Star Wars features many things which speak to its audience in different ways. Whether it is the characters, the duels, the lore, the settings, the stories, or the weapons, there will be something that everybody will cling to as what “defines” Star Wars for them. For me, this must be the starfighter battles. Growing up, I absolutely loved the space battles at the end of A New Hope and Return of the Jedi and in games such as Activision's Battlefront II I spent so much more time in the space modes than in any ground battles.
Indeed, long-term readers will have noticed this bias seep
through a couple of times in the past. When discussing EA’s take on Battlefront
II, I wrote exclusively about its mode Starfighter Assault and compared
it to Star Wars: The Old Republic’s own space Player-vs-Player mode Galactic Starfighter. While I
have rarely written about GSF itself on the blog, it remains one of my
favourite activities in SWTOR to this day.
When news about a starfighter game being published by EA
were leaked a few months ago, I was immediately hooked by the idea. It has been
an awfully long time since we have had a game focus exclusively on
starfighters, the last one being (according to Wookieepedia) Flight
of the Falcon in 2003. That said, prior to this point there were quite a
few games which were dedicated purely to space and low-atmosphere combat: X-Wing
and TIE Fighter games, the first two Rogue Squadron games, and Starfighter
and its sequel Jedi Starfighter.
Point being, it has been almost two decades since a game dedicated purely to starfighters has been released. Yet here we are, less than a month away from the release of the newest addition to that line-up, Star Wars: Squadrons. While I can never claim to have had a lot of experience in its spiritual predecessors such as X-Wing, I have at least played them. I was, I feel, too young to have properly appreciated them at the time (7 or 8), and I haven't got around to playing them since. I really should do that.
There are numerous things which have me interested in Squadrons
as a game beyond its base principle, so I would like to use today’s post to
demonstrate just what I am looking forward to.
Focus on the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant
Universe-building has not been a very strong point within Star
Wars lore for quite some time now. We have had a lot of stories focusing on
specific characters and how they do or do not impact the galaxy, but we have not had much
exposure to wider aspects of the galaxy itself. Notably, even with various
sources attempting to justify its existence, the rise of the First Order is
still a point of confusion for many.
The new-canon New Republic currently suffers from a lack of focus as well. While numerous books and comics have been set in this era and have done their best to explain it, we as an audience have only had the bare minimum of visual exposure to it. EA’s Battlefront II focused on it a little bit but kept it tied mainly to characters, The Mandalorian gave it a little bit of focus, and we saw its destruction in The Force Awakens. Presumably we are now due to see a New New Republic.
The Imperial Remnant has at least had a relatively decent
amount of visual focus over the years. The Mandalorian features it quite heavily and EA’s
Battlefront II focuses its story on how the Empire was designed to
collapse after the “death” of Emperor Palpatine. However, both storylines
feature the Remnant purely as the antagonist even though the main character of Battlefront
II, Iden Versio, starts off as a proud Imperial Special Forces agent.
Because the story of this game will feature main
characters from both sides, Squadrons will at allow us to
see both the New Republic and the Remnant from insiders' perspectives. While I do not imagine we shall be given much reason to care for the eventual obliteration of the former, it will be very interesting to
see how the Imperial characters justify their existence as protagonists of
their own story rather than just being “the bad guys” again!
~
Hopefully, no Force-Wielders
The Force is a quintessential aspect of the Star Wars
universe. However, that does not mean that everything in Star Wars
should focus on it. This is why I have a soft spot for the Agent, Hunter, Smuggler, and Trooper storylines in SWTOR as, even thought they do include Force-wielders, they demonstrate quite ably that "normal" people can be heroes, too. Same with Han Solo, Padmé Amidala, Wedge Antilles, etc.
Yet the majority of Star Wars stories for the past
few years have featured it in some way, either because the more prominent main characters are
Force sensitive or a Force-wielder writes themselves into the story whether it
makes sense or not. There have been a couple of recent stories which could have
been interesting takes on the Star Wars galaxy just by focusing on the normal
people, yet a Force-wielder has still made themselves known as part of it. While I would not say that this has killed my interest in such stories, it has certainly dulled my enthusiasm somewhat.
