The long-awaited and anticipated next video game from the Jedi: Fallen Order was an undeniable hit last year, and an excellent Star Wars game, Squadrons had a lot of pressure to once again deliver, especially with the scrutiny EA has fallen under with the Star Wars IP.
There is a lot to the game despite its smaller nature compared to other titles, and before fans go out and buy the game, or play it, there are some things to know that less involved fans may not know.
It Is All Flight
The game is called Star Wars: Squadrons, so it is pretty self-explanatory that the whole thing is flight-based, but, if someone were to buy this expecting to at least to be able to walk around, they would be disappointed.
In the story mode, your character is out of the cockpit and in the hanger of a ship between missions, unable to move, save for a few pointless interact points around your starfighter, which is right in front of you anyway. You are also able to talk to a couple of characters who have prompts and get briefed which is a part of the missions, all without actually moving the character. That is the extent of any non-ship based content, so if a game solely ships, pilots, and flight simulation is not for you, neither is this game
15 Mission Story
Star Wars: Squadrons is another Star Wars game with a small campaign, obviously nowhere near reaching the length and depth of Jed: Fallen Order, but still being Battlefront II's campaign.
Overall, the story has fourteen missions and a prologue mission before them, with the campaign taking anywhere from six to around nine/ten hours to complete, depending on the player. It is far from the best or most memorable story and is fairly hollow, but the campaign is well made enough for it to be fun.
Dual Perspective
The campaign's premise is an interesting one, and one many more fans are unlikely to know about. It is a dual perspective story, following two squadrons, Vanguard Squadron of the New Republic and Titan Squadron of the Empire.
Players repeatedly switch between these two squadrons, often having to deal with what they just did moments ago from a different viewpoint. The story takes place after the end of the original trilogy, with some welcome cameos from some beloved characters.
Cross-Platform
In an era where there are multiple next-generation games consoles on the horizon fighting for fans' affections, it is good that there remain cross-platform games, of which Star Wars: Squadrons is one.
That is a great thing as having friends who have a PS4 while you have an X-Box One, or vice versa, can get frustrating when fun multiplayer games come out. Jumping in those ships with your friends at your flanks is a great experience.
VR
Speaking of experience, the entire game does a good job of capturing the feeling that many Star Wars fans have endlessly dreamed about throughout their lives; being a pilot in the Star Wars Galaxy.
Playing this game on console or PC achieves that, but this game's VR compatibility is incredible. If moves get too crazy too often, it can get a bit nauseating, but overall the VR is outstanding and is something every fan should try should they be afforded the luxury.
Eight Ships & Lots Of Customization
As mentioned earlier, there is not a lot to the game, which stretches across the entire thing, even beyond the campaign. With only one era in the game, the ships are extremely limited but come with a lot of customization.
There are eight ships in total, four for the New Republic, four for the Empire, all with their role in combat. All can get customized cosmetically and get altered with balanced components, used to boost certain attributes of the ship in exchange for hurting others.
Multiplayer Focus
The campaign was talked about earlier as only having fifteen missions, including the prologue, and so from that, it is not hard to deduce that the game has a big focus on its multiplayer aspect.
This is where all of the game's replayability comes from, and is the sole reason fans will continue to play this game for months and months to come. There are two game modes, Dogfight which is self-explanatory, and Fleet Battles against both the AI and other players, which is a large-scale back and forth battle. There is also a ranking system on the multiplayer, and 'Operations' that act as seasons and give various rewards to players. Overall, the game should most definitely not be bought on the merits of a well-made campaign with a hollow story, but rather for the immense fun multiplayer promises.
Playing The Story Aids The Multiplayer Hugely
As much as this game should not be played for the story, which leaves something to be desired, the campaign itself is an incredible help for the multiplayer and should be played before diving into Dogfights and Fleet Battles.
The campaign walks the player through the basic controls and allows for more advanced maneuvers as time goes on, making sure the player knows, at the very least, the basics and the feel of the game and ships before diving into multiplayer.
Easy To Pick Up, Hard To Master
With the campaign, the player gains a set of skills that allows the multiplayer to get played with a decent knowledge of what is going on, but even with that, it takes a lot to get to know the game truly.
Utilizing tactics, power management, knowing what ships to use, what to target on a flagship, how to customize load-outs, how to maneuver around the map, understanding the capabilities of the ships, and overall skill of play, alongside many other factors, will take a long time to master, or even to become great at. However, in multiplayer, the journey and progression feel good and fun to accomplish.
Very Niche
All in all, while this game has a hugely enjoyable and replayable multiplayer, as well as a slew of customization options, and may well earn future content despite the creators saying this will be the finished product, the game is not for everybody.
It is very niche. Even with a ionate Star Wars fandom, there are huge chunks which will have no interest in a solely flying game with a multiplayer focus, with no real variety, limited maps, and ships. This game is for fans who want to experience what it is to be a pilot, and who are okay with both flight simulation and more multiplayer; otherwise, it is hard to imagine people loving it without getting bored quickly.
