Star Wars Zero Company
Electronic Arts
Join a cinematic turn-based tactics in Star Wars Zero Company set during the final days of the Clone Wars. Lead and customize an elite squad of operatives, build powerful team synergies, and make tactical decisions across dangerous missions where your choices can shape each playthrough.
Star Wars Zero Company is the latest game to join the Star Wars franchise, bringing turn-based tactical combat back to the series. Developed by Bit Reactor in collaboration with Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games, the game looks set to offer a very different Star Wars experience from what we’ve seen in recent years. It’s a very welcome change with a new original story that has a lot to offer strategy game fans.
Star Wars Zero Company follows an elite group of mercenaries brought together to take on dangerous missions across the galaxy. The story focuses on this small group as they work together to uncover a growing threat, with the team being pushed into situations that are far more complicated than they initially appear. Set during the final years of the Clone Wars era, it follows former Galactic Republic captain Hawks leading an independent mercenary group called Zero Company.
The story has a strong focus on the characters and the relationships between them, which helps make the squad feel like more than just a collection of units to use in battle. Between missions, players can interact with the crew, learn more about their backgrounds and make choices that can affect how the story develops. While the story is still linear, the ability to make adds a depth that’s greatly appreciated and makes the characters much more personable.
Without spoilers, Zero Company comes with a brand new Star Wars story and characters that feel right at home in the universe.
Pros
Tactical combat feels rewarding
Interesting squad and character customisation
Lots of freedom in how you approach combat
Story adds depth
Choice driven
Cons
Difficulty can suddenly spike in places
Some battles can feel slow
Limited of checkpoints
Star Wars Zero Company is a turn-based tactical game where players take control of a squad of specialists and must carefully position their characters, use their abilities and take advantage of the environment to survive each encounter. It’s a simple concept but, something that can become difficult very quickly.
Combat is built around taking turns, allowing players to think about their next move before committing to an attack. Each character has their own abilities and role within the squad, so working out which characters work best together is a big part of the experience. Using the right ability at the right time can make a huge difference, especially during tougher encounters.
The game also gives players plenty of freedom when approaching battles. You can take advantage of cover, position your squad carefully and look for opportunities to take enemies down before they have a chance to respond. This makes each encounter feel more strategic rather than simply being about who can deal the most damage. It also makes each encouter feel different and less repetitive.
Away from combat, there is also a strong focus on building and managing the squad to develop their abilities in different ways. Players can create a playstyle that works for them using the different characters in the game and select which ones to take into battle encounters. Each character has their own weapons and abilities which add diversity to the game and help to keep it interesting.
Squad members can sustain lasting injuries and permenant death is also possible. The narrative continues regardless of who is lost in battle. It places value on each character and adds genuine risk to every encounter, making the game feel very tense at times. Each mission has different objectives with every level being handcrafted by the development team; enemies are procedurally generated adding a randomness to every playthrough.
Outside of combat, players can explore the world in third-person. Allowing players to converse with each squad member at the home base of operations (The Den) which can affect the game. There’s also a progression system where players can choose what permanent upgrades to deny their enemies using sabotage.
Overall Game Rating
