Star Wars: Squadrons

Squadrons is played exclusively from a first-person perspective. The cockpit presents vital gameplay information to the player.

Star Wars: Squadrons is a space combat game, played from a first-person perspective. Players take control of starfighters from either the Galactic Empire or the New Republic navy. In these ships, they can utilise the movement of power between the ship's functions of weaponry, shields and engines to defeat their opponents in combat. Imperial starfighters do not have shields, resulting in other additions to their class so that the two teams would be balanced.[1] As players earn more experience, they can unlock new weapons, shields, upgrades and various cosmetic items for the pilot and their ship.[2] Completing Daily Challenges and Operation Challenges will also give players Glory, which can be spent on purchasing cosmetic unlocks.[3] Players can check the ship's status, shields and powers by viewing the instruments in the ship's cockpit.[4]

Gameplay is class-based, with both the New Republic and the Empire having four starfighter classes that the player can choose from: Fighter (TIE Fighter for the Empire and X-Wing for the Republic), Interceptor (TIE Interceptor and A-Wing), Bomber (TIE Bomber and Y-Wing), and Support (TIE Reaper and U-Wing). An update added The B-Wing to the bomber class for the New Republic and the TIE Defender for the fighter class of the Galactic Empire.

The game features two multiplayer modes, and a single-player mode:[5] The story mode is set after the Battle of Endor and the destruction of the second Death Star. The narrative alternates between two customizable pilots from the New Republic's Vanguard Squadron and the Empire's Titan Squadron. The game offers two online modes: Dogfight, which is a team deathmatch mode that supports 10 players, and Fleet Battles, in which two teams of up to 5 players compete to destroy each other's Capital Ships.

Following the destruction of Alderaan, Darth Vader orders all Imperial forces to hunt down any refugees who escaped the planet's destruction. Captain Lindon Javes of the Imperial Navy is tasked by Commodore Rae Sloane to lead Helix Squadron in finding and eliminating a convoy of refugees at Fostar Haven. Despite locating the convoy, Javes turns on his wingmen and disables their ships to protect the refugees. The convoy sends a distress signal to the Rebel Alliance, who dispatches Echo Squadron to assist in the convoy’s escape. After the battle, Javes defects to the Alliance, offering his knowledge of Imperial Fleet protocols to earn their trust.

Four years later, after the Alliance's victory in the Battle of Endor, the newly promoted Commander Javes assumes command of the New Republic cruiser Temperance and its elite fighter squadron, Vanguard Squadron. Assigned to the secret project known as Starhawk, the squadron undertakes missions to ensure Project Starhawk’s completion. It is later revealed that the project is a massive battleship constructed from stolen Star Destroyers and has a powerful tractor beam.

Meanwhile, Imperial Captain Terisa Kerill, Javes' former protégé and wingman, is eager to take vengeance on him for his betrayal and is assigned to put an end to Project Starhawk before its completion. She assigns her own elite fighter squadron, Titan Squadron, to hinder the New Republic’s progress to complete the Starhawk. While Titan Squadron's initial operations are a success, an impulsive Kerill is baited into a trap by Javes which nearly destroys her Star Destroyer, the Overseer. Unwilling to let Javes go, Kerill has her ship resupplied with powerful warheads to damage the Starhawk.

An Imperial assault at the Nadiri Dockyards badly damages the Starhawk, although it manages to escape destruction. In an attempt to defend what’s left of the battleship, Javes personally takes command of Anvil Squadron but is later shot down and presumed dead. The Starhawk itself becomes damaged beyond repair by Titan Squadron, although Vanguard Squadron, now led by General Hera Syndulla, make a last stand and use the remains of Starhawk to destroy an Imperial fleet by ramming it into an unstable moon. The plan is a success and, with the help of a surviving Javes, Vanguard Squadron manages to escape the explosion. Both Titan and Vanguard Squadrons are commended for their actions, with the New Republic planning to construct more Starhawk battleships while the Empire makes plans to regain control of the galaxy.

Initially conceived and pitched by James Clement and Patrick Lalonde to Motive Studios leadership, they were soon joined by Steven Masters to help develop the presentation for what would become Star Wars: Squadrons. As these 3 developers were still finalizing the single player campaign for Star Wars Battlefront II, a small group led by Ian Frazier laid the groundwork to build the production team.

The game was revealed on June 15, 2020 with the release of a trailer.[6][7][8] It released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 2, 2020 with cross-platform play enabled. The PC version can be played in virtual reality using various VR headsets, with the PlayStation 4 version supporting PlayStation VR. All versions of the game have HOTAS support, with the console editions receiving support in a day one patch.[9][10] By September 10, 2020, development for the game had reached "gold" status, meaning that it was ready to begin production on the physical editions of the game.[11]

Star Wars: Squadrons received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[17][18][19]

PC Gamer awarded the game a score of 83/100, praising the combat and flight mechanics but criticizing the lack of choices in the story and character development.[29] Game Informer awarded it 8.25 out of 10, praising the multiplayer but saying the single-player "struggles to hit the target."[22] Push Square awarded the game 6 out of 10, praising its flight mechanics, but criticizing the overall experience as lacking in excitement and content.[30]

• Star Wars: Attack Squadrons

• Official website