It is the golden age of MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games. With titles like PUBG and Mobile Legends lording over the mobile landscape, people have been exposed to the joy and pain of teaming up with strangers. This formula is currently being tested in an unlikely and untested area in EA’s Star Wars: Squadrons.
Like mech games, dogfight titles and flying games resonate only with a certain niche of gamers. Perhaps because it is a bit complicated to master the dynamics of flying. There are titles like Ace Combat and the countless Star Wars dogfighters early in the day that tried to reel in gamers to fly the skies or shoot in space, but it’s still a difficult process to reel in new players.
To be sure, such titles like Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes are doing fine, simply because it’s connected to a major movie franchise. But will Star Wars: Squadron enjoy the same success? Here is a closer look.
The Endless Battle Between Light and Dark
The game, which is slated for an October 2 launch for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, deals with the eternal conflict between the Light and Dark Side of The Force. Instead of Jedi and Sith, however, it focuses on the battle between the Sith-led Empire and the Light Side-influenced Alliance to Restore the Republic.
The timeline of the game is set right after the iconic victory of the Rebels in Return of the Jedi. The Emperor is dead, but that doesn’t mean that the Empire will just roll over and die. The game delves right into the battles that happened after the Rebellion is reformed into the New Republic, while the Empire struggles to restore its brand of order after uprisings all over the galaxy.
Fight Alone, or Join Up With Your Squadron
The game offers two modes of play – single-player and multiplayer. In single-player missions, you play as a fighter for the New Republic or the Empire. Either side will offer you missions to complete. Through the game, you will switch between two custom-made pilots, one aligned with the New Republic and the other, a battle-hardened veteran for the beleaguered Imperial Navy.
Multiplayer is further divided into two gameplay modes: Dogfights and Fleet Battles. Dogfights feature a team of five players against five on the other side. It is set in a traditional deathmatch, where the team with the most surviving fighters wins. In Fleet Battles, EA introduces Squadrons’ signature gameplay where a 5v5 battle for dominance is set against a multi-stage battle to complete missions successfully.
Fly Iconic Fighters
Star Wars fans who are equally fans of the movie franchise’s fighters will get the chance to feel what it’s like to be a member of a squadron fighting for the New Republic or the Empire. On the Republic side, they will get the chance to get into the cockpit of a T-65B X-Wing starfighter; on the Empire side, they will get to know whether Poe Dameron was telling the truth when he said that a TIE/In starfighter can “really move” fast.
There are six other fighters available for players to choose from. On the Republic side, they can choose to fly the BTL-A4 Y Wing, the RZ-1 A-Wing, or the UT-60D U-Wing. On the Imperial side, ships to choose from including the TIE/sa Bomber, the TIE/in Interceptor, or the TIE/rp Reaper.
There are still a lot more details about the game, of course. This October, players will get a chance to raise the flag of either the Republic or the Empire as Star Wars: Squadron drops on various platforms. Until then, there are other Star Wars games like Star Wars Commander to keep you busy.
Author’s Bio
Jonathan J Kingston is a video game enthusiast, gamer, and a veteran video game news writer for Games.lol. He spends his free time hunting for free game sites and testing their reliability.