The prospect of a storyline which only features these regular
people thus has me quite excited. Even the prominent characters from other Star
Wars stories confirmed to be actual characters within the game (discounting
the prologue narrations) are just regular characters. I really hope that
this holds true throughout the entire game, as it would be very refreshing to
not have to worry at all about a Force-user while following the stories of Titan and
Vanguard squadrons.
While I do not mind stories featuring the Force, I do believe
that it has just been focused on a bit too much over the past few years in particular. I am
intrigued by the upcoming Cassian Andor series for a similar reason, as focusing
purely on the Rebellion – unless this series is set long enough before Rebels
for a certain ex-Jedi to appear yet again... – should hopefully leave little
room for a Force-wielder.
But then I thought the same of certain other Star Wars
stories. We shall see what happens.
~
Multiple Entry Points
Entry points, otherwise referred to as “skill floors”, are a
crucial part of any game, online or otherwise. While a good number of players will
be happy with an environment where only “the best” will flourish, for a game to
succeed commercially it does need to have a fair bit of approachability by newcomers.
Squadrons features several ways for players to get to
grips with it as an actual game. I already touched briefly on the story mode,
but it also has a specific practice mode and variants of its big objective PvP Fleet
Battles mode which are against AI. The latter can be played in co-op with
friends or by oneself if desired. Even the online PvP variant should be
reasonably okay as an entry point as this mode has skill-based matchmaking.
As much as I absolutely love GSF in SWTOR even
I must acknowledge one of its biggest flaws: it has probably one of the highest
skill floors in any Star Wars game for new players to break through.
This is because the tutorial is lacklustre, there are many different ships and
components of varying strengths and usefulness, some of the statistics are confusing and not explained, and there are also numerous
crew members all offering different benefits and abilities. All this before
players even enter a match, and the queue does not try and put them
against players of a similar skill-level in either mode.
I have immense respect for anyone who can push through and
become decent at GSF even with all the odds stacked against them.
The decent amount of offline capabilities will also mean
that the lifespan of Squadrons will extend beyond its servers’ inevitable
shut down. Starfighter Assault and GSF are both online only, so
when the servers for Battlefront II and SWTOR are shut down that
will automatically kill these modes with no official way of accessing them ever
again. Battlefront II is especially annoying in this regard as there are
decent offline ground modes but there is practically nothing for starfighters beyond
the tedious deathmatch and onslaught modes.
I am incredibly pleased to at least have one up-to-date starfighter
game mode which can be accessed in the future, and I hope to see more in the
coming years.
~
The Small Amount of Game Modes
I have already touched on the story, practice, and Fleet
Battles modes for Squadrons, and there is just one more that it includes:
team deathmatch. This does not feature skill-based matchmaking so it is
possible that newcomers will find this mode just as much of a nightmare as GSF
can be because of this.
I know that some players will be disappointed that this game
will only include two online PvP modes, but EA’s Battlefront II has
demonstrated quite ably that there is a trap which an online game can easily
fall into. There is such a thing as “too many” game modes.
The lure of putting in extra game modes is, I acknowledge,
quite big. Developers get to keep their fans hooked on the promise of new
content without them becoming bored by a “stale” game. However, putting in extra
game modes then risks the older modes becoming stale anyway.
Battlefront II is still alive, sure, but it is
getting quite difficult to get into matches these days. I have been queuing for
games with a couple of friends over the past few weeks, and I have lost track
of the amount of times we have been put in lobbies which collapse with only one
player left to find. I put this down to a lot of the player base focusing so
much on more recent game modes (Co-op and Supremacy) that a lot of the earlier
modes have just lost so much focus that it is barely worth playing them
anymore.
They can still be interesting, but it is very disappointing
to get into a series of potential matches which can be fun… and they just never
get going as they never get filled for whatever reason.
While I would not mind seeing extra game modes, I would
leave the extra modes at two or three at most. Something small-scale and
that can be put into the offline and co-op mode as well as online would be my
ideal extra game mode. Gives something to allcomers and hopefully does not
detract from the already in-place modes.
