Not coming from an XCOM background, it is hard to be able to place the commonalities between Star Wars: Zero Company and previous incarnations of XCOM. The experience as a first timer into this style of strategy game could be what developer Bit Reactor, a team of former XCOM devs, is hoping for by using the Star Wars IP. Should you place your hard earned credits down on this intergalactic adventure or is it a Star Wars game that needs to be thrown in the Sarlacc pit?
The plot throws customisable character Tesh Hawks, leader of a mercenary group Zero Company, into the final years of the Clone Wars era. Along the way Hawks recruits a number of misfits and stowaways to add to the growing army. Despite being relatively agnostic to both the Republic and the Separatist movement, the central plot sees the Republic enlist the help of Zero Company to help track down the Coil. This cultist group infects some subservient and some unwilling victims with a disease that enhances their strength and abilities.
Reluctantly, Hawks and his crew take on the work to keep their operation afloat. In between the main story arc are side missions that help build out the relationships with your crewmates and allow for more credits to be earned. Anyone who enjoyed the animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars will really enjoy this story as well as the era and setting it takes place in.
Star Wars: Zero Company begins the adventure with a rather extensive create a character tool, being able to select from 6 different races or species from across the Star Wars galaxy, ranging from Devaronian, Togruta and Twi’lek. This is fantastic to be able to select any type of character given how Star Wars has expanded their reach beyond human based characters in past 20 years. The customisation tool is deep, and, if anything feels quite similar to how WWE video games integrate their Create-a-wrestler tools. There’s a wide range of clothing and other cosmetics too with even more being unlocked as the campaign progresses.
Importantly, players get to select a specialisation class which can be changed in between missions if desired. There are eight classes to choose from each with their own distinct play styles. If a fore-frontal approach is preferred then go for an assault type, or if a methodical, defensive risk-averse strategy is favoured, then scout is the way to go. Going out all guns blazing does have its downsides, namely, permadeath, something that the opening tutorial teaches players early on. Units can get downed during battle but can be revived up to three times (or more depending on character perks), however, after that third time the permadeath system kicks in. They are truly gone forever.
Those eliminated allies aren’t completely helpless. They can be revived or characters can be healed to prevent death, however, falling in battle and being revived doesn’t come without consequence. If team members are downed during the mission, then that death counter rolls over to the next. All is not lost, though, as they can skip the next mission and stay in the medical bay to recover to full health.
Alternatively, players can opt to spend hard earned credits for an immediate recovery in the Bacta tank. Truth be told, throughout the playthrough not one player was lost through the permadeath system but allies were certainly needing a trip to the medical bay. If this sounds too stressful, then it is possible for permadeath to be turned off in the options.
Missions are conducted, usually, with a four man-cell but additional allies sometimes join the field of play to assist bringing up the unit to five players at once. As characters can be recruited along the way, there eventually becomes an overwhelming choice of characters that can fill out the squadron. Having a large roster allows for the more aggressive play style and for characters to be swapped out after each mission if they become injured.
The holotable in the base has a number of side operations that can be completed that could impact rewards, credits, influence gained in that region and how certain characters bond. Completing a combination of operations requires players to have enough intel points to tackle them. The system is designed that players will always end up missing some of the open jobs as they disappear from the list of options if their cry for help is ignored. Completing certain operations and missions will allow for Hawks to gain credits or additional inventory for completing them, but letting missions expire can have consequences on allowing the enemy to gain long term perks.
The missions themselves vary from simple acts such as eliminating all of the enemies, rescuing hostages or capturing enemy data. Whatever the task, is it is best to take a mix of classes along to help units heal, back each other up or just have a bit of variety in the team. Each character has a number of actions that they could execute in a turn, including movement, attacking, healing or throwing grenades. Each character class has special perks that others don’t, allowing for certain special scenarios such as allowing players to move again, enacting a cover based system dubbed “overwatch” and more.
It can make each battle very dynamic as each roster of playable characters is very different. Defensive strategists perhaps prefer to move away from enemies or to provide cover, whereas more aggressive players might prefer the up-front close and personal attacks. Either way it is vital to know when to seek shelter to cover from oncoming bullets or to go on the attack. Missions are played as a turn-based top-down isometric grid, but during the hub world Hawks is controllable in the third person. During this time is it possible to communicate with allies, change cosmetics, tweak character perks and skill trees.
There is quite an in-depth bond system with characters that can be built up alongside a shop to trade credits for upgrade gear and weaponry. Select story missions can start in a similar third person approach, although this is largely done to push the story and narrative forward, offering very little in true gameplay. In fact during these segments, a cutscene or a scrollable menu could have been ideal instead.
