Gaming Star Wars: Squadrons [Mod Approved]

I finally got around to finishing the campaign, and I have mixed feelings overall. I definitely enjoyed it, and may go back and replay it, but I never felt that I could master the controls, which made it feel like more of a struggle than it should have been. But that's on me.

casual thoughts/review w/ spoilers:

Spoiler

While the entire experience feels well-rounded and complete, it's hard to say this is a AAA gaming experience. And that's fine, as it wasn't marketed to be one. The game feels like a throw-back, a curiosity. I have not kept up with the space flight simulator genre over the years, so I don't have much of a reference point. The last games I remember playing were X-Wing Alliance, and Freespace 2.

The story of the campaign feels small, but that's ok. The characters are written well enough, and I'd say the Rebel side is more interesting than the imperials. I especially liked Keo, who felt like a re-imagining of Anakin from TPM, with all the flair of a podracer. Lindon Javes and Ardo Barodai have a good pairing, and Ardo's backstory of learning how to observe Imperials and understand their tactics was a nice throw-back to Akbar. Gunny needed to be a bit more eccentric imo, to feel like a really memorable character, but the story of how she loses her arm is funny. Frisk was funny as well, and represents the "soldier of fortune" ethos that motivates many rebels, differentiating them from the empire. Hera's appearance is fun, but I wish we'd seen more of her. Lindon's miraculous survival felt like an unnecessary cop-out, there needed to be some more deaths for dramatic effect.

The most interesting imperial character was Grey, imo. He channels the archetype of a semi-chivalrous officer, and speaking with him is a gradual journey into the mind of an imperial loyalist. When he finally reveals the crux of his philosophy, it's essentially Robert Heinlein's proposition that violence is the ultimate manifestation of politics, and so the empire's authoritarianism is justified because it has achieved a monopoly of violence. This vulgar/reductionist view of the universe makes complete sense for an imperial officer, and was a satisfying conclusion to his story imo. One complaint I have though, is that Kerrill never quite achieves the gravitas I expect from a big, imperial villain. She always seemed a bit too desperate. Admiral Sloan might have been a better choice. Shen and Vonreg needed a bit more personality as well.

The diversity of missions was fine for the most part, although some felt a little too repetitive. Blowing up corvettes and frigates can get old after awhile, and the game would have benefited a lot from just a few more ship models. The best missions were the ones centered around shipyards and debris fields, zooming in and out of tunnels. The "trench run" through the Starhawk was not quite up to par, too linear, too short, and the tractor beams made it too chaotic. The rebel escape from the Starhawk's blast wave, through the asteroid field, was much better. I would have liked to see a lot more "racing" sequences like these.

Ship weapons customization was extensive and fun, but I quickly found the loadouts that were the easiest for me to exploit, and rarely deviated from them. The ability to return to your home ship to switch between fighter/bomber meant that there was rarely incentive for balancing. The rebel ships' shields make them far more versatile, and I rarely felt the speed/power advantage of the TIE's, but that's probably because my skill cap is relatively low. Because of my struggle with controls, I generally defaulted to guided missiles/cannons when available. I would have appreciated some more wacky weapons like the beam cannon, but the diversity of the loadouts is good enough.

The overall production quality is top notch. Even on my xbox one, shadow effects where precise and planet/nebula textures gorgeous. The sound effects are all on point, and just flying around the huge ship models is a blast. Diving just under a Star Destroyer's shield for a precision strike on their targeting system or power regulator never gets old. I would love to revisit this game in VR at some point.

 

I'm still playing in the story mode, but I did learn something valuable in how to take down the Capital Ships (the tactical mode guide that will target specific enemies and other objectives for you). I used it last night in a ranked Fleet Mode, and I finally qualified for that first Ranking Tier. I don't know how often I'll be in competitive mode like that, but I'm pretty sure now that I've reached that tier I can't lose it.

 

I also finished off the campaign and enjoyed it for what it was, but I hope this inspires EA to go a bit further in this flight sim/arcade mixture which really ended up working for me. I played a bit in VR, and always with HOTAS and it was incredibly fun. Regularly felt I was really flying these ships and there are moments when you're playing objectives and getting things done and you just feel amazing.

Missions could have a bit more variety. Multiplayer could also be beefed up (How hard is it to have a 3v3 trench run mode?) but I'd say I got my $40 worth. I enjoyed the characters a lot but the environments they're stuck in make it kind of monotonous to just go around talking to everyone in between missions. Could use some flight-time chats. I really loved getting the Imperials POV. This is an Empire that's down on its luck and clearly the underdog and I enjoyed seeing how they all convinced themselves to stick with it.

 

The tactic I settle on for taking out corvettes/frigates was to load up a bomber with ion bombs and proton torpedoes. Make a max speed run at them, slow down to drop full payload of bombs, then boost away. Then from long range, fire the torpedoes. Easier said than done (for me) because the controls are quite technical, but very satisfying when you pull it off. MC75s and Star Destroyers are a lot harder though. Those tractor beams are deadly.

 

Yeah the first time I got stuck in a tractor beam I was like....what's going on?

Oh this is cool! I'm in a tractor beam!

*&$, I'm in a tractor beam.

 

I enjoyed seeing that aspect of the Empire as well, there was an impending sense of doom for all of them, the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.

