Star Wars Zero Company Review (4 in 1, Spoiler-FREE)

Four of us cover Star Wars Zero Company, and this review offers our unique perspectives – ranging from genre newcomer to an XCOM veteran. We break down our thoughts on the game’s story, gameplay, mechanics, and our personal highs and lows.

Adrian’s Opinions

8

Definitely not perfect, but a very fun experience for Star Wars and Strategy fans.

Adrian | staff writer

I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to keep up with the lore or simply to try something with a slower pace.

Underwhelming difficulty

I enjoy a wide variety of game genres, and strategy games aren’t the exception. Whether it’s a TCG, an RTS, a MOBA, or anything in the middle. As someone who has never played XCOM, Zero Company felt a bit intimidating at first, but it quickly became a bit too easy for my liking.

On my first playthrough, I decided to find a team composition that fit my playstyle and stick with it for as long as possible. This proved to be a strategy that worked great throughout my playthrough, but the reason behind it is the game being repetitive and forgiving rather than me being a strategic genius.

Star Wars has so many factions, creatures, and droids, but the enemies in Zero Company lack that variety. Sure, there are multiple factions, but many of them are just reskins. And those who are different aren’t even that dangerous. Going against IG-100 MagnaGuards should be very scary for any non-Jedi, but it wasn’t the case. Not even close.

A treat for the lore fans

One thing that I love about recent Star Wars media is the fact that everything is connected, especially if it’s something that happens in the Prequel Era.

Zero Company has easter eggs or references to The Bad Batch, Clone Wars, Rebels, Jedi: Fallen Order, Jedi: Survivor, Rogue One, The Mandalorian, the Darth Vader comics (2015), The High Republic, and even the Sequels.

Obviously, some are more evident than others, but as someone who is up to date with everything from the canon, this was a very rewarding experience.

Though I have to admit that Fol’s point about his frustration with having to know so much lore to understand everything is very valid when we consider that not everyone can read, watch, and play everything that comes out.

A lot of potential for the future

This was a very pleasant experience for me, an avid fan of both videogames and Star Wars. The story was super fun; the gameplay was enjoyable despite being far from perfect, and the new faction showed a lot of potential to be expanded in different media.

I’m now picturing the next game and all the places where it could take us. I’d absolutely love to explore the prequel and original trilogies in a game like this. In more detailed and accurate environments that let us experience those nostalgic stories in a brand new way.

Or take the opposite route, meet completely new characters and planets that most fans have never even heard of. The High Republic would be the perfect candidate for something like this. Imagine playing against the Nihil, Drengir, the Nameless, and Marchion Ro. That would be incredibly cool.

Ok, maybe I got too excited, but my point is that there’s a clear place for a “Star Wars/XCOM game”. All they have to do is keep the good aspects and improve the rest. In the current era of gaming, that’s easier said than done, but I really hope that Lucasfilm and potential investors see the potential for a game like this.

Siow‘s Thoughts

7

A solid strategy game formula with room for growth and leaves me wanting more.

Siow | staff writer

I’ve never played too many strategy games outside of one Fire Emblem game and Age of Empires II, so this was a new and unique experience for me. The gameplay reminded me a lot of D&D or the fan-made Pokémon TTRPG, Pokémon Tabletop United. It’s good but there’s room for improvement to make it great.

Zero Company’s Gameplay

Compared to something real time like Age of Empires II or an action Star Wars game like Jedi Survivor or Jedi Outlaws, Zero Company feels a lot more laid back due to it being turn-based.

I liked how tanky my Heavy got over the duration of the game, but I wish I could get my team at full operational capacity. I felt severely limited by the lack of resources which is understandable at the start of the game, but I felt more encouraged to upgrade The Den over purchasing weapon upgrades or getting things from the Black Market.

The specializations are simple to understand yet diverse enough. The addition of gaining two per Operator helped when combat started to feel a bit stale. Though that in itself was an issue, feeling bored of repetitive gameplay as the various abilities only added so much diversity.

