We Played 50 Hours of Star Wars Zero Company – Preview

Bit Reactor and EA‘s Star Wars Zero Company is one of the most important releases of the year for tactics fans.

Widely held up by small, talented teams, the genre occasionally gets a much-needed splash of AA/AAA color.

After Marvel’s Midnight Suns‘ commercial struggles – one of the biggest crimes in gaming history! – I didn’t think another massive franchise would dive into the genre.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns hit a double whammy of niche genres, diving heavily into both tactics and card game mechanic, but even an incredible game with the Marvel label wasn’t enough to reach high levels of success.

If Star Wars Zero Company faces the same struggles, I dread to think what the AA/AAA future is for the genre.

We Played 50 Hours of Star Wars Zero Company – Preview

Star Wars Zero Company will be instantly recognizable to fans of the genre. Its trademark blend of intense, turn-based tactical gameplay alongside its management elements throughout its central hub is the glue holding the genre together.

As with every tactics game, its backbone is the combat – and Star Wars Zero Company proudly carries that torch. Familiar mechanics like Overwatch, consumable items, and evolving enemies are blended together with innovative new concepts in what amounts to something both recognizable and fresh.

Each character in Star Wars Zero Company has 3 AP (Action Points) that can be spent per turn, split between movement, special abilities, using items, and the usual options.

As a team, Star Wars Zero Company also utilizes ADV (Advantage Points). Typically gained through base combat actions, certain classes can also truly excel at ramping up the AP game.

These points are then spent on ultimate style abilities like the Soldier’s Rocket Launcher attack, creating a constant balancing ac throughout its action economy that feels as rewarding as the explosions are gorgeous.

Star Wars Zero Company’s Backup provides another clever strategic layer to its combat system. Each round, a random allied character can signal another to provide Backup, allowing that character to join in one’s next attack.

Perhaps you can use it to double down on a distant target? Or maybe you can combine debuffs launched on a single powerful foe?

While a seemingly simple system, Star Wars Zero Company’s Backup system provides a surprising level of depth.

Combat in Star Wars Zero Company also offers a level of environmental interactivity few in the genre can match. Even between actions when searching for the next ability to use, enemies are firing off shots and always keeping both visuals and audio engaging.

Failing all that, just throw a Thermal Imploder and marvel at the visuals.

Combining the environment with attacks – such as a Force Push to destroy terrain, thereby landing an enemy into several fields of Overwatch – is truly glorious.

This same level of creative problem-solving is present across Star Wars Zero Company’s multiple characters and combat styles.

One of the major differences between this release and other titles in the genre, which usually lean toward a more hardcore and niche audience, is its dual focus on accessibility and narrative.

The usual difficulty options will allow both hardcore and casual players to enjoy the experience with the right level of challenge, going beyond simply adjusting damage and health.

Higher difficulty settings reduce weapon range, forcing more tactical play and decision-making. The Hard and Expert settings even reduce initial Bond levels and disable the Bacta Tank – one of the only methods of instantly healing injured Operators.

However, other areas of Star Wars Zero Company lean toward a more casual design approach – all without the option to tweak settings.

Death, although permanent, doesn’t feel as punishing for customized characters. One can easily recruit another character and make them identical to the one lost.

On that same note, all Focus Points currently available are then applied, allowing for the immediate leveling of the new recruit to current Zero Company standards.

This creates a unique bridge between Star Wars fans and those of the tactics genre, perfect for franchise fans dipping their toes into the tactics genre for the first time.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns (the single greatest Marvel and tactics game ever made – I’ll die on that hill) provided players with a very story-heavy and relationship-focused take on the tactics style. Star Wars Zero Company slightly borrows from that, albeit in a more digestible fashion.

The interactions and story progress between characters, while far less busy than Marvel’s Midnight Suns, is just as impactful and meaningful – just without the 40 minutes of chatting with five different people between every fight.

This, in turn, makes Star Wars Zero Company more immersive without simply checking off tickboxes by speaking to every character.

