TESTED GAMESquadrons is a welcome
return to the world of
classic Star Wars titles
that were all about epic space
combat, whether that’s the PC
flight sims of the X-Wing series
or more arcadey console hits like
Rogue Squadron.
Those looking to blow up the
Death Star and hang out with their
favourite characters will, however,
be a little disappointed. This isn’t
the most involving single-player
campaign, and it’s better to view
the 14 missions as a tutorial to
acclimatise to the game’s daunting
controls and mechanics, such as
learning to divert your ship’s power
to engines, lasers and shields at
any given moment. It’s also a
good way to introduce you to
the different craft at your disposal,
beyond the obvious X-Wings and
TIE fighters.
In comparison, the squad-based
multiplayer – which is the core
Squadrons experience – puts you
straight in at the deep end, where
you can easily get blitzed before
you’ve got your bearings. Thedeathmatch-style Dog Fights is
the most brutal of modes, but the
highlight is Fleet Battles, a more
structured space-tug-of-war
where the goal is to destroy the
opposing team’s flagship. But
you’ll need to kill enough enemies
to boost team morale before you
can push forward on the map, while
losing too many starfighters puts
you on the defensive.
The good news here is that you
can practise playing with AI to train
and still level up, gaining in-game
currency to unlock new ship partsand cosmetics. Being able to co-op
is also a fine way to ease you into
multiplayer rather than facing an
onslaught of human players. Even
then, don’t expect the Easy mode
to be a cakewalk: it takes time to
get used to the game’s systems,
and trying to focus on objectives
is tough when you have an enemy
on your tail.
This might not be the most epic
Star Wars game ever made, but
as a budget-sized package it does
everything with laser focus.
Alan WenSTUFF SAYS The campaign is slight, but this is the Star Wars game you’re looking for ++++,
Star Wars:
Squadrons
Hop in your X-Wings and TIE fighters for squad-based
space combat on both sides, in a small-scale Star Wars
outing that takes the franchise back to gaming basicsS