Are we really getting a modern take on the 90s’ outstanding X-Wing games, complete with that same nerdish detail and with the power and spectacle possible on modern hardware? All of it. It’s all true. EA is indeed making a successor of sorts to Totally Games’ beloved series, building an entire experience around the evergreen fantasy of battling in the skies of the Star Wars universe. And while Star Wars Squadrons is its own thing – developed by EA Motive, it’s a stripped back and very modern game, complete with a whole heap of unlockable cosmetics and ties to the new Disney-sanctioned lore – the links to classics like TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance are deliberate and for old-timers like me mighty satisfying too.
The basics, though – you’re taking charge of one of a fleet of iconic Star Wars ships, in one of two small squad-based multiplayer modes or in a single-player adventure. I got to sample the opening of that single-player adventure, which has a neat dual perspective – you choose two pilots and lightly customise their avatars, with one to fight for the Empire and one to fight for the New Republic, then see their fates intertwine over a short campaign. A tutorial is set shortly after the first Death Star blows up Alderaan before a short three year time skip places you in a story that takes in cameos from the likes of Wedge Antilles, Star Wars Rebels’ Hera Syndulla and new extended universe star Rae Sloane.
It’s grand stuff, full of all the spectacle of classic Star Wars as you clear out mobs of fighters and thin out weapon arrays, all combined with writing that feels like it’s been staled through several layers of approval as is the way with more modern Star Wars, though I think it’s fair to say that the single-player isn’t really the main focus here. Instead it feels like a neat way to become acquainted with the systems, and the delightfully sim-ish way the business of space combat is handled here.
