Turn-based action comes to the Star Wars Universe with Star Wars: Zero Company. The game introduces players to Tesh Hawks, who has formed a mercenary squad after being blamed for a defeat during his time in service to the Republic.
Deeply in debt to the Hutts, Tesh and his Zero Company take any type of job to try to stay afloat. With time running out, Tesh reluctantly accepts a job from the Republic via unofficial channels and special interests. The money is enough to clear their debts and upgrade the gear, hire new operatives, and more; yet it places them in even greater danger.
A mystical and dangerous enemy has emerged, and with the galaxy in the midst of the Clone Wars, finding allies and safety is a very hard order to fill.
Players will fight a variety of enemies in multiple locations and will be given a certain amount of points per turn, which they can use to fight, move, set an overwatch, or take other actions. Each round will allow the players and enemy units to move, and the goal is to dispatch the enemy units and keep one of your units functioning.
This is where the fun and frustration of the game can arise. The graphics and sound are fantastic and immerse you in the setting well. Being able to move Tesh and crew in a third-person perspective between missions is great, but there is a level of patience required.
While weapons and skills can be upgraded, it is frustrating to have an enemy point-blank and be unable to hit them or bring them down without multiple hits when weakened.
The early missions were simple enough, but later missions with larger waves of enemies were daunting with only four operatives and even harder when their backup arrived.
Strategy is the key, as I opted for a more conservative plan many times as my crew sat in an Overwatch position and picked off those who wandered into our coverage zones.
The character variety is good, and many species and even a droid are in the mix. Players can select which team goes on the missions, and there are side and campaign missions as well to factor in.
Once a team, loadout, and mission have been selected, the action awaits.
The immersive fun and challenge of the game make it easily one of the best Star Wars games to date, and hopefully there will be more missions ahead for the crew, as losing a team member does resonate as you get to know them and mourn their loss, and debate who to send into harm’s way in order to draw out an enemy.
The game requires hard choices, as the changing and challenging scenarios will take some trial and error to complete. The engaging story keeps your attention as it is set against pivotal moments in the Star Wars Universe, and the number of surprise characters that arise is a nice bonus as well.
4 stars out of 5
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