Star Wars Squadrons test: EA Motive achieves a tour de Force

Electronic Arts and Star Wars is a long, very long story of love and disappointment. We no longer count the titles produced by the first in the universe of the second and if there have been many failures, we especially remember that for its last release – Fallen Order – the American publisher did quite well. got out. Complete change of register with Star Wars Squadrons leaving terra firma to plunge us into the dogfight.

Star Wars Squadrons test: EA Motive achieves a tour de Force View PriceRead ConclusionStar Wars Squadrons

Piloting, dogfights so exhilarating
Excellent handling (keyboard/mouse, gamepad, joystick)
Cool single-player campaign that alternates between Rebellion and Empire
Two multiplayer modes with very different stakes

Campaign staging too limited
Missions with too systematic scripts, which drag on in length
Only six fleet battles maps and eight ships in multiplayer
Spanish translation sometimes a bit strange

Surprise announcement from EA Play Live 2020 in June, Star Wars Squadrons departs on many points from the rule of games based on the famous franchise. First of all, of course, we remember this announcement almost on the sly and this release only three months after the formalization of the game. Then, it is this almost “low budget” orientation which surprises for a license which is used to projects AAA. Finally, we are a little surprised by the choice of a genre which one could almost say is a “niche” as titles of this type are rare. Much more than a spectacular space opera, Star Wars Squadrons seems to draw its inspiration above all from the oldies, the X Wing vs. TIE Fighter in particular.

Star Wars « Motive » Electronic Arts

Star Wars Squadrons begins as the Rebellion has destroyed the Death Star during the Battle of Endor. Darth Vader is no more, but the Galactic Empire has not disappeared and he intends to put an end to the activities of what is now called the New Republic. Its fleets, its interstellar cruisers have been sent to all the systems in order to get their hands on what is stirring the New Republic, the Starhawk project. In order to keep a bit of mystery, we obviously won't tell you what it's all about, just that this "construction site" is at the heart of the Star War Squadrons scenario.

A scenario divided into a total of fifteen missions and which makes us regularly switch sides, between the Vanguard Squadron (Rebellion) and Titan Squadron (Empire), to follow a single common thread. Written perhaps a bit demurely, this scenario isn't stunning, but it does the job pretty well with just the right amount of tension to secure some interesting mission objectives. Alas, it's the staging aspect that fishes a bit and too often reminds of 90s games with disembodied heroes that the never sees or hears, even when they encounter non-player characters.

These sequences intended to give a little binder to the interludes between the missions, to set the scene and set the mood are fishing by a side that is far too fixed. In the bases or on the cruisers, the player discovers a kind of point & click: you click to join the briefing or the hangar for example. As soon as an NPC is there, it is possible to talk to him, but we only benefit from static shots on said NPC without any intervention from our avatar, even when he is directly apostrophized. We like to find some emblematic characters like Admiral Sloane or Wedge Antiles, but it's still a bit light.

The writing is not fundamentally bad and the aesthetics of the places are interesting, but we feel that the EA Motive studio did not have the budget necessary to create something richer, more immersive. In fact, despite the presence of interesting secondary characters – Shen or Frisk respectively on the Empire and Rebellion side – the exchanges are sad and often revolve around the anecdote that we inevitably end up skipping. Too bad, there was probably something to do to make this campaign more epic.

Acheter Star Wars Squadrons

"The firepower of a cruiser and competition guns"

A lack of breath that we also find during the mission. Things are off to a good start, however, with very beautiful and varied environments, with objectives that seem to be renewed. Alas, this good introduction only lasts for a while and a little monotony sets in. Be careful, nothing unpleasant and we always go into space with the desire to do well, to “tatanize” the camp opposite, but the fact is that the construction of the missions is not very inspired with these waves of enemies that are a little too systematic, these twists that are a little over the phone and these scripts that are not always very elegant.

Fortunately, the gameplay itself is much more convincing and taken in the heat of the action, we often forget the defects mentioned above. There, we benefit of course from a more arcade style than on space simulations like Elite Dangerous, but it is the Star Wars universe and it is “normal” to be able to slow down or downright carry out Poe Dameron-style skids. In the introduction, we referred to X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and it is true that we frequently find the sensations of the venerable ancestor with gut-wrenching dogfights, crossovers, missile fire or delightful dodges.

