Review: Star Wars Zero Company

EA’s suite of Star Wars titles, despite a rocky start in 2015, has yielded quite a few high-quality titles. Star Wars Battlefront II (after many updates), Star Wars: Squadrons, and both Star Wars Jedi titles have all garnered strong receptions. It’s an impressive streak of releases, a streak that EA hopes to continue with Star Wars Zero Company.

Developed by new studio Bit Reactor, Star Wars Zero Company takes the beloved IP into new territory: Turn-based tactics. Built by a team comprised of former XCOM developers, Zero Company aims to meld the cinematic storytelling of Star Wars with the strategic depth of the turn-based tactics genre. Is the Force strong with Star Wars Zero Company, or should it be Order 66’d into oblivion?

Blasters at the Ready

Star Wars Zero Company takes place during the twilight years of the Clone Wars and puts you in the shoes of Hawks. A former Republic officer and leader of Zero Company, Hawks is recruited for an operation that pits them against a Separatist-aligned cult, the Coil. Led by Kundri Fathom, who’s obsessed with spreading her Shadow Plague, Hawks and his team of miscreants must band together and put her down before she can tip the scales of the war in the Separatist’s favor.

Star Wars Zero Company’s narrative is a high point, delivering a story with strong characters, threatening villains, and, most surprisingly, stakes. In our preview, we were worried that setting the game during the Clone Wars would lead to a weaker core narrative. It’s a short timeframe already filled with multiple stories and a definitive ending, after all. Despite this, the game managed to deliver proper stakes and emotional payoffs.

A lot of this is thanks to excellent character moments and development. You’ll get to see two enemies on the opposite side of the war slowly become friends, a Padawan gain confidence, and a selfish bounty hunter find a new family. Even Hawks, a fully customizable character, is presented with a strong arc that leads to an emotional payoff. In many ways, Zero Company is a near perfect encapsulation of the emotions and storytelling that makes Star Wars timeless.

If there’s one issue with Zero Company’s narrative, it’s that it falls into a similar trap Star Wars Jedi: Survivor did. Kundri Fathom and the Coil are compelling villains, yet the narrative sidelines them for a different, all-too familiar villainous group. It’s a jarring switch that gets even more jarring when the story remembers it had to wrap up the Coil’s story. Much like Survivor, Zero Company had something excellent going here and didn’t need to turn the focus to this other group. It’s a small blemish on what is otherwise an excellent narrative.

Meet me at the Holotable

Star Wars Zero Company is a rather lengthy game, clocking in between 20-22 hours if you beeline through all the story and character-specific missions. However, taking on additional missions, maxing bonds between characters, increasing influence across the galaxy, or increasing the difficulty will easily take you past the thirty-hour mark. Given that this is a campaign-only game with no additional modes, that length is a good thing. Would it have been nice to get special missions where you can play as historical characters, as the Coil, or as the Separatists? Of course, but Zero Company does provide a healthy amount of content.

The game itself is split between combat and the Den. In combat, you’ll maneuver through maps seeking cover, vantage points, and opportunities to defeat enemies. If you’ve played a tactics game like XCOM or Gears Tactics, map design will be familiar. Where design gets interesting is in the Den. It’s here where you’ll interact with your teammates and acquire their specific missions, customize and upgrade your characters, purchase and equip equipment, and acquire updates for the Den.

It’s also where many of the game’s choices come into play. The Holotable is littered with “scoops” you need to spend Intel on to unlock missions, several zones to send contacts to increase influence, and timed missions that need to be completed within a set number of cycles or be lost forever. It’s that final factor that makes choices so important. You simply can’t partake in every mission. Sometimes you’ll have to choose between priorities, be forced to deal with insurgent Coil groups, or veer off into something completely unplanned. While annoying at times, these choices kept Zero Company feeling fresh and dynamic throughout the playthrough.