However, if we get a sequel, or if they just incorporate the simulator gameplay into some larger game, seeing the Empire at its peak of power, and the Rebels being the underdogs again rather than building their own secret weapons would be fun. The role-reversal was interesting for this game, but it also kind of undercuts the nostalgia factor of revisiting the Galactic Civil War, so going back to the classic framework is what I'd prefer. I'd love to get an origin story for Grey.

 

I remember getting to the segment where he talks about where he came from and it's like....oh he's a cop makes all the sense in the world

 

My favourite imperial character is the guy who doesn't take off his helmet cuz he has a great simplistic line about taking out the bombs and he just says "Don't die".

 

So, has anyone played the VR version and does it match the hype?

I'd like to get a headset for this game, but realistically I probably can't afford a good one for now. I hope to get it soon--but I am slightly disappointed that EA intends to give rather minimal support for it. Hopefully sales might just change their mind if does well enough. I'd certainly like things like the TIE Defender or B-Wing added in...hell, if anyone remembers how the Jedi Starfighter played in Rebel Strike, I'd like to see that even if it returning would be a long shot!

 

If you don't mind working within the Facebook mold (aka already have an account with them) I'd recommend the Quest 2 which just came out. $299, lightweight headset that I hear feels great and with a cable link and computer that runs decent games you've got a headset as good as the Rift. I have the original quest and it's great but there's definitely some screen door effect that I believe the new model gets rid of.

 

Free DLC update to the game this week on behalf of the new season of The Mandalorian



Free SW Squadrons Update

 

ooh I still haven't got dashboard flair (cuz only online multiplayer twice and added a new colour scheme) but if I play enough hopefully I can get a Baby Yoda. I wonder what the description is for the "Mysterious creature" in-game

 

I recently added a hanging Millennium Falcon for my Rebel ships.

 

(Damn right I wiped out the civies for a bonus. I got an in-game medal but there totally should have been a trophy for that!)

 

Ordered

 

Just beat the Story. It was relatively short but fulfilling. Nice to see Her at the end. I went through on the easiest mode just to go through the story without getting stressed out about it. So I guess this leads to the Squadrons novels, or the other way around?

 

This is after Alphabet Squadron, the book, as Vonreg references Yrica Quell by name and Alphabet Squadron is referenced as well.

 

All done.

The 2010s in gaming were not kind to the Star Wars franchise when the licence was handed over to EA. Although most gamers predicted disappointment, the substantial mishandling of the licence up until Fallen Order signalled to the fanbase that chances of ever playing a decent Star Wars game were fairly minimal. Since Fallen Order, however, there has been a return of sorts to single player and Squadrons is another step in this direction.

To the game's credit, Squadrons is not a reboot or re-branding of the Rogue Squadron trilogy. It is not an arcade flight shooter. Instead, the style of gameplay is a throwback to the X-Wing and Tie Fighter flight sims from the Lucasarts heyday in the mid to late 1990s. Emphasis, however, should be placed on the term "throwback"since this is a game released in 2020 where is a greater presence of casual gamers than there were twenty years ago. Although Squadrons is not a dumbed down flight sim, it doesn't quite feature the same attention to detail in flight mechanics as the classic era Star Wars flight sims despite featuring the ability to fluctuate power settings between shields, fire and thrust. While the game also boasts an impressive array of ships for the player to choose from, the customisations for each of the ships are mostly the same which is why some ships can end up feeling the same, albeit nuanced differences in how some of the ships steer.

The plot, however, is mostly forgettable. Consisting of 14 Chapters, you play as two characters; one each from opposing factions. Sadly, the character and story for the Rebels is nowhere near as interesting as that of the Empire. Star Wars Squadrons would have been far more engrossing had the game focused on one faction exclusively so the characters could be explored in further detail while also offering a more in-depth customisation for each ship within that fleet.

Multiplayer, meanwhile, is quite good and a substantial improvement over the system offered in the previous two Battlefront outings. The pairing system still has issues of partnering lesser experienced players with more experienced players. But, the wait time for access to the servers is quite fast and little time is spent waiting for a game to start. At the time of writing, the servers are generously populated. But, for a game that is less than a month old, it is questionable as to how much of this traffic will be present in 6 months time.

Overall, Star Wars Squadrons is a welcome return to form. Everything is solid; the gameplay, the story, the soundtrack. As usual, the visuals are stunning and run smoothly. Although it is a substantial step forward during the EA-era of Star Wars, there is a feeling that more could have been offered in the way of character depth and story to properly flesh out this experience.

 

I just logged in to see a new update for the game this week.

Update 2.0

 

Yah we got a bunch of random free points or whatever, so I immediately bought a Baby Yoda bobblehead and a Mouse droid figure.

I actually had... fun in multiplayer? Not in dogfight, heavens no, but I did do Fleet Battles vs AI (easy) and actually found a squad and managed to complete the objective without dying a billion times.

 

Got my game delivery yesterday. I've been playing for roughly 5 hours and enjoying it so far. I'm on Chapter 7 and has an interesting storyline. Considering I'm playing it on PS4 with a controller, the controls are surprisingly good.

 

What's the odds that the B-Wing gets an upgrade to take on TIE Defenders?

 

Dropped off multiplayer (fleet battles were most fun to me, but got a little repetitive), but B-wings will bring me back a bit! Gotta imagine the narrow profile will be a tough target.

Interested to see how they don't make Defenders too OP lol. At least there's a willingness to continually adjust. Glad they scaled back some of the Bomber's monster ability to tank fire.

More story content would be the best, though not cutting off cockpit oxygen supply for it.