STAR WARS™: Squadrons Review

Buckle up as we jump into STAR WARS™: Squadrons. The game takes place directly after the Battle of Endor with the New Republic and the remnants of the Galactic Empire locked in a furious conflict as they struggle to gain control of the galaxy.

As you jump into the single-player campaign, you will quickly notice that the story unfolds from both sides of the conflict. You will be alternating between two pilots as the game progresses, one from the New Republic’s Vanguard Squadron and the other from the Empire’s Titan Squadron. You will, however, be part of a squadron – Five pilots. One team. 

The single-player campaign should take around seven or eight hours, with each mission taking approximately 30 minutes but this may vary depending on player skill, difficulty level and if you need to reattempt any missions to earn medals or complete challenges. Every mission has some form of achievement-style objective, like not dying during the mission, or for completing the mission in a specific amount of time.

Missions are action-packed so you’ll have to master the HUD to get the best experience, but there’s a twist – each factions ships have slightly different layouts, however, the general mechanics, design, and function remain the same. 

Let’s chat about the ships. Each side has four starfighters available which have been divided into four different classes – the all-purpose Fighter, the speedy Interceptor, the powerful Bomber, and the trusty Support Craft. The New Republic have the T-65 X-Wing Starfighter, BTL Y-Wing Bomber, RZ-1 A-Wing Interceptor and the UT-60D U-Wing Support Craft while the Empire have the TIE/LN Fighter, TIE/SA Bomber, TIE/RP Reaper and the TIE/IN Interceptor. Each ship also has different weapons, hulls, shields, and engine options to differentiate them further. It will be up to you to decide which squad composition works best for each mission.

In Squadrons, you can customise and personalise your starfighters, cockpits, and pilots with cosmetic items from all corners of the galaxy. You can change the way your ships and pilots look using Glory points, which are earned in-game only. For pilot customisation you can choose from various heads, outfits, voice styles, and more. Ship customisation options include dashboard figures, hanging flairs, cockpit holograms, hull paint job designs and decals.

Multiplayer is where the real fun happens. There are two modes available. The first of these is Dogfight Mode which are short 5v5 deathmatch type games with respawns and weapon loadouts where kill count determines the winning team. and Fleet Battles, a multistage objective-based mode focused on taking down the enemy’s flagship. Fleet Battles is Star Wars™: Squadrons signature mode: a multi-stage, objective-based tug-of-war where five ace pilots on each side contest to tip the scales in monumental space battles. 

STAR WARS™: Squadrons also come with full VR support on PC and PS4, but unfortunately, we couldn’t test this.

#PilotsWanted. Are you brave enough to take to the stars?

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For the latest news and updates, visit the STAR WARS™: Squadrons website and follow STAR WARS™: Squadrons on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe to the official STAR WARS™: Squadrons YouTube channel.

Reviewed on Xbox One. A review code was supplied by the publisher.