Whether in-combat or in the Den, Star Wars Zero Company remains an engaging experience, finding the right ways to keep engagement high whether you’re commanding troops or deciding what Den upgrade to build next. Would it have been nice to see additional modes? Of course, but Zero Company still manages to deliver a meaty experience.

Finding the High Ground

Outside the Den, the rest of your time is spent in combat. Star Wars Zero Company plays similarly to XCOM, which isn’t surprising given the number of alumni at Bit Reactor. Each mission, you’ll drop into an isometric map with four squad members, spend Action Points (AP) to execute actions, and complete the mission’s main objective.

Each character starts with a primary job, with secondary jobs available later in the game. Each of these jobs imbues the character with unique abilities, though the six narrative-based characters receive additional abilities. For example, the Mandalorian Cly can use her jetpack to quickly jump across the map. Meanwhile, Jedi Padawan Tel-Rea can use the Force to push, pull, and even throw her lightsabers. Surviving battles is all about studying the intel, selecting the right crew, and using the map to your advantage. Star Wars Zero Company’s mechanics contain plenty of depth between character utilization, weapon modifications, equipment, and abilities.

Zero Company can also be quite punishing on higher difficulties, demanding close attention to maximize synergies. The game does feature a permanent death option, even for the six story companions. One wrong move could cost you valuable party members. Thankfully, if you’re worried about that, it is an option you can turn off.

Whether in-combat or in the Den, Star Wars Zero Company remained an engaging experience, finding the right ways to keep engagement high whether you’re commanding troops or deciding what Den upgrade to build next.

There’s nothing particularly new here versus other tactics titles, but Bit Reactor executes it all nearly flawlessly. Ranged combat is a joy, and it was always a thrill finding the best way to set up a perfect execution or overcome a botched strategy. Melee characters, however, always felt a bit weak. 3 AP never felt like it was enough, often causing them to be left out in the open with little way to defend themselves. A character like Tel-Rea is a fun way to slice up enemies, but that comes at a cost.

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Bit Reactor’s near flawless execution stretched to Star Wars Zero Company’s presentation. The studio understood the assignment and beautifully captures the look, feel, and sound of Star Wars. The humming of lightsabers, the sounds of ships taking off, and the immaculate voice of Dee Bradley Baker are all there and prepared to immerse you into the world of Star Wars. Zero Company is a gorgeous game with strong artistic design that brings to life numerous Star Wars locales both iconic and new.

The game also runs mostly well on PC, delivering a stable frame rate at a 4K resolution. Zero Company’s technical state at launch isn’t bad, but could use some work. Numerous issues we highlighted in our preview have been addressed, though some remain. Animations still bug out every now and again, some actions essentially grind the game to a standstill while the system figures out what to do, and one particularly nasty bug populated a cutscene with double models of each character. There’s nothing terrible or game-breaking like what we saw with Jedi: Survivor, but these are nuisances that mar what is otherwise a flawless presentation.

Closing Comments

There was a time when one would cringe at the thought of EA releasing a new Star Wars game. Today, after Battlefront II’s redemption and three high-quality releases, that’s no longer the case. Star Wars Zero Company proudly launches EA’s fourth high-quality Star Wars release, thanks to it’s excellent storytelling, meaningful design, thrilling and strategic combat, and ability to capture the magic of Star Wars. Despite landing in a time period with a definitive ending, Bit Reactor has managed to craft a story filled with stakes, heart, and well-crafted characters. Whether in combat or in the Den, Zero Company ensures that every action made is meaningful and purposeful. Meanwhile, the presentation captures the look, sound, and feel of Star Wars. The game does trip over itself a few times. The bait-and-switch of the enemy faction is annoying, as is the lack of any meaningful additional mode. Melee characters never felt as useful as ranged ones, nor is the game’s technical state flawless. All annoyances, but nothing that can take away the excellent game Bit Reactor has created. The Force is strong with Star Wars Zero Company.