Star Wars Zero Company’s story, even in our brief preview build, is fantastic and is delivered at a steady pace. There are plenty of cutscenes (which are quickly skipped for future runs), and its storytelling tools during combat sell the experience.

Impactful animations and camera angles eliminate much of the disconnect of the typically more isometric styles of tactics games, instead giving players the feeling of being in the heart of the action. There is, however, the expected appearance of questionable camera angles and bullet trajectory – something that’s as iconic to tactics games as the tactical elements themselves.

Character creation, customization, and advancement in Star Wars Zero Company are robust, giving players near-endless opportunities to create and discover that next incredible operative build.

Throughout my first playthrough, I was convinced Kabb Uppercut was a vital inclusion every time.

Kabb, the first of the Felshi species to be introduced to Star Wars, utilizes his Uppercut talent to traverse great distances and punch enemies right in the face – refunding all of his spent resources if he deals a killing blow. This provides Kabb a level of agility most other operators can’t reach.

My second playthrough? I never used him once, and I can’t imagine going back to him again.

Every character is well-thought out in Star Wars Zero Company, each bringing a little something different to the title.

Our preview build featured eight Specializations and ten Talents, not including the unique elements available to certain characters. On custom characters, these Specializations and Talents can be changed and combined at any point.

Not only does this allow players to build characters specifically to fit certain roles, but it gives each character enough personality and individuality to stand out among a fantastic cast of main characters.

Customization doesn’t end there…

Focus Points earned through combat can be used to upgrade existing skills and abilities, and the Bond system allows for even further fine-tuning.

Whenever characters interact in combat, such as healing or reviving, or when they complete Operations together, their Bond improves. Bond points can then be spent on Cross Training between two characters, giving players the choice of intentionally developing Bond between specific characters to offer new stats and abilities for their unique needs.

For example, both the Soldier and Jedi Specializations benefit greatly from increased melee damage, so increasing their Bond with characters who offer that training is a great way to min/max builds, but it can also be used to give an Operator a new edge or refine a weakness.

The final layer of customization in Star Wars Zero Company comes through its Armory, allowing players to equip different weapons alongside utilities like grenades and medpacks.

That being said, the weapon system is quite limited with four core weapon types available during the preview period. However, a huge variety of modifications add further depth for those looking to get the most out of each character.

All of this is wrapped up with a character creation suite boasting 11 different species, an impressive selection of outfits and clothing types, customizable names, portraits, background bios, and 10 different personality types.

Custom characters in Star Wars Zero Company don’t simply exist in the background; they interact with characters at base, engage in dialog on the battlefield, and feel every bit as involved as the main cast.

Even more so when your Neimoidian Lars Aric snipes a Droideka, saving your Jedi companion from certain death. The real treasure of the tactics genre is the special moments and stories unique to the player, and Star Wars Zero Company has that in abundance.

The Den acts as the hub of operations for Star Wars Zero Company, where players do most of its managing aspects. Players are able to customize characters, purchase new equipment on the Black Market, heal injured allies, and find new recruits.

Many of the characters can be spoken with between missions as they provide backstory. In addition, speaking with many main companions unlock additional story missions that then earn unique unlocks.

One of my only concerns moving into the full release is its longevity. I’ve played through XCOM 2 more times than I can count, largely possible due to the high amount of random elements splashed throughout.

I went through the entire Star Wars Zero Company preview – which consisted of the first 18 cycles (days) of the game – a thorough three times.

Although there were some noteworthy differences, the characters and specializations warrant more of a second look than the core game itself. The depth and flexibility of Star Wars Zero Company’s combat system boasts high replay value, but the mission content may struggle.

Star Wars Zero Company is a game I never thought I’d get to play. This preview lays a strong foundation with a stellar cast of characters, a brilliant OST, and enough depth to combat to have me yearning for more.

Star Wars Zero Company will release for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam on August 27 – learn more via its official website.

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