I liked the areas where I can explore in third person and gather intel, but they were far too linear and could be opened up more so you can find even more things. Having that appear more often could also help you feel more immersed in the planets you visit.

Performance Issues

There is a MASSIVE amount of improvements to be done with this game. The clothes or hair flipping out is annoying and combat can feel sluggish. Granted having played and DM’d a lot of D&D, it’s still faster than that.

I’d like to see all enemy NPCs take their turns at the same time so it looks more dynamic while speeding up the gameplay. That only happened a few times and it felt so much better, unfortunately such occurrences were rare.

I don’t like how either my or the enemy’s units would freeze up during their turn, only to fire their blaster bolt towards a target while facing 90 degrees away from their target. The Action Camera being buggy and not working on custom Operators was rather annoying as well.

Then there’s the regular camera that’s constantly clipping into the wall, particularly when the enemy gets reinforcements. I’d like to see them come in, not the side of a wall that gives me zero visual information.

I Need More

I get what they’re trying to do but it can be done even better. Imagine a setting where we get even more Jedi with different specializations. A Form III Jedi would be an excellent tank, Form V Jedi would be good against blasters, Form IV has more flashy moves and higher first movement, the list goes on.

We also need more character customizations. Being Native American, I felt disappointed by the lack of facial diversity with the preset face designs.

They could add more Indigenous features be it from North America, South America, Polynesian for non-Clones, Middle Eastern, or Indian. I would also like to have seen gear similar to Rahm Kota’s militia armor, heavy Rebel Trooper looking armor.

We also need a wider variety of enemies and settings. I love shooting clankers as much as the next guy, but it can get stale without some diversity. I wanted commando droids to feel more challenging as they seemed like a nightmare to deal with in the Clone Wars TV Series.

Imagine having to survey uninhabited areas and you’d have to clear out a pack of dangerous animals, only for a pack of Nexu or even a Rancor to pop in and you have to deal with that. That would be very fun in my opinion.

I felt I didn’t get enough missions in during my gameplay. I wanted to play more, see my Operators grow more, get more resources to fully unlock both weapon mod slots, utility slots, and have the challenges that would require full unlocks to survive.

This is a good formula that can be expanded upon with future releases. When gameplay is more simple like this compared to something like Jedi Survivor, they could put more resources into telling a good story. The story for me was overall okay, it has its wow moments but it just wasn’t for me.

Rodolfo’s Observations

7

Excellent entry point to the genre for newcomers, but as XCOM veteran, it left me wanting more out of the gameplay.

Rodolfo | staff writer

From massive titles like Fire Emblem: Three Houses to smaller indies such as Into the Breach, strategy games have quickly become one of my favorite gaming genres. With hundreds of hours put into XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, it goes without saying that Star Wars Zero Company was one of my most anticipated releases of the year.

I hoped for more but I’m satisfied

I went into my first playthrough itching for a challenge, I set the game to Hard, ready to barely make it out of the toughest Missions and with the expectation of having to cope with the loss of my favorite Operators.

For better and for worse that’s not the experience Star Wars Zero Company delivered. This is a game much more aimed to a casual audience that’s looking for a story deeply entangled with the movies and series, with a moderate to easy challenge from its strategy combat sections.

What I did enjoy a lot with this game was how much I cared for the Authored Operators. Everytime I returned to the Den I rushed to talk to each one, listening to their banter and always looking forward to learning more about their stories.

Strategy Gameplay

While I don’t want people copying XCOM 2 and calling it a day, it feels like Star Wars Zero Company took a few steps back overall. My biggest complains are: Combat arenas are way too small and repetitive, and there’s not enough enemy variety, especially with the lack of Boss units.

Small squares filled with boxes is not what I imagine when exploring over a dozen Star Wars planets, every map looked the same and very soon into the game, they started repeating all the time. I feel this is a huge letdown and disservice for a game with the Star Wars IP.

When the first Droideka appeared I was so excited, it looked like the game was going to keep introducing enemies with unique mechanics that would keep you on your toes. Sadly that was not the case. Enemy variety stagnated heavily and the couple of boss fights we got were just damage sponges with nothing interesting going on.

