Star Wars: Squadrons Is The Game We’ve Been Dreaming Of

Let’s take a look at the new Star Wars: Squadrons and why it has got me hyped.

Star Wars has a long history of video game tie-ins, dating back to the early days of the franchise. While there have been a huge number of classics tied to the Star Wars name, X-Wing, Rogue Squadron, and Knights of the Old Republic to name just a few, the years since the Disney by out have seen a slow down in releases.

The Legend lives on…

While a number of mobile games have come out in recent years, the last 9 or so years have only seen three AAA releases, Battlefront I and II and Jedi: Fallen Order. These games have a somewhat mixed reception, and all have focused more on the ground combat side of things. Now a new game, Star Wars: Squadrons is set to shake everything up and blow our minds. Let’s take a look.

The Trailers

Star Wars Squadrons was announced this week  with a great trailer take a look here:

Pretty slick right? Well, they followed up with a more detailed gameplay trailer which you can see here:

OK! I’m hyped now. Let’s break some things down.

Single Player

One of the big complaints about EA’s Star Wars games was how they dealt with single-player content. Battlefront, the first of the newer games, noticeably had no single-player campaign, while its sequel added a decent single player campaign, it was shorter then many would have liked and took back seat to the multiplayer aspect of the game (Battlefront 2, of course, had other issues to deal with). There was in fact some feel that players didn’t want or care about single players Star Wars games. This was proved to be utter bunk with the success of Jedi: Fallen Order, a single-player only game that’s very well for itself. All these left people wondering how much of Squadrons would be single player.

Now we know that there will be some solid single-player content with both a New Republic and Imperial campaign set it appears between the battles of Endor and Jakku. That’s great news for people who don’t care about the multiplayer aspect much. Now we don’t know how long or robust these campaigns are, but hopefully, EA learned from the comments on Battlefront 2 and the success of Fallen Order and are giving us something substantial. In addition, it was noted in the gameplay trailer that you could play solo vs AI enemies in some of the random battles, so that’s cool as well.

Multiplayer

Even with a single-player campaign I’d guess multiplayer is where the heart of Squadrons is going to lie. This game is particularity built around running a squadron of 5 players, so it is a great one for groups of friends to get into. A lot of what they showed seems pretty familiar, from unlocking upgrades and cosmetics to planning out mission. They showed off a few types of matches from a basic 5 v 5 to a larger “fleet battle” reminiscent of some of the Battlefront modes.  I like the idea that you can customize your fighters and change their performance, and it sounds like they may have learned from the loot box fiasco with their line about “unlocking everything just by playing the game” but… this is EA, we will have to see.

Look And Feel

Ok, this is where the game really gets me. This game looks slick AF. The setting and maps look stunning. Detailed cockpit interiors bring the game to life and make me fall in love with it. While the variety of fighters is limited for now, those they have to look great and enough customization can help set them apart, I also appreciate the inclusion of a large number of playable alien races. The game can be played all in VR which sounds pretty great if you have the rig. Overall this just looks great and the shots of a X-wings flying across the top of a Star Destroyer dodging fire takes my breath away and shows off the awesome scale of Star Wars.

Final Thoughts

I’ve always loved the Star Wars dogfighting games and this brings back happy memories of playing Rogue Squadron on the N64. Right now I’m pretty hyped for the game and interested to see where it goes. Judging from the trailer it looks like Hera will figure in the plot (unless there is another female Twi’lek General). I can’t tell if the Imperial Admiral is supposed to Rae Slaone or not but it could be. The game actually reminds me of the recent novel Alphabet  Squadron, which features a five-person mixed fighter Rebel Squadron under the command of Hera battening an Imperial fighter wing in the aftermath of Endor. While this game features the New Republic Vanguard Squadron (which in fact was mentioned in Alphabet  Squadron as being part of Hera’s force)  and the Imperial Titan Squadron, the premise is similar.

I was disappointed to see that there weren’t any B-wings in the game, and it seems odd that a game focused on 5 person squadrons would only have 4 ship choices per side. I’d guess an expansion with the B-Wing and the TIE Defender will come out at some point. We can hope that other ships will get added to the game as time goes on, though sadly I’d guess that the huge number of Legends ships will be off limits. Overall even with EA’s mixed track record I’m stoked with this game and can’t wait to get in when it comes out on October 2. 

Let us know what you think about this newest Star Wars game, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.