~
Character Customisation
Squadrons will be the first Star Wars game
since SWTOR to allow players to change how their character looks for the
story component of the game. I am ecstatic to see this becoming an option for a
modern Star Wars game and this is something which I hope to see becoming
more frequent.
This also extends to the multiplayer, as you can see what
other players do with their pilots in the pre-match briefing room.
Somewhat disappointingly, while aliens exist for the New Republic
pilots, it seems that humans will be the only option for characters within the
story as other species appear to cost Glory Points (Squadrons’ version
of Credits). I do not get the impression that earning GP via other means and
then starting the story will enable a player to purchase any of the species for
their story, although it would be great if you could.
The customisation allows you to change your character’s
head, gender, voice package, flight suit, helmet, and separate bits of clothing
if a generic flight suit is not chosen. I am not aware if it has been confirmed
if any of these beyond head and gender can be customised to the same extent in
both story and multiplayer, but I would be surprised if the equipment could be
changed.
It would have been quite possible for Motive to have
designed the player-character to be the next Cal Kestis, Iden Versio, or Kyle
Katarn, but instead we have the first up-to-date Exile, Jaden Korr, or Revan. More
please!
~
The Starfighters Themselves
Starfighters in Squadrons are like those within GSF.
Both games have classes which function as an all-rounder, a dogfighter, a support vessel, and a heavy
hitter, and each of these ships can be customised to have numerous different
components. These include lasers, shields, and engines of different kinds as
well as turrets, healing probes, special missile types, and numerous other
tools for various purposes. While the games are themselves very different, I do very much see Squadrons as a simplified equivalent of GSF because of the component systems in both games.
This game is unique among the majority of starfighter modes
over the past two decades in that it restricts players purely to the cockpit
view and allows the option to rely on their cockpit’s instruments. This also allows
the option for for Virtual Reality support, which I know a lot of players are
really excited for.
I am happy to see that there are no “hero” ships in Squadrons.
Players are restricted to merely being their regular pilots, and I hope that we
never see any heroes become playable. I do not particularly want to see this
becoming a game where whoever gets Red Five first proceeds to completely
dominate the skyline.
I am also pleased to see cosmetic customisation be a thing
for Squadrons. I was always disappointed that Battlefront II
never had vehicle skins, so I love the fact that Squadrons is finally
providing the option for players to define their own looks. Indeed, this would
also make it possible for player squadrons to unify their look, which could be fun
if ever this game takes off as an e-sport. The option will also exist for
players to turn off player cosmetics, which I think does make quite good sense.
Technicolour Dreamcoat Squadron will not be everyone’s idea of fun for online
matches, as evidenced by the amount of people asking for a similar option in Battlefront
II when the numerous Clone legions were implemented.
The starfighters in Squadrons are limited only to
those within the Original Trilogy, which I have seen more than a few people
voice their disappointment of. The truth of the matter is that with how these
starfighters function, bringing in the other eras just would not work. The
sequels do not really have ships which comfortably fill all four classes, while
the prequel ships cannot easily conform to the in-cockpit instrument-focused
viewpoint that Squadrons uses.
Sure, some of the Republic ships would work fine, but the
ARC-170 and LAAT/i never could be “properly” implemented due to the co-pilot
handling several of the ship’s systems including targeting. Those are two of
the most iconic ships from this era right there!
~~~
There are a few other things which I am excited to see and
explore as part of Squadrons which I felt that I could not really write
about as part of their own sections. Chief among these are the locations, as
while we have a few images of these I would very much like to explore them
first before I get to writing about them.
I do find it amusing that one of the planets featured shares
its name with a prominent early Republic Flashpoint in SWTOR. Where’s
Ironfist when you need him?
I am ecstatic to see a proper modern-day starfighter game,
and I really hope that it sells well. Even if Motive are moved away to
focus on other projects before any potential updates to this game can be made,
I hope that it is successful enough to warrant a spiritual successor somewhere
down the line. It has just been so long since we had a dedicated starfighter
game, and I hope that it will not be anywhere near as long until we get
another.
For now, though, we just must wait to see how Squadrons
fares. Even if it does not sell well, I am sure that I will still be playing it
in the months and years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment