Star Wars: Squadrons Review
Much like the Force itself, that the Star Wars: Squadrons single-player effort is a balance. The balance between enjoying both the New Republic and Empire, between arcade and also simulation-style controls, also between fun and flashy action and dull exposition dumps. It's filled with excellent references for lovers and charming (if ill-used) new personalities alike, all crammed into a succession of cockpits that are available to leap in and bunny without dogfights feeling dumb.
Squadrons has found a sweet spot between the point-and-shoot ease of the traditional Rogue Squadron show along with the insanely thorough simulation of Elite: Dangerous. You can, for the most part, just pick up a controller and start chasing down enemy ships -- but there's also a nuance to correcting your throttle for better rotation, swapping power between engines, weapons, and protects in the style of the grand older X-Wing games, and trapping missile locks. Things like this make flight much more engaging and give excellent pilots a opportunity to excel without requiring one to actually learn how to fly a spaceship in order to play.
How it illuminates the stories of two rival squadrons together sets up smart scenarios, sometimes letting you spring up ambushes in another half just to have the next assignment swap viewpoints so you can handle the wake of your own actions. It's very cool, and developer Motive Studios proceeds to establish it knows how to generate a match fit seamlessly into the Star Wars universe.
Part of this comes down to its cast of intriguing characters, primarily composed of your squads on each side of this conflict. Whether it's the war-torn Imperial Shen using a battle-scarred helmet that he never takes off or the somewhat Force-sensitive prior racer Keo about the Rebel side, each is distinct and well-designed sufficient to stick out in their very own manner -- a lot so that I could observe any one of these as a Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect companion without them feeling out of place in any respect.
In fact, I expect that they do look in an RPG some day, as they aren't utilized very well here. Learning about these and their backstories is almost entirely limited to optional discussions in your hangar between missions, which frequently feels ham-fisted for a getting-to-know-you exposition-filled information ditch. These stories are well written and acted, but they're just sort of irrelevant at the class of Squadrons' occasions. I always enjoyed listening to them, but it's unfortunate that you could skip each one and it wouldn't influence your experience of the primary story in any way.
That story is an entertaining one however, based across the New Republic's creation of a new sort of warship and the Empire's search to prevent that weapon by joining the struggle. It is definitely amusing the entire way through, however, it doesn't strike me as especially memorable. Neither side really makes much of a point concerning the larger conflict, you are not asked to make any decisions or even really question anything they do, and both rival squads never even directly clash like I so hoped that they would -- that could have been fascinating. It only seems like a missed opportunity to not do something more interesting with this unique campaign structure, in which we have views from each side of the battle.
That said, it does provide more than sufficient reason to hop into the cockpit and fly some really fun assignments. Most objectives do boil down to"you are in space and you want to shoot X item," (that is the whole premise) but the story's setup for every one makes them feel more diverse than this -- particularly when you are leaping between good guy and bad guy every stage or two. The dogfighting itself is so great that it got boring, even though I did occasionally need there was a bit more objective selection here -- for example, it might have been cool to see scenarios centered around piloting through tight spaces or possibly set closer to the surface of a planet (or moon-sized space channel, although the galaxy is brief on those within this time period).
Luckily, the places you do go consistently show off how unbelievably stunning Squadrons is. Even if objectives start to feel like, weaving through muddy nebulas or round shattered moons accomplishes them into magnificent fashion. Missions are action-packed, but many strategically start slow and provide you a chance to take in some of the most bizarre sights that they have to offer prior to the turbolasers begin flying. That spectacle exists in cutscenes also, which often upstage those discretionary hangar conversations and allow them to feel like an afterthought in contrast.
Star Wars: Squadrons' single-player effort missions are a feast for Star Wars fans' eyes and ears, particularly in VR. Its engaging space combat is a excellent balance of arcade controller with the added nuance of both simulation-like platforms, which unite with surprisingly comprehensive ships and cockpits to the many authentic-feeling ride since LucasArts' legendary X-Wing and TIE Fighter games back from the'90s. Star Wars: Squadrons doesn't wind up doing anything too memorable with its charming characters or interesting rival squadron installment, but this campaign still tells an entertaining Star Wars narrative I enjoyed no matter which cockpit I used at.