Star Wars Zero Company emerges from a collaboration between developers who worked on XCOM 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, blending their respective strengths into a visually impressive and intelligent tactics game. The title tells a strong Star Wars story, focusing on a diverse group of mercenaries where Force powers and lightsabers are secondary to blasters and thermal detonators. Its turn-based gameplay will feel familiar to XCOM veterans, but a more aggressive playstyle and flexible character options distinguish it beyond a simple Star Wars reskin.
The narrative unfolds around the periphery of the Clone Wars, centering on a customizable protagonist named Hawks, a former military commander who, after a defeat, leads a crew of misfits. This setup draws parallels to characters like Firefly's Malcolm Reynolds. Hawks and their crew find themselves in conflict with the Infinite Coil, a Separatist cult led by the enigmatic Fathom, who seeks to spread a mind-altering plague. This foe offers a departure from typical Sith-like villains, with Fathom's mysterious nature and her complex relationship with her son adding depth to her character.
Key crew members possess compelling personal stories, reminiscent of Knights of the Old Republic, though Zero Company is not an RPG and offers limited dialogue choices. Notable characters include Kabb, a large alien brawler; Jae, a mining family scion displaced by the Coil; Trick, a medically discharged clone; Cly, a Mandalorian seeking revenge; Tel-Rea, an AWOL padawan investigating the Coil; and Luco, a sharpshooter. Each has a unique mission chain with plot twists and cameos from other Clone Wars characters.
Non-combatants at the player's base, a freighter named The Den, also contribute significantly. Runa, the personnel manager with a Separatist background, provides consistent humor and sass, particularly in her banter with the by-the-book Republic Intelligence officer Bennic. Medical droid M-3VO and Lasat arms dealer Neesh also deliver memorable lines.
Before combat missions, players engage in Operations, using limited Intel points to dispatch teams on text-based adventures that unlock missions and provide rewards. While some of these feel like a gamble due to a lack of clear team-member suitability indicators, the game generally provides enough spare roster members to mitigate potential injuries. Some Operations present interesting dilemmas, offering glimpses into potential team consequences.
Tactical Combat and Gameplay
Once a mission is selected and a transit cutscene plays, the tactical combat is accessible for those familiar with the XCOM series. Players control a squad of four, utilizing cover and lining up attacks. However, Zero Company encourages a more aggressive approach, prompting players to push enemies, knock them into each other, or position them for area-of-effect attacks. While missing high-percentage shots remains a possibility, the game's design mitigates some of the harshness.
Permadeath is on by default but characters require three downs without healing to be permanently lost. Maps are typically small with no fog of war, preventing ambushes. Lasting consequences for damage only occur after a character is downed, allowing for more aggressive plays to secure objectives or extraction. The reviewer completed a 35-hour playthrough on Normal difficulty without losing any characters, though acknowledged their extensive XCOM experience.
An advantage point system allows for chained actions, granting operators more moves per turn. Damaging enemies or using specific abilities builds these points, which can then be spent on additional abilities from any character, such as Trick's rocket launcher or Hawks' ability to grant extra actions. Equipping characters with blaster pistols is encouraged for quickly building Advantage points through rapid fire.
The Backup ability, which rotates among the squad each turn, allows a designated teammate to perform a guaranteed follow-up shot. This is valuable for securing damage but requires careful positioning to ensure line of sight and avoid wasting the guaranteed hit on an already defeated target.
While the game features a decent variety of enemies, including Coil soldiers who can transfer power upon death, melee and sniper units, and Droidekas, the roster could benefit from more non-humanoid enemy types. Story missions often stand out due to unique objectives, such as simultaneous location defense or fighting while retreating. A third-person perspective section during strings of battles in a single location offers a more immersive experience, though the opportunity to interact in this mode is limited to triggering dialogue.
Character Progression and Replayability
Character progression offers considerable freedom, allowing most team members to be respecialized at will. Hawks, for example, can switch between Medic, Sniper, and other specialities, with skill points and weapon loadouts customizable. Minor recruitable characters share this flexibility, with the exception of astromech droids, which are specialized for support roles. This adaptability encourages experimentation, though it may lessen the long-term impact of initial build choices.
Main crewmates have defining classes and unique abilities that incentivize keeping them alive, in addition to completing their story missions. Jae's Last Shot provides a helpful execution, Kabb's melee attack refunds action points on kill, Cly's jetpack attack sets enemies ablaze, and Trick can resurrect himself once per mission. Tel-Rea incorporates a unique Jedi skill system.
Bond bonuses, earned when teammates develop strong relationships, offer small but cumulative stat boosts chosen from randomly selected options, significantly enhancing key stats over time with consistent choices.
Unlocking secondary classes allows characters to split skill points between two trees or focus on one, enabling deeper synergy between abilities, weapon mods, and utility items. The reviewer felt they only explored a fraction of this potential during their first playthrough and has begun a second on Hard difficulty.
Replayability is somewhat limited compared to XCOM 2, due to Zero Company's focus on story and the absence of procedurally generated maps and randomized upgrades. However, missing certain missions that expire during a playthrough suggests new content will be available on subsequent runs.
The game exhibits some graphical bugs, particularly during enemy drops and when the camera zooms for animations, occasionally causing brief freezes. Despite these visual issues, no game-breaking glitches were encountered, making it substantially less buggy than XCOM 2 was at launch. The ESRB rating for the game is Teen.