STAR WARS™: Squadrons puts you in the pilot's seat and keeps you there. Developed by Motive, it is a starfighter game played entirely from the cockpit, where your instruments, your power settings and your wingmates matter as much as your aim. A full single-player story follows pilots on both sides of the war, and the 5v5 multiplayer modes turn that training into squadron-level tactics, from tight dogfights to Fleet Battles fought all the way to the enemy flagship.
A Story Told From Both Hangars
The campaign picks up after the events of Return of the Jedi, with the Empire shattered but far from finished and the New Republic trying to prove it can win a war rather than just survive one. You create two pilots, one flying for the New Republic's Vanguard Squadron and one for the Imperial Titan Squadron, and the missions alternate between them. One chapter has you escorting allies and defending civilians in an X-wing; the next puts you in a TIE on the other side of the same conflict, striking fuel depots and running down Republic forces.
Between sorties you spend time in the hangar and briefing room with your squadmates, and familiar faces such as Hera Syndulla turn up alongside new characters on both sides. The campaign also works as a thorough flight school, walking you through every ship class before you take them online.
Flying From the Cockpit
There is no chase camera to lean on. Everything you need, from shield status to missile lock, is read off the dashboards and displays in front of you, with only a thin hull of metal and glass between you and the fight. Power management is the heart of it: divert energy to weapons for a strafing run, to engines to close the gap, or to shields when you are taking fire. New Republic ships can angle their shields fore or aft, while most TIE designs fly without shields and instead overcharge their systems to hit harder or move faster. Boost and drift let skilled pilots swing around inside a pursuer's turn.
Four Classes on Each Side
- Fighters
- The X-wing and TIE fighter are the all-rounders, balanced between firepower, speed and durability and comfortable in almost any role. They are where most new pilots find their feet, and where veterans return when a match needs a reliable dogfighter.
- Interceptors
- The A-wing and TIE interceptor trade toughness for speed and agility. They excel at chasing down bombers and harassing support ships, and they reward pilots who can manage their power and stay out of the line of fire.
- Bombers
- The Y-wing and the devastating TIE bomber are slow, heavy and built to hit capital ships. In Fleet Battles they are the ships that actually bring down frigates and flagships, so protecting them is often the whole squadron's job.
- Support
- The U-wing and TIE reaper keep a squadron in the fight, repairing and resupplying allies, deploying countermeasures and disrupting enemy systems. A good support pilot rarely tops the scoreboard but often decides who wins.
Free post-launch updates added the B-wing and TIE defender to the roster, and every ship can be modified with different weapons, hulls, engines and shields to suit the way you fly.
Dogfights and Fleet Battles
Multiplayer is built around five-pilot squadrons, and the briefing room is where you plan who flies what before launching.
- Dogfight is straightforward 5v5 combat between two squadrons, the purest test of flying skill and teamwork in the game, played across battlefields such as the gas giant of Yavin Prime and the shattered moon of Galitan.
- Fleet Battles are multi-stage objective matches. Win the dogfight to push the front line, strike the enemy's frigates and cruisers, then go after the flagship itself. They can be played against other players or cooperatively with your squadron against AI opponents.
Earned in the Cockpit
STAR WARS™: Squadrons is a complete experience in which rewards are earned through play. As you climb the ranks you unlock new components such as weapons, hulls, engines and shields, along with cosmetic items for your pilots, ship exteriors and cockpits. The progression path is clear, so every match moves you toward a loadout that fits your squadron's plan.
If you have ever wanted to fly an X-wing into a furball over Yavin Prime, or hold the line for the Empire in a TIE fighter, this is the closest Star Wars has come to letting you do it. Strap in, call your wing and find out which side you fly best for.