It is also fortunate that what we like to consider as the heart of a game – its gameplay – is more successful here than the dressing of the campaign. Indeed, EA Motive has made no secret of having designed a title first thought for multiplayer battles. The solo – which will take you about ten hours – serves more as an appetizer to take the pulse a little before attacking the big piece. A big piece that is divided between two modes: the dogfight, a kind of team deathmatch where the ten players are divided into two groups and score points for each kill, and the fleet battle, a little more innovative.

There, each team has a few player-controlled fighters, but also and above all two cruisers and a flagship. Between the two camps, a front line is "drawn" and destroying the enemy fighters reduces the morale of the enemy, pushing back the said front line until you can attack the cruisers and then the flagship. The salt of the mode lies in the fact that the defensive player receives support from AI-controlled corvettes. An AI that also directs other hunters “in the background” in order to give the whole a little depth, the impression of participating in real battles.

JVFR

Even in the presence of imposing vessels, the fluidity remains perfect © Nerces for Clubic

"Might as well kiss a Wookie"

Without being able to cry genius, the two modes really do the job very well. While the dogfight is a perfect outlet where you really have fun, the fleet battle brings an interesting little tactical side because you can't win by rushing headlong. Of course, in one case as in the other, the composition of the squadron is essential knowing that the players of the two camps can choose among four emblematic devices of the Star Wars universe divided into as many classes: the hunters (TIE Fighter and X-Wing), interceptors (TIE Interceptor and A-Wing), bombers (TIE Bomber and Y-Wing) and support (TIE Reaper and U-Wing).

Ships that you customize by opting for various equipment that you unlock via a double experience system (requisition and glory), but there is never any question of microtransactions. With Electronic Arts in charge, we could fear the worst, but it is not so and Star Wars Squadrons is a whole, a complete game…well, almost. “Almost” because it must be recognized that in the end, the content is a bit light. We have already mentioned the limits of the single-player campaign, now let's talk about those of the multi car with eight ships and six maps for the fleet battle, we risk going around it quite quickly and it is not currently planned to enrich things with additional content, paid or not.

JVFR

First multiplayer game... first defeat © Nerces for Clubic

Some players will rightly point out that it's better to have six good cards than twenty bad ones, but in the case of Star Wars Squadrons, the map is mostly used as a setting and a little variety at this level does not hurt. We recognize however that we already take a lot of pleasure with what we currently have and the price of the game is almost given for the “Christmas Star Wars”, less than 40 euros! It is also interesting to point out that the price is not the only advantage of a game that does not segment its communities: cross-play is indeed required between the PC, PS4 and Xbox One versions.

Let's end with a technical point on the PC version, the one we received, to highlight the very good optimization of a game designed around the Frostbite 3. In 4K on an Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3080, we exceeded 200 fps and even on a GTX 1660, it is still possible to have fun in 1440p! Better, the set is very pleasant to play both on keyboard / mouse and with the gamepad or joystick with however, in the latter case, a small problem on the configuration side: no automatic profile was present. Finally, VR compatibility is a pleasure to see. We tried it with an HTC Vive Cosmos and the result is stunning despite a small loss of detail. We were less efficient – especially in multiplayer – than with a screen, but the immersion is remarkable. A great experience.

JVFR

Star Wars Squadrons: the opinion of Clubic

Unexpected announcement from the middle of the year, Star Wars Squadrons is also the good little surprise of this beginning of autumn with a gameplay that is fun to see and solid dogfights, nervous confrontations as it should be. Of course, we regret a little the lack of means granted to EA Motive which was forced to reduce the airfoil on the solo. The scenario loses in intensity, the campaign in breath, but we have fun there despite everything… for about ten hours.

Allergic to online confrontations, however, don't be surprised, the "big" piece of the game is undoubtedly its multiplayer with its two game modes and its cross-play which brings communities together and ensures that there is world on servers. Even if the balance of the matchmaking tool still leaves something to be desired, we take pleasure in playing dogfight as in fleet battle and we especially regret that the content is not richer, more varied. Perhaps the success will push Electronic Arts to lengthen the sauce? Free ?

Test carried out using code provided by the publisher.

Star wars squadrons

Blame it on a probably "limited" budget, Star Wars Squadrons does not always have the means to achieve its ambitions. Thus, the single player campaign often seems narrow, like constraint in its ambitions with an epic breath that never really takes off. We have fun despite everything and we take a certain pleasure in preparing for the real big part of the game: the multiplayer confrontations. There, the pleasure of dogfights and the tactical side of fleet battles should win a majority of votes, especially since cross-play is there. Alas, here again, the "small" budget limits the content of a project that could have gone so much further. Interesting nonetheless.