There’s no greater satisfaction in Star Wars Zero Company than going into a fight feeling against the odds only to come out victorious. Countless times my band of four mercenaries faced three times as many and more enemies. How was I going to get out of this? Would I ever see my base on the Ring of Kafrene again? Then, the momentum shifts and the enemy begins to fall. Shots land successfully, tactics work out beautifully, and those Hail Mary efforts get you out of danger. The turn-based combat is excellent, and I couldn’t get enough.
Zero Company are a makeshift team of mercenaries in debt to the Hutts. In the beginning, they take on missions for the credits without too much of a thought for consequences to wrong decisions, but eventually Hawks and his team get involved with a galactic threat unseen in the Star Wars universe. The Coil are religious crazies spreading a plague, led by a fanatic called Fathom. It’s slow to start, but this new danger adds a lot of weight to the adventure of Star Wars Zero Company. It’s a strong story that stays away (for the most part) from lightsabers, the Force, and mainline canon.
Having it set during the Clone Wars is a great decision. We’ve not seen the grimy underworld of Star Wars too much during this time period. The animated series was phenomenal yet no matter how much content we get set at the time of Separatists against the Republic, there’s never enough. While it leans more towards grittiness, there’s still that humour and warmth Star Wars tends to offer. It’s no Andor, but it still has some emotional and dark moments. Regardless of how I felt about the main plot, the story is built through the characters of Zero Company.
There are key members of Zero Company you’ll be introduced to early on and as the story unfolds. Each one has their own story and you can bond with them in battle, back on your ship, and through Operations. Naturally you’ll warm to different ones, but I got on well with Trick, a former Clone Trooper and all-round good guy. There’s Kabb Uppercut who’s a heavyset Felshi brawler; a Mandalorian called Cy; a former baroness of a mining facility called Jae Mordant; and more. Everyone is brought to life with some great acting, and I loved learning more about them.
Getting attached to the characters makes each Tactical Mission so intense. Knowing they can die at any moment makes each decision one that has to be carefully considered. Hawks can hire recruits that come from outside the main cast, but even these feel like their own person. Zabraks, Twi’leks, and Duros are just a handful of the races you’ll encounter while hiring new members, and it goes to show how much Bit Reactor knows about Star Wars. Those nerds like me are safe in the hands of the developers as far as the lore goes.
In battle, each teammate relies on their class’ skill set. Everyone has a blaster type that can be good from long and short range. Mods can be bought off the black market to enhance them, and items such as grenades can be equipped to provide extra firepower. Like many other XCOM-style titles, you have a set number of action points to use. Plotting movement, when to fire your weapon, pulling off a melee strike, or using a special ability all attribute to losing AP. On top of this, you can get allies to back you up with a follow-up shot.
Enemies behind cover are harder to hit. Some enemies like the B2 Battle Droids prime heavy attacks so it’s good to try and stop these instead of wiping out the canon fodder (sorry B1s!). Overwatch is always a great option as it sets a cone of attack that if an enemy crosses in their next move, you’ll fire at them and disrupt their movement or attack. The nuances of combat are a balancing act. There’re many variables that come with each encounter, and it’s so satisfying when you start to take down enemies through good decisions.
Some missions have varying objectives like getting to a terminal and turning power on/off to something, or getting to an extraction point after saving someone who’s being held captive. Reinforcements will arrive, adding another spanner in the works. Missions can be so tense, especially as you get further into the story, but you have plenty of tools at your disposal. If an ally goes down, you can rally them back to their feet, however, fall too many times and they’ll die. I didn’t lose that many, but it still hurts when you see someone who’ve built bonds with fall to the enemy.
By taking out members on missions, chatting with them, and sending them out on Operations will build bonds. Operations take place every cycle, with new ones appearing all the time. Some might see you investigate an abandoned freighter drifting through space or rescuing victims of the Separatists, while others are brought to your attention through your team. You often get a choice of how to handle them in text-based encounters. You might get credits and gain intel (the resource needed to take on Operations), or you might upset an ally that leads to your bond weakening.
Building these connections leads to specific buffs between the characters that can be utilised on the battlefield. I liked to use those recruits that didn’t always come out on missions just so I could keep them sharp if I ever did need to call on them. Everyone has upgradable abilities depending on their class, too. There’s a lot to take in, but naturally you’ll understand everything through spending time exploring the ship and paying attention to the benefits each character has when they get better.
Star Wars Zero Company has a lot of depth. Your base can be upgraded to help get you new weapons, faster healing for teammates, and much more. There’re plenty of customisation options for your recruits as well, with everything from voice, skin colour, and race-specific traits free to be altered if you wish. It starts to feel like home, and that builds into the love you have for your team and the level of protection you feel for Zero Company. I thoroughly loved playing, but on PS5 there’re a few issues like frame rate drops and janky cutscenes that take away any smoothness.
Despite these issues that don’t go away, Star Wars Zero Company is an excellent turn-based tactics game that incorporates Star Wars in every way. Bit Reactor has taken a lot of time crafting an authentic story, and while it’s not one of the best we’ve seen in a galaxy far, far away, it is the characters and the relationships you build that make it infinitely better. Combat is sublime, and while the visuals do suffer a touch on PS5, I couldn’t stop experimenting with different team combinations, weapons, and abilities.
