While Star Wars games encompass several genres and gameplay styles, it’s shocking to think about the fact that there hasn’t been a true tactics game set within the universe. The gameplay frameworks of games like XCOM fit like a glove in the world of Star Wars, and it seems as though Bit Reactor have made the same observation.
With talent hailing from across the strategy genre, Bit Reactor have whipped up Star Wars Zero Company – a turn-based tactics game set in a galaxy far, far away. After spending about eight hours with Zero Company’s motley crew of space scoundrels, I’m left wondering why this fusion hasn’t been done sooner, though not without some reservations over the game’s technical state so close to launch.
My preview kicked off from the very beginning of the game, where we’re introduced to a custom player-controlled character named Hawks. A disgraced Republic officer who now makes ends meet with the Zero Company – a mercenary group with members from all corners of the universe. It’s during the height of the Clone Wars that Hawks is approached about Zero Company doing some work for the Republic.
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The Separatists have been using a paramilitary faction known as the Infinite Coil to destabilise worlds, leaving them ripe for Separatist invasion. The Infinite Coil and its leader, Kundri Fathom are infected with the Shadow Plague, improving the physical strengths of those infected. With the Republic busy on the frontlines, it falls to Zero Company to stop the Infinite Coil and investigate the Shadow Plague.
It’s a strong setup that shows a different side to the Clone Wars – one ridden with subterfuge and ill-intentioned power grabs. It’s also a joy to get to explore this time period of Star Wars again with clankers, Droidekas, and Jedi abound. While it’s hard to comment on the narrative due to much of its quality hinging on the pay-offs of its many mysteries, I did enjoy the time I spent with Zero Company itself.
This is a lovable group of misfits from all corners of Star Wars. While Hawks can be customised to be one of many races from the universe, you’ll also be accompanied by a battle-scarred Clone Trooper, a masterless Jedi Padawan, a snarky Mandalorian, and much more. Their banter in and out of battle is quite entertaining, and the cutscenes I saw were well-written and excellently realised by the voice talent.
If these early hours indicate anything to me about Zero Company’s narrative, it’s that Bit Reactor have positioned Zero Company as the heart and soul of the story. Even in this slice, I found each one endearing and often struggled to choose who to bring on missions – especially with the ever-looming threat of perma-death. It’s also nice that Zero Company isn’t so interested in pandering to nostalgia by shoehorning fan favourite characters into the experience, but whether that carries through to credits is yet to be seen.
The tactics loop here is best described as a fusion between X-COM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. AP is the key resource you’ll be managing in moment-to-moment gameplay, with each unit starting with three each turn. You use AP to move, shoot, use utility items, and setup overwatch. You’ll also generate Advantage as you dispatch enemy units, which can be spent on powerful class skills that can turn the tides of battle.
Each unit brings something unique to the table. Where Trick the Clone Trooper has access to a one-time-use rocket launcher for a whopping 10 Advantage, Hawks is able to spend much less Advantage to inspire an ally, causing them to regenerate one AP. Many of these abilities are limited in how many times you can use them per fight, injecting a nice bit of strategy and decision-making as you navigate fights.
My absolute favourite in this slice of the game was Cly Kullervo, a bounty-hunting Mandalorian who can prime enemies with electrical darts, and then set them off with an area-of-effect concussive blast around each unit with an active dart. Couple this with a jetpack to fly around the battlefield, and you can see why she’s so much fun.
Part of that fun comes from Zero Company’s inherent challenge. Enemies hit hard, the Infinite Coil will gain permanent buffs during your campaign, and certain units require specific approaches to take down. This isn’t a game where you can brazenly send your strongest units to the frontlines and expect success, which is a refreshing change for a genre that continues to stray from its roots in challenge.
The big problem with this, is that Zero Company isn’t in the most polished technical state. The game looks and runs great – oozing Star Wars goodness and design elements from one of the coolest time periods in the Star Wars universe. There’s the occasional loading hiccup where the game needs to think a bit, but I never experienced any crashes or poor performance during gameplay. The issue here, lies with gameplay-related bugs.
There’s the usual culprits like janky camera work and finnicky unit movement thanks to the lack of grid-based maps. Then there are far more egregious offenders. Enemies inexplicably teleporting across the map, overwatches failing to trigger, and even melee attacks just straight up not registering. I was left frustrated at many points, and I can only imagine how these problems would be even worse to grapple with on a higher difficulty.
Usually I’d be permissive to some of these things, but in a strategy game where perma-death is part of the core experience, it feels terrible to see a unit go down to something like this. It’s also worrying that we’re only a few weeks from launch, and that’s without getting into all the other cosmetic bugs I saw during my time with the game. I sincerely hope all the severe stuff is ironed out, or much of Zero Company’s appeal is undermined at launch.
When you aren’t in the midst of an engagement, you’re often back at The Den on the Ring of Kafrene – Zero Company’s base of operations. Here you can upgrade units with Focus Points earned by completing missions, customise weapons and equip utility items, peruse the black market, and even hire randomly generated operators to bring with you on missions. The Den also has a fair bit of its own progression to unlock new facilities, but I didn’t get to see much of this in play.
Once you’ve made preparations, you’ll head to the Holotable to undertake new missions and operations. The former are your standard turn-based affair, the latter are quick, story based decisions to make and get rewards. There’s plenty available to you at any given time, but you have limited resources to undertake them, and they’ll expire after a while – meaning you can’t do everything.
The best of these are Crisis Operations, where urgent Coil activity is going to result in units being upgraded in some way. There’s no way to stop this, instead, you’re asked to choose which upgrade you’d like to prevent out of two possible outcomes. It’s very reminiscent of XCOM and I thoroughly enjoyed the mental gymnastics of weighing up my options.
While I’m worried it’s technical issues could hurt the core strategy experience, the hours I’ve spent with Star Wars Zero Company suggest that this is the Star Wars tactics game we’ve been waiting for. There’s a lot to love at first glance, from the faithful design language of the Clone Wars to the sheer variety in Zero Company operators. Hopefully the full release can maintain those successes and land its story while fixing the game’s most glaring bugs.
Star Wars Zero Company is launching on August 27th for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The cheapest price is $74 with free shipping from Amazon.
