Seeing X-Wings and Tie Fighters dogfight is something to behold but being in the cockpit itself is an entirely different thing. This is what Star Wars: Squadrons lets players experience. The game promises players the thrilling experience of being a pilot on both sides of the battle and for the most part, it delivers.
The story
The game takes place after the events of "Return of the Jedi". The second Death Star has been destroyed, the Emperor has died and so has his right-hand man, Darth Vader. In the aftermath, the New Republic is born, but the remnants of the Empire still lurk around the galaxy. Players will take control of two pilots on different sides: as the pilot for the New Republic, you're part of the Vanguard Squadron led by Commander Javes, a former pilot of the Empire; as the pilot on the side of the Empire, you're part of Titan Squadron who's bound to cross paths with Vanguard and is coincidentally led by Imperial Captain Terisa Kerill, Javes' former wingman who is hell-bent on hunting him down.
The gameplay & graphics
Getting behind the cockpit of some of Star Wars' legendary starfighters is exciting, especially for a nerd like me. Fortunately, the gameplay is simple enough to let you hit the ground running. The main campaign offers enough variety to test your starfighting skills and also puts you in control of a couple of different starfighters so that you're not just dogfighting for each mission. Sometimes you're going to have to bomb New Republic capital ships, pilot a support ship for the other fighters in your squadron or in true Luke Skywalker fashion, navigate a tight space to shoot up a ship's reactor.
The campaign, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. The game also offers multiplayer and has two modes: Dogfight, a 5v5 battle to the death, and Fleet Battles where the objective is to shoot down the opposing team's capital ships. Having only two multiplayer modes is fine but both don't really offer that much interesting variety that you might end up going "Eh" and leaving the game behind after a few rounds. Players may perhaps be drawn in if they add more starfighters to the roster but the selection is slim right now. Maybe future updates will add more ships, but who knows? You can also customise your pilots and your ships though you'd have to grind a bit to be able to but them with the in-game credits.
What "Squadrons" does live up to is the promise of an immersive starfighting experience. Playing on a normal PS4, it was already enjoyable for me to fly an X-Wing or Tie Fighter while shooting down numerous foes and shooting up Star Destroyers or Mon Calamari Star Cruisers. I could only imagine how much more enjoyable it would be to play it on a PS4 Pro on VR, which the game does support.
The verdict
Piloting a Star Wars ship is the dream of every nerd and Star Wars: Squadrons makes that dream a reality. Whether you jump inside an X-Wing or Tie Fighter, this game is the best immersive Star Wars starfighter experience. However, there's a lot of untapped potential in it, as well. The multiplayer modes are good enough for a few rounds but not enough to keep you around for the long haul so there's a possibility that you may just leave the game behind once you're done with the campaign which isn't that long. Updates can build on the game to increase the game's replayability but for now, Squadrons seems to be a "one and done" type of game."
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
