Star Wars: Squadrons is the space combat simulator you're looking for

Remember - fly casual. 

Star Wars is one of those franchises with seemingly endless potential in the world of videogames. We’ve seen Star Wars first-person shooters, Souls-like action games and of course, dancing minigames on the Xbox 360. It’s been a long time (too long, perhaps) since we’ve gotten a proper space combat game out of the series though, and Star Wars: Squadrons is finally here to fill that void. 

I wasn't terribly enticed by the idea of a Star Wars dogfighting game (I never got into any of its predecessors), but this was a pleasant surprise. It’s the chance to jump into classic starfighters and take the fight to the villainous Empire or treacherous New Republic - depending on where your allegiance lies.

Fighting for both sides

Developer Motive Studios have managed to strike up a nice balance between both of this game’s halves: the story campaign, and its multiplayer game modes. The story campaign is a bite-sized 9-hour affair, introducing you to all the ships and combat abilities you need to be accustomed to before diving into multiplayer combat. As one long tutorial, the campaign is perfectly serviceable. As an actual playable adventure in the Star Wars universe, it’s rather lacking. 

Star Wars: Squadrons picks up sometime after The Return of the Jedi, with the Emperor (seemingly) killed and the Empire desperate to keep its rule over the galaxy going. The game lets you create two customisable characters, each one a member of the New Republic’s Vanguard Squadron and the Empire’s Titan Squadron. You’ll end up switching between both factions’ perspectives in a story that involves yet another superweapon - this time, in the hands of the New Republic. 

The story campaign is undoubtedly the weakest link in this game’s chain. It’s a vehicle (pun intended) for players to pick up game mechanics and controls, but doesn’t offer much beyond that. Certain characters are memorable - such as Shen, an Imperial pilot who never takes off his mask due to his body running on Darth Vader-like cybernetics, or Frisk - a gambler who’s joined the New Republic because his only other option was death. 

These characters don’t have much space to shine in the tightly-paced 9-hour story however, although players can have optional conversations with them in between missions. The missions themselves could’ve used a lot more gameplay variety, as most of them involve simple defense or escort objectives. Most of these blur together by the story’s end, and that isn’t helped by the fact that so much of the campaign is just… forgettable. 

This isn’t a consequential or eventful Star Wars story, in the way Jedi: Fallen Order was. It’s weirdly skippable, propped up by two brief but delightful cameos from Wedge Antilles and Hera Syndulla. I do like that the game doesn’t shy away from how uncompromisingly evil the Empire can be, as well. The Empire’s forces are fully aware of all the horrific acts they commit, and proudly stand by them with a bent sense of superiority. It’s cool when Star Wars games just let villains be villains. 

Dogfighting with friends

Once you’re done saving the galaxy (or trying to reclaim it as the Empire), it’s time to dive into Squadrons’ multiplayer modes. This game is all about realistic space combat, and what better way to experience that than to duke it out with friends? There are two multiplayer modes - dogfights and fleet battles. In both modes, you get to pick which faction you want to play as, and which ship you want to use. 

Choosing the right ship is pretty important, as they all feel unique in combat. Each faction gets four ships - including iconic vehicles like X-Wings, TIE Fighters and Y-Wings. X-Wings are your standard all-rounders and Y-Wings are geared more towards bombing and explosives, but that's before customisation. Different loadout options become available to you as you level up, allowing you to unlock new weapons and ship parts for each starfighter. You could swap your homing missiles for an astromech that heals you, for example, or swap your engine out for another that prioritises acceleration over maneuverability. 

How your ships feel is entirely dependent on your play style and how far you’re willing to personalise them. There are an abundance of cosmetic options to choose from as well, such as paint jobs, decals and little statues to place in your cockpit. All these options really make you feel at home with each ship, and that’s important when things get hectic in multiplayer combat. 

Flying a ship in Squadrons is a really magical experience. Surviving and thriving in space battles isn’t just about flying around and shooting blasters at enemies - it’s a lot deeper than that. During flight, you can choose to divert power from one aspect of your starfighter to another, such as moving power from shields to weapons. You can also choose to focus your shields on the front of your ships, or the back. 

You can of course, simply leave all of these on balanced settings - but you would be doing yourself a huge disservice. The key to winning is good power management, and keeping up with everything your starfighter needs to do in the heat of the moment. All these options along with other advanced techniques, such as drifting, allow the game to have a rather high skill ceiling. Once you get the hang of things, space combat feels incredibly satisfying. 

Now take that ship to war

Flying in Star Wars: Squadrons feels absolutely wonderful as long you have an eye for good power management (though it’s really not as hard as it sounds). You can test your skills against other players in the dogfighting game mode, which is as its name suggests - a 5v5 starfighter battle in a small map littered with resupply points. The first team to get a certain number of eliminations wins. 

It sounds rather simple, but it’s meant to be exactly that. This is just a mode for you to fly around and have fun picking up everything the story campaign has taught you, and shoot down some foes while doing it. I grew tired of it after a couple of matches however, which brings me to fleet battles. This game mode is everything I wanted out of Squadrons - an opportunity to participate in a huge space battle between two capital ships, and the chance to take one of them down if things go your way. 

Fleet battles are huge and exciting setpieces, and feel like an excellent way to really get the most out of Squadron’s excellent space combat. The game is also incredibly beautiful, and maps have a satisfying amount of diversity. You’ll go to broken moons, man-made outposts and grim interstellar graveyards in environments that just drip with that trademark Star Wars magic. The only concern I have is that the game only comes with two game modes at launch - dogfights and fleet battles (and fleet battles against AI enemies), which spells trouble for its longevity unless the game gets some much needed DLCs soon. Then again, you’re getting a lot for a S$54.90 game here. 

Verdict

Star Wars: Squadrons is a fantastic space combat game when you’re behind the cockpit. Controls are buttery smooth (made even better with a HOTAS set), and a high skill ceiling means that you could end up playing this game for weeks and still find yourself getting better all the time. Gorgeous visuals and punchy sound design carry this game into the Star Wars universe with ease, lending a lovely sense of immersion to each multiplayer match. 

I only wish that its story campaign had just been a bit more meaty. Its story isn’t compelling or memorable, despite introducing a few interesting characters that it ends up doing nothing with. It’s also set in between The Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, but does nothing to tie both eras together. The game launching with just two multiplayer game modes is a little odd as well, but its fairly priced for the amount of content available here. 

We haven’t had a good Star Wars space combat game in ages, so this is an absolute no-brainer for fans of the franchise. Hopefully, this is the start of a return to the good o' days of space sims like X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter.

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