Star Wars Zero Company Review – Almost a Jedi Master of Turn-Based Tactics

I grew up playing plenty of RTS, TBS, and 4X titles, so my expectations for anything new coming to the genre are rather high. It’s difficult to reinvent the wheel that XCOM 2 perfected all those years ago. Given there are Star Wars mods (which are free), I had some doubt about Star Wars Zero Company and how good (or bad) it could be.

With most of Bit Reactor’s devs furloughed before the game could launch, it’s easy to understand why my doubts were justified. After all, it’s not every day that you finally get to be part of the Clone Wars and live out your mercenary fantasies in the Star Wars universe. To have those expectations dampened would have been a bit of a downer. Thankfully, Star Wars Zero Company delivered, and here’s my review of spending my plentiful days with the game.

Forget Heroics, Zero Company Is Here to Get Paid

Star Wars Zero Company starts smack dab in the middle of the Clone Wars. General Grievous, supreme commander of the Separatist Droid armies, is causing havoc for the Republic; there’s a cult on the loose, hell-bent on infecting the entire galaxy with a plague, and then there’s you, Hawks.

Former captain in the 100th Clone Company of the Grand Army of the Republic, nicknamed (yup, you guessed it) Zero Company. Following the Battle of Antine, things go south, and Hawks is discharged after being unglamorously court-martialed.

A year after everything falls apart, Hawks embarks on a new adventure as a mercenary, forming Zero Company with Trick, a former Clone Trooper of the 100th Clone Company. Of course, no good Star Wars story can begin without a Hutt, which is where we have Gorga Desilijic Aarrpo. Hawks manages to rack up 80,000 credits in debt before you even play the tutorial.

This is where you’re first introduced to Baroness Jae Mordant and Republic intelligence officer Bennic Halloren. They covertly hire you to retrieve a puck from Serolonis during the Battle of Serolonis, which ignites the powder keg that starts this wondrous adventure in Star Wars Zero Company.

You soon learn that the puck you retrieved was part of something bigger than you could imagine. Instead of fighting the odd ragtag band of thugs, you and your crew now find yourselves fighting against a well-armed, well-trained, paramilitary organization called Infinite Coil.

It’s a great story and sort of puts Star Wars Zero Company at the forefront of the Clone Wars, albeit secretly. In essence, they become the ‘Suicide Squad’ wing for the Republic. A bit cliché, but I love the fact that the ongoing war is not just being fought in broad daylight, but also in the shadows.

Zero Company’s Tactical Systems Give You Plenty to Think About

Star Wars Zero Company takes two things I love: turn-based tactics and Star Wars, and artfully mashes them together to create something memorable. However, if you’re expecting XCOM 2 in the Star Wars universe, think again. As I said, it’s hard to reinvent the wheel, but Star Wars Zero Company doesn’t rely on conventional means of transportation.

Let’s talk about the basics that every good turn-based game has, which is Action Points (AP). Every character has a set number of Action Points, which allows them to execute a certain number of actions based on how many APs that particular task requires. This includes movement, using abilities, and of course, shooting.

It’s straightforward to grasp, with my own gripe being that character selection feels a bit weird during combat. Not bad, just weird. Then again, this might be a ‘me’ problem, which is something I can overlook, given how smoothly every action is executed.

Next up, we have Bonds. This is something I absolutely love. Characters that have a strong bond, synergize, and gain perks from each other. If you keep playing with a set squad for long durations, you’re going to get ample bonuses; combat will feel less punishing.

This again works in tandem with unique abilities and the class of your character(s). Depending on the combination you choose (there are quite a few to choose from), you’ll gain different tactical options.

There’s also a mechanic called Advantage, which, if used correctly, will let you truly take advantage of your characters. It allows you to use powerful abilities with Advantage rather than AP. As long as you’re putting pressure on the enemy, your Advantage meter will steadily build. Once there are enough Advantage Points to use, you can unleash powerful abilities to change the course of battle.

All in all, these mechanics truly make Star Wars Zero Company stand out. When you take into account the different weapons and modifications that you attach to them, there are a lot of dynamic layers at play. It could take a few hours just to min-max character combos and weapons.

You can just steamroll with the default selection of characters and weapons at the start of your campaign by increasing their Bond. However, I highly recommend trying out all classes. The Gunslinger is by far my favorite and gives you a lot of options to make use of.

For the next layer of mechanics, we have things such as The Den, your base of operations. The Holotable, from which you select operations/missions. Medbay, Armory, Upgrade section, and of course your core characters, who you can talk to between missions.

These unlock as you progress, and they are introduced to you one at a time. This ensures you have enough bandwidth to process each mechanic as you gain access to it. It can take a while, so be patient. Lastly, I need to talk about permadeath. Characters killed in action will not be coming back. All you can do is pay them their respects at the Memorial.

Gameplay is largely your basic run-of-the-mill turn-based combat. However, you don’t have any control over where your characters are positioned at the start of every mission. This is a bit frustrating, as the enemy is usually in firing range from the very first turn. If you don’t take cover or engage them, they will get one or two hits on your team.

My other gripe is that reinforcements keep coming, and they don’t stop coming. Usually, it’s not a problem since you’re already in a covered position when the next wave arrives, but it can get annoying. Having to mow down a dozen or more enemies, only to have another couple arrive moments later, can make some encounters feel prolonged rather than genuinely challenging.

Now that we executed Order 66 on the gameplay, let’s talk about what I liked, which is Bonds. As I mentioned earlier, Bonds is a great system that allows you to make the most of two or more characters. Aside from giving each other a tactical boost, Bonds allow characters to support each other actively.

Characters can call for help when engaging targets, and after your primary character shoots, the character called in for support will also engage. This two-for-one mechanic really allows you to focus fire on a single enemy; think of Han Solo leading the fire and Chewbacca from the background sniping enemies. With each class having its own playstyle and perks/abilities, you can really mix your squad’s composition in numerous ways to take advantage of this.

That said, I wouldn’t change anything about the game and mechanics because, at the end of the day, Star Wars Zero Company truly delivers a memorable experience. There are a few rough edges that need sanding; for instance, while some dialogue exchanges feel great, others are lackluster. They aren’t necessarily bad, but they dampen your expectations.

While they’re not as bad as Jar Jar Binks inserting Meesa in every line, given that it’s a Star Wars game, you’d expect something a bit more than just “Hello There.”

Zero Company Runs like a Well-Oiled Droid

To say Star Wars Zero Company is immersive would be an understatement. There’s so much going on at any point that it can get difficult to keep track. However, one thing is consistent, which is performance. During my playthrough, I encountered zero issues. My game did crash once, but I’m not entirely sure it was related to the game itself; for that, I can’t really say anything negative.

My Setup:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core
CPU Cooler: Corsair H150i Elite Capellix
Motherboard: ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI II
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070 8 GB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 32 GB
Storage: 2.5 TB NVMe SSD
Monitor: BENQ XL2411P 1080p @ 144Hz

Throughout my playthrough, I experienced no issues, be it during cutscenes or gameplay. Loading time was fast, and transitions ran smoothly. The only time I had to wait was when the game was being booted, as compiling shaders really takes quite a while.

Aside from the aforementioned wait time, the game is brilliant. From visual storytelling to sound design to gameplay, everything works as intended. I did encounter one weird bug when an enemy’s overwatch triggered despite my character being out of line-of-sight radius, but again, I will not judge my experience based on this one random issue. After all, even R2-D2 misses a target every now and then, so not every machine’s branded a clanker.

Verdict: Zero Company Is a Masterclass for Star Wars Fans, Not Padawans

If you’re a Star Wars fan, Zero Company is for you. Even if we compare it to XCOM 2, which we shouldn’t, it still holds its own as a great turn-based game. With the backdrop being the Clone Wars and a colorful cast of characters to interact with, it’s more than just another Star Wars game. It has heart and a story that has its moments where it truly shines.

Would I recommend this to a non-Star Wars fan? Probably not. A lot is going on, and if you’re not familiar with the lore or at least have an inkling about it, the storyline will not pique your interest. On the contrary, as a fellow turn-based enthusiast, I can wholeheartedly recommend Star Wars Zero Company to you if you are willing to learn about the universe to some degree.

Just keep in mind that Star Wars Zero Company is linear, so don’t expect progression to be anything other than a straight line. Still, it’s a great game, and I do hope we get some additional content for it down the line. It’s taken a really long time to get a proper turn-based tactics game in the Star Wars universe, and it has proven how beloved the Clone Wars era truly is. I truly hope this is just the start of things to come.