When it comes to the Star Wars franchise, there exists a weird split, as many franchises have. For every good movie, there seem to be two or three bad ones; for every great show, two or three stinkers show up. The Star Wars games are no exception to this rule. In fact, they probably follow this rule to a T, as there are many more bad games in this franchise than there are good ones. To this day, I still consider Knights of the Old Republic to be the pinnacle of Star Wars games, and since then I have yet to find one that resonates with me as much as Knights of the Old Republic did. Even its sequel felt ho-hum, like it missed that Star Wars magic.
For many, the pinnacle of Star Wars shows is probably The Clone Wars: a fantastic animated show that delves deep into what happens between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. There is so much to explore during this timeframe, and Star Wars Zero Company has the amazing opportunity to expand it even further. But can this mash-up of XCOM and Star Wars: The Clone Wars pull off the impossible?
Thanks to EA and Star Wars Zero Company’s developers, Bit Reactor, I had the opportunity to play the first few hours of the game. I was immediately drawn into what Bit Reactor was selling. Strategy games like XCOM are beloved by their player base, but for many people, they seem off-putting and not their cup of tea. How do you try to lure in those outside the strategy game fan base? Pair it with one of the best-selling franchises of all time and set it in (maybe) the fandom’s favorite time period, The Clone Wars. This creates the opportunity to make an amazing strategy game and make a canon story set in the Star Wars Universe.
There is a lot to love about Zero Company, so I will try to keep this spoiler-free as best as possible. Still, I can tease that if you are a big fan of The Clone Wars, you will be drawn to Zero Company‘s story, and it is definitely worth getting your feet wet in the strategy genre. Let’s go over the basic story premises here to hopefully get you interested, then hop into its gameplay systems after.
Story Basics
So, Zero Company is a canon story set within The Clone Wars timeline. Bit Reactor worked closely with Lucasfilm Games to deliver an authentic Star Wars experience that feels and plays like it fits this time period. You play as Hawks, a former Republic Commanding Officer who has left the Republic Army but has not joined the Separatists. Instead, they run a small special forces operation, Zero Company, which takes jobs from just about anyone.
At the start of the game, Hawks joins with a few loyal friends who make up Zero Company. First up is the playable character Tricks, a former Republic clone trooper who was medically discharged after being heavily wounded while saving Hawks’ life during a mission. Tricks still is pretty loyal to the Republic and wants to help out where he can, but understands that money makes the galaxy go round. Next up is another playable character, Kabb Uppercut (yes, that’s his name), a former prizefighter boxer who joined Hawks after having a few too many run-ins with the law. The group also includes three more non-playable characters. Runa Blask was a Separatist financial advisor who was forced out due to political issues and now manages all finances for Zero Company while serving as the group’s strategy advisor. There is also M-3VO, a medical droid who also doubles as the group’s star pilot. And finally, Neesh, who runs the armory and hooks Zero Company up through his black market connections.
Rounding out the initial group after the tutorial missions are Jae Mordant, an ore baroness who has requested Zero Company’s help through her connections with Republic intelligence officer Bennic Halloren. Jae is playable as a character, while Bennic helps Runa advise you on which strategy and which missions to take. There are a few more that join Zero Company throughout the game, including the Jedi Padawan Tal-Rea Vokoss and Mandalorian bounty hunter Cly Kullervo. I mean, come on, there is no way there wasn’t going to be a Star Wars game without a Jedi or a Mandalorian somewhere in the mix.
The story revolves around tracking down a group called the Infinite Coil. They’re a cult that “blesses” its members with a disease that makes them fiercely loyal to its leader. They have destroyed and taken over a multitude of areas in the galaxy, including the mining hub of Luunata that was originally run by Jae. To tease a bit, Zero Company‘s story takes you around the Star Wars galaxy during the time of The Clone Wars, and this means you should expect to run into some characters from this time period; some may even fight beside you in battle.
Gameplay
Gameplay in Star Wars Zero Company is heavily inspired by standard XCOM-like strategy games. You run a squad of four characters, including Hawks, on most missions. You take actions via AP (action points) in the form of moving, firing your blaster, using items, or using a character’s special abilities to take down the enemies in front of you. Strategy is the name of the game, and moving your characters into cover and strategic positions to create opportunities to take down the enemies is the path to victory. Failing to do so causes your teammates to get downed and require help from other teammates to get back on their feet. Every time a character falls, they suffer an injury. Get three, and that character is killed. When playing with permadeath, which is toggable (along with another toggle that prevents manual saves), that character is permanently removed from the game. Yes, that includes the story characters who are then removed from the story. If Hawks dies, it’s game over.
Each character has unique abilities to help in combat as well as passives to enhance them. Kabb, as an ex-boxer, has a powerful uppercut ability (hence the name Kabb Uppercut) unique to him that sends enemies flying, sometimes to their death. Every action also builds the advantage point gauge that then gets used for ultimate attacks. The better the ultimate, the more advantage points it requires. Some are one-time use per map, while you can spam others throughout a fight. Defense abilities exist as well, like overwatch, which lets you set up areas of denial to make enemies who run or use actions in them get shot and end their turn dead-stop. Be careful, though; the enemies have access to overwatch and special abilities of their own. Careful use of your operators through a mission can be the tipping point between a clean mission where no one dies or limping back to the den with three coffins in tow.
After missions, you have the chance to walk around your base, the Den. Before setting off on your next mission, you can talk to your fellow Zero Company companions to learn more about them, heal injuries at the medical facilities, expand the Den’s facilities, buy new items and attachments at the black market, train your characters to increase their stats and passives, or hire new operators. You can also fully customize your characters’ looks and weapons here. All hireable operators are fully customizable from their head down to their toes or whatever lower extremities that particular Star Wars race may have. Talking to certain characters sometimes leads to new missions that involve them directly furthering their story. Also, relationship levels increased through training or going out into the field together lead to scenes between those two characters, further advancing their stories.
At the Holotable, you select your next mission. There are three options here. Zone influence shows how much influence you have in each sector of the galaxy. Doing missions and operations in each zone increases it and gives you rewards, so selecting missions and operations in those zones is beneficial. Operations are non-combat missions where you must choose your response to a certain situation and be rewarded in different ways. The riskier your selection, the higher the likelihood of both a generous reward and danger for your operators. Finally, there are combat-oriented missions. Story missions must be completed in their given timeframe, but other missions are up to you to complete at your leisure if you feel the reward is worth it.
I had the chance to play up to roughly the 18th cycle, which was a pretty big chunk of the game. As an XCOM and strategy game fan, I was very pleased from that side of the table, and as a Star Wars fan, I was very excited with what I saw and how it all played out. If you fall in either of these categories, it’s definitely worth getting your feet wet in Zero Company to scratch that strategy game itch, or that Star Wars itch, or both!
Star Wars Zero Company comes out on August 27th for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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