Star Wars Zero Company is developer Bit Reactor’s answer to, “what if there was a Star Wars XCOM game?” Compared to titans of the genre like those games, I can say that Zero Company is one of the most unforgiving yet rewarding tactical RPGs to date. Zero Company’s story is one of the most intense Star Wars journeys I’ve ever experienced. I was pleasantly surprised at how faithful it was to canon. Despite taking place in an era that has already been thoroughly explored, the Clone Wars, the campaign demonstrates that there’s still much about the final days of the Republic that we’ve yet to explore.

The game follows the former Republic captain Hawks. We find them during the final months of the war, kicked out of the military in the early days of the Clone Wars. With the war reaching a critical point, Republic Intelligence, represented by Lieutenant Halloren, offers Hawks and his team a contract to take on a new faction. The Infinite Coil serves as Zero Company’s primary antagonistic group.

“Permadeath is entirely optional”

The campaign dropped me into the war-torn galaxy. The way characters casually talk about major events make the world feel alive. The highlight of the story revolves around how the characters interact. Even generic recruits were filled with personality and had their own backgrounds and beliefs. In Zero Company, it doesn’t matter where you came from. You’re now with “us”, as it were. After every mission, you can see your recruits having one of many conversations, doing different things every time.

I was disappointed by the reaction of the crew when I lost a major operative during a brutal mission. I chose not to load a previous save for the sake of the narrative. But when Hawks returned to the ship, no one brought it up. Occasionally the story would bring up how they aren’t around anymore, but the weight isn’t really there and it did feel like everyone moved on faster than I would have liked. This permadeath setting it entirely optional, and you can toggle it on and off if you’d like.

Gameplay

I’ll be blunt: this was the hardest turn-based tactics game I’ve ever played. It’s head and shoulders above XCOM’s most challenging missions. I actually had to lower the difficulty during my playthrough. Even then, I still had a tough time getting through some of these missions on Story difficulty, which is supposed to be the option for people who don’t want to prioritize a challenge over the story experience. But maybe it’s an indictment on my own skills. 

“Patience and diligence is key”

And while it punishes you (every time), it will also reward you. I focused on building up my team’s rapport, upgraded often, and took advantage of side missions that occasionally gave some neat equipment or a decent amount of money. By the time I reached the end of the game, I had a much easier time navigating the harder missions than if I hadn’t. Patience and diligence is key. The game does an excellent job making you pay attention to every movement.

As always with this genre, victory depends on your ability to move their operatives into positions that provide advantageous situations. I always try to put my snipers and sharpshooters on higher ground, further away from the front lines, but close enough to jump in should someone get downed or is about to be outnumbered. My heavy troops (my favorite class in this and every other game) were my vanguard. They took the punishment, while my gunslingers took flanks and made moves on the weaker enemies. It seems easy on paper, but when you’re fighting the Infinite Coil, you’ll find yourself pulling your hair out if something goes wrong. And it usually will.

Your down time after missions will be spent in the Den. This is where your party can be customized, upgraded, and interact with the other members of the team. The game boasts a healthy amount of outfits. You can even dress most of the team in Republic dress uniforms or Clone armor. Spending hours mixing and matching colors and armors on my soldiers was always something that took up my time in XCOM, so it was a welcome thing to see that Zero Company takes customization seriously.

“Upgrading Hawks and the rest of your team is the most important thing to ensure successful missions”

Most of the game’s strongest writing can be found in the Den. Special missions that can be undertaken for teammates give an extra incentive to talk to everyone, but the interactions themselves are usually entertaining enough on their own. I engaged with everyone during each cycle just for the sake of getting a laugh or a new piece of lore about their lives. I was surprised at how many times I laughed out loud at some of these conversations. Zero Company is one of the more humorous games I’ve played.

Upgrading Hawks and the rest of your team is the most important thing to ensure successful missions. After every successful mission, the team earns focus points, which could then be used to upgrade damage output, health (which was huge for my play through) and how far they could move per turn. Earlier missions don’t punish you as harshly for not spec’ing characters out. But later on, the game gets much tougher. Neglecting to upgrade weapons or teammate abilities will find you doing minimal damage to an enemy that’s been scaled up over time. There’s enough banter and customization options in the Den to keep things fresh for the entirety of the campaign. So take the extra few minutes to maintain your squad. They’ll thank you for it when the missions get harder.

Performance

I played Zero Company was played on PC. Overall, it was a smooth experience. I initially was worried about game crashes. Fortunately I never ran into it during my playthrough. There was no jankiness or sluggishness that I could see, though there were times when it felt like it took a little longer than normal for the enemy turns to finish making their moves. It’s nowhere near a dealbreaker, but an option to speed up enemy movements a little faster would be welcome. It’s particularly noticeable when there are a dozen enemies that need to move. On the highest settings, Zero Company feels well optimized, running at a relatively steady 50 to 60fps on performance mode.

Editor’s note: Myles here! I played Star Wars Zero Company on PS5 and was very curious about the different between console and on PC. Unfortunately, even on performance mode it ran at a suboptimal rate. From the jump, character animations were choppy and there were a lot of environmental pop-ins. Most importantly, the framerate left a bit to be desired. The game targets 60fps, but that just wasn’t my experience. Still, the tactics gameplay and great story are still worth checking out.

Award-Worthy Voice Acting Performances 

The strength of the story is thanks in no small part to the excellent voice performances of the cast. Franchise mainstays like Dee Bradley Baker as the Clones are excellent, as usual, and comedian Vic Michaelis is a joy to listen to as the voice of the quick-talking former Separatist Runa. Listening to a passionate and colorful rant about the injustices of the Republic from the perspective of a tried and true Separatist loyalist was an absolute blast on its own. But Michaelis’ flair for the comedic made it unforgettably entertaining. 

My favorite performance out of all was Jonathan Freeman, the “masculine” voice option for Hawks. I played with a male Hawks, and so I got to experience the impressive voice work of Freeman (Erica Lutrell portrays the other version of Hawks). I cannot express enough how magnetic and charismatic Freeman’s Hawks is. Powered by Freeman’s voice, Hawks has a knack for dry humor, playful banter, and emotional sensitivity, perfectly rounding out a character who has the skills, leadership qualities, and the internal struggle with his place in the galaxy to make a worthy new Star Wars character that I believe everyone can enjoy and relate to.

Hawks feels like they were plucked right out of a classic western, or an 80s movie about a down-on-their-luck police detective who has one more job in them before retirement. Thanks to Freeman’s performance, Hawks is proof that the classic “you still got it” schtick is still a perfectly valid one to enjoy.

Verdict

About a dozen failed missions later, and more than a few screams at my monitor, Zero Company is everything I’d hoped it would be and more despite its difficulty. It’s a passionate love letter to the tactical RPG genre. Its also story is a worthy addition to the Star Wars mythos. The cast puts on an incredible performance, particularly Jonathan Freeman and Vic Michaelis. The worlds I visited were gorgeous, filled with personality. The gameplay, while unforgiving and at times brutal, created a feeling of accomplishment when I was able to finish a mission. 

Zero Company may not be the kind of game that everyone will love. Even more so if the genre doesn’t already capture your interest. That said, Bit Reactor did everything it could to make the game as welcoming to newcomers as possible. It’s an excellent jumping-on point for anyone interested in trying it out. For fans of the genre, and fans of Star Wars in general, Zero Company has it all. The ingenuity that made XCOM so popular and beloved, and the magic of a galaxy far, far away is woven throughout this worthy installment. 

Josh’s Verdict: 8/10

Star Wars: Zero Company launches August 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Reviewed on PC and PS5, codes provided by the publisher.