’ve got your bearings. The deathmatch-style Dog Fights is the most brutal of modes, but the highlight is Fleet Battles, a more structured space-tug-of-war where the goal is to destroy the opposing team’s flagship. But you’ll need to kill enough enemies to boost team morale before you can push forward on the map, while losing too many starfighters puts you on the defensive.
The good news here is that you can practise playing with AI to train and still level up, gaining in-game currency to unlock new ship parts and cosmetics. Being able to co-op is also a fine way to ease you into multiplayer rather than facing an onslaught of human players. Even then, don’t expect the Easy mode to be a cakewalk: it takes time to get used to the game’s systems, and trying to focus on objectives is tough when you have an enemy on your tail.
This might not be the most epic Star Wars game ever made, but as a budget-sized package it does everything with laser focus.
Alan Wen
Star Wars