Star Wars Squadrons (PS4)
By: EA
BIGGS Darklighter, Dak Ralter, Jek Porkin. These are the unsung heroes of Star Wars – fighter pilots from the original trilogy who uttered a line or two before ending up on the business end of a laser – and only Porkin, who looked like he was poured into his X-Wing, is vaguely remembered (as "the fat one").
But by harking back to PC classics like X-Wing v TIE Fighter, the latest Star Wars effort to trouble gaming puts the spotlight firmly on these helmeted heroes and their flying machines.
Around these parts, Republican vehicle attacks on Imperial forces involved a Ford Cortina packed with Calor Gas. Not so in a galaxy far, far away, where freedom-fighting rebels stuck it to the man in all manner of intergalactic jalopies.
Squadrons not only squeezes your backside into the iconic X-Wing and TIE Fighter, but a host of Star Wars craft that rarely troubled Santa's sack in the 80s. Its post-Jedi setting concerns the ongoing conflict between the New Republic and a down-but-not-out Imperial fleet, with missions flitting between the Empire's Titan squadron and the Republic's Vanguard.
And though draped over a gossamer-thin plot, where each battles for control of a new weapons project, Squadrons’ action is some of the finest to bear the Star Wars license in a long time.
Pitched somewhere between simulation and straight-up arcade-fest, its mix of dogfights, fleet attacks and escort missions not only require a precise trigger finger but canny balancing of your ship’s resources, with constant redirection of power to beef up your shields, weapons or agility on the fly.
Kicking off with those classic holo-table briefings, each mission offers sweaty-palmed wish fulfilment to anyone who’s ever guided a toy X-Wing through the kitchen table legs.
X-Wings, A-Wings, Y-Wings, TIE fighters, TIE interceptors and TIE bombers are recreated in minute detail, and with all in-game info conveyed through cockpit displays, players will finally have to make sense of each ship’s analogue dials and winking lights.
While blasting enemies is the name of the single-player game, there are plenty of set-pieces to break up the laser-fire, such as manoeuvring through the bowels of hulking spaceships or navigating asteroid fields. And being part of a multi-species squadron, there’s plenty of earnest banter from your wing-men, wing-women and wing-things.
The point of the solo campaign, though, is to hone players’ chops for Squadrons’ impressive five-on-five multiplayer, where your online crew attempt to destroy the other’s flagship in Fleet Battles.
Best of all, Squadrons has been designed from the ground up for VR. Strap on a headset and the feeling of immersion in the Star Wars universe is unlike anything outside of a theme park ride.
Despite being a budget title, Squadrons boasts all the spit and polish you’d expect from the franchise, with detailed visuals and – from its lush score to the iconic, guttural scream of a TIE Fighter – incredible sound design.
Set, like The Mandalorian, just after the events of Jedi, Squadrons proves the original is best, offering Generation X-Wing the chance to grab the throttles of George Lucas’s finest and go on the kind of nostalgia ride your childhood self could only dream of.
