Hot on the heels of Star Wars: Battlefront II, EA is working on a new Star Wars title called Star Wars: Squadrons, a space-simulator game inspired by the Star Wars: X-Wing games they loved playing as kids. Many gameplay elements from the original X-Wing franchise will be returning in Star Wars: Squadrons, but what original features will EA introduce to create a more modern take on the space simulator genre?
Kids who thrilled watching the spectacular Death Star Trench Run from Star Wars: A New Hope got their big break when Star Wars: X-Wing came out in 1993, letting them play as starfighter pilots from the Rebel Alliance embarking on space missions against the Galactic Empire. The sequel, Star Wars: Tie Fighter, switched perspectives by letting player fight for the Empire and be the “bad guys,” while X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter and X-Wing Alliance introduced increasingly elaborate multiplayer mechanics that allowed teams of players to engage in epic, elaborate space battles.
The charm of the X-Wing games rested in how LucasArts made gamers feel like they were actually in a starfighter’s cockpit. During story missions, players had to think on their toes, out-maneuvering enemy fighters while carefully allocating energy to their fighter’s weapons, engines, or deflector shields depending on their current situation. The developers of Star Wars: Squadrons have repeatedly expressed their desire to bring back the complex simulator aspects of the X-Wing games, while also adding special touches to modernize gameplay and make space battles even more cinematically spectacular.
Star Wars: Squadrons’ Star Wars & WW2 Inspirations
Unsurprisingly, Star Wars special effects are more about style than they are about realistic physics. In the vacuum of outer space, spaceships don’t bank like airplanes, explosions don’t make sounds, and particle blasters would be invisible. Space battles in Star Wars are closer in feel to the aerial battles of World War 2 because George Lucas and his special effects team deliberately modeled their space scenes after vintage WW2 footage. In that same spirit, the developers of Star Wars: Squadrons have been reviewing old film reels of World War 2 bombers, fighter planes, and tracer fire along with scenes from classic Star Wars movies, all to recreate the cinematic feel of of starfighter cockpits, dog fighting interceptors, and tense bombing runs iconic to the Star Wars universe..
Star Wars: Squadrons Upgrade System & Teamwork Goals
Throughout the development of Star Wars: Squadrons, designers have been upfront about their frequent use of play-testing, drawing on their experiences to refine the PVE and PVP modes of their game. Over the course of this play-testing, Star Wars: Squadrons has evolved to place more emphasis on teamwork than the Star Wars: X-Wing games of the 1990s, with two new gameplay features standing out in particular.
First, both factions in Star Wars: Squadrons have rosters of fighters, bombers, interceptors, and support craft with unique abilities and upgrade trees, rewarding PVP teams that work together and use the strengths of their chosen starfighters to cover the weaknesses of their comrades. Second, voice chat in multiplayer matches will be supplemented with a pre-match ‘Ready Room’ where players can plan out an attack strategies and a ‘Ping’ tool similar to the system used in Portal 2, which lets players highlight locations and enemies in the chaotic 3D battlefield of space.
Overall, the footage of Star Wars: Squadrons looks promising, both as a space-simulator game in general and as a successor to the earlier Star Wars: X-Wing titles. While the X-Wing games made players feel like they were an ace starfighter pilot, Star Wars: Squadrons will make players feel like ace pilots in a starfighter squadron, giving them the tools they need to plot out attack runs on their holographic projectors, “lock s-foils to attack positions,” and bring peace to the galaxy.
