Besides music, I also have a few other interests such as gaming and geek culture, so I thought it would be interesting to try something new and talk about a video game that I have been playing a lot since it came out. Here are my thoughts on Star Wars Squadrons.
First thoughts
Starting with the campaign I was amazed with the visual story telling in the epilog called Vader’s last command.
Then, the fun begins and you jump into a tie fighter, and your immediately emerged into the Star Wars universe. The screen layout is a big part of what sucks you into the experience.
With a cockpit where all your hud elements are part of the ships instruments makes it feel more real, than Star Wars games such as battlefront. Which made me excited for the rest of the game.
Story
The game has a unique way to bring the story to life, with smaller cut scenes and more dynamic posters laying out both your missions and the story behind them. As somewhat of a more fanatic Star Wars fan, I’m also vaguely familiar with the books the story of squadrons ties into.
What I find interesting about the story is where in the timeline it takes place, with you playing as a member of the crumbling “Empire” or the newly formed “New Republic” which not only switches the roles of both factions but it’s also interesting to see more of an Imperial point of view.
I don’t want to give away too much for those who haven’t played the game yet, but it brings you around some familiar locations but also new places, furthermore it has a secret project and a revenge plot. Long story short everything you want in a story.
Gameplay
The gameplay took some getting used to, as I normally more of a fps player, it was a new experience for me to play with all the variables and controls, flying demands.
I played the xbox version of the game, which does support a hotas setup, but I did my playthrough with the normal xbox controller which means that things such as switching target modes and power modes, where a little trickier but still perfectly doable.
What I do say is that making maneuvers and really getting a feel for your ship takes some time.
It is clear that the game is built as a flight simulator and as such gives you a full and immersive experience.
Other game modes
Besides the main campaign there are a three other game modes, Practice, Dogfight and Fleet Battles.
Practice
The practice mode does exactly what it says, choose your faction, pick a fighter and practice with it, the game gives you the option to spawn enemy fighter squadrons, corvettes and even Flagships to fight. Besides fighting there is also a timed parkour, which pushes you to have the ultimate control over your starfighter.
This is a mode I mostly jump into for a short game session.
Dogfight
Dogfight is an online multiplayer mode which has to squadrons of five players going head to head, the goal is to take down as many enemy starfighters as you can.
I haven’t played this game mode a lot, but it does give you a challenge to really know how to fly and fight with your starfighter.
Fleet battles
Fleet battles can be played vs an AI or online, the online games are ranked. The game mode is a lot like Battlefronts operations mode. Both factions have one squadron of five pilots, two cruisers or frigates and one flagship. In the battle you play to stages by either defending form an attack or going on the offensive. The goal is to first destroy the enemy’s cruisers/frigates and eventually the flagship.
This is my favorite online mode, as it gives you the change to play more strategic way instead of just shooting at enemy fighters.
