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Zero Company is a turn-based tactical strategy game along the same lines as the legendary X-Com. The developer, Bit Reactor, was founded by former members of Firaxis, who worked on the X-Com and Marvel's Midnight Suns games.
Whilst I've enjoyed X-Com games in the past, I wasn't too sure if a Star Wars game would be a particularly good fit. But instead of just going for a revolving door of cannon fodder like X-Com, players take on the role of former Republic captain, Hawks, the leader of the rag-tag outfit that is Zero Company.
Set in the same period as the Clone Wars, the game delves into the underbelly of the Star Wars universe while delivering a vibe familiar to fans of the animated Clone Wars and The Bad Batch TV shows.
The preview started with a mission that had me up against insurmountable odds, likely by design. With Zero Company broke and in debt to one of the Hutts, it was straight into some turn-based strategy, Star Wars-style. Sadly, one of my team, a Rodian like the ill-fated bounty hunter Greedo in A New Hope, didn't make it.
Desperate for more team members, I was forced to field a badly injured team member for subsequent missions, upping the stakes and reminding me to hire a medic as soon as possible.
The tactical game is very X-Com, but with the retro-future Star Wars styling that made it feel straight out of The Bad Batch. Zero Company operatives get a certain amount of action points in which to move and attack. Each operative will have their own talent and specialisms that either have an effect on the team (like Hawks' Fearless Leader ability) or can be triggered, like the long-ranged shot of a sharpshooter. My best friend was the Overwatch ability that every team member has, allowing a free shot at any enemy within the cone of range foolish enough to make a move.
With former clone trooper Trick on flanking duties, a critically maimed Kabb (a Felshi, a new race for the game), and Hawks leading the charge, I managed to scrap through the intro missions, pay the Hutt and open up the game, somewhat. Zero Company seems to have a lot more story to it than the usual squad-based tactical shooter.
In between the turn-based strategy missions, it becomes a third-person game. I found myself, as Hawks, wandering around the Zero Company base of operations, called The Den, hidden on the Ring of Kafrene, a location first seen in Rogue One.
In The Den, I could talk to the senior team operatives (the unique ones with a story), buy weapons, upgrade stats, hire new squad members and customise characters. I could also pop my injured squad members into a bacta tank to be good as new.
The character customisation options allow you to not only customise Hawks, but also every one of your team. Creating a cast of characters really adds to the game but makes it equally heart-wrenching when they are killed in action. You can choose race, facial features, hair, and attire. I found it very easy to lose myself in it, adjusting my team to look like a cast of Star Wars misfits.
With the game being set during the fall of the Old Republic, and the Galactic Empire being just a twinkle in Palpatine's eye, the game needs a big bad that suits the grittier setting. For that, we have the Infinite Coil, a cult whose members are deliberately infected with a plague that gives them special abilities and etches a distinctive pattern on their bodies. Led by Kundri Fathom, this separatist-aligned group promises to be a thorn in Zero Company's side.
My time with Star Wars Zero Company was not nearly long enough, but it was enough to get a taste of the storytelling and depth of tactical gameplay offered. I was surprised at just how well Star Wars' signature skirmishes work as turn-based strategy missions. The game tells an original tale that easily slots into the Star Wars mythos. The stunning visuals as well pulled me into immersive, interactive Clone Wars-style battles that could only be from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…