Once you find a strategy that works for you, every Mission basically plays out the same. It’s fun finding an interesting build, I really enjoyed my Gunslinger/Scoundrel build. But when one solution fits every scenario, I don’t feel that I’m getting what I’m looking for in strategy games.

I’m currently playing the game in Expert with Beskar mode active and can already tell that as long as I don’t make any glaring mistakes like rushing in, the game won’t offer a significant challenge.

I want more original stories

Star Wars is amazing, no buts or ifs, any story within this Universe has a way of pulling at my heartstrings like very few IP’s can. The story of Star Wars Zero Company is no exception.

Every twist and turn left me wanting more, when a certain infamous numbered Order is given I was left clutching my pearls, gasping, at what I had to do to one of my beloved Operators.

It was only when I finished the game that I realized, this game relies entirely too much on you knowing the Star Wars Canon. If someone knew nothing about Star Wars and played this game, they would feel robbed by how sudden and underexplained some story beats are in the isolated context of the game.

I appreciate the movies and series as much as any Star Wars fan, but I’d like for people to explore stories outside of the Clone Wars and Empire Eras.

How fun would it be to explore new original characters and their adventures where you don’t need to carry almost 50 years of stories. I feel a Galaxy far, far away has enough room for new myths and legends.

Vulkk’s Experience

8

Excellent story with decent surprises, framed by a genre I have never played before, but ended up enjoying a lot.

Vulkk | editor-in-chief

Star Wars Zero Company was among my most anticipated games this year. It’s Star Wars after all!!! However, I had some initial reservations knowing it belonged to a genre I am not familiar with. I like action-packed games with RPG elements. If they are presented with a third-person perspective with a decent narrative, I am all in.

Expectations vs Reality

The last strategy game I played was Star Craft 2, around its release. Zero Company is a turn-based strategy, so my closest equivalent from my experience, is Baldur’s Gate. I have never played XCOM.

I approached Star Wars Zero Company with mixed expectations: not-very-high hopes for the narrative and very low ones for the gameplay. It ended up surprising me on both fronts.

It took me 37 hours to complete the game without rushing anything. I explored everything I could, completed all side objectives, recruited all optional Operators with a story, and did all Operations I could. I played on normal difficulty and it ended up being way too easy in the second half.

Once the Operators’ additional customizations unlocked and I managed to scrape up a few extra credits for Upgrades, the combat became much more flexible. You could certainly say the game has a slow start, but the fun ramps up in the second half.

Story Pacing and Canon Connections

The is somewhat spread out and uneven early on. Once it picks up (right around the mission where you meet a certain legendary Jedi Knight), it gets so engaging, that I struggled to step away from the PC, even for basic necessities like food and rest.

The narrative was original and entertaining. I am looking forward to encountering “The Coil” in other Star Wars media later. It’s common with the current Star Wars Canon.

Every topic, no matter how isolated, tends to branch into multiple forms of media. I wouldn’t mind reading a few comics with stories exploring the cult further.

The game made me love and hate my Operators. I won’t spoil who I ended up hating, but I have a feeling this person might end up on your list as well.
→ Leave a comment below with your pick for the most annoying Operator.

Level Design and Camera Perspectives

The switch to 3rd person camera was a great decision. I especially appreciated it mid-missions. After a fight, the camera repositions to offer you a more grounded and personalized view of the environment as you move toward the next objective.

Most of the combat maps were designed share similar designs and obstacles. I don’t know how typical this is for the XCOM-like games. I found it frustrating. We visited a number of new and familiar planets, yet the combat arenas all looked the same – fences, exploding barrels, electrical motors, all laid out in a very rectangular format.

I understand this layout standard is likely demanded by the game’s genre and mechanics. Thankfully, the 3rd person perspective during the non-combat segments helped alleviate this repetition a bit. It presented those standard and boring environments from a different angle that made them feel more immersive. The narrow pathways we walked through were gorgeous and felt incredibly authentic to the time period in the Star Wars universe.

Review Card