The line between a good turn-based strategy game and a great turn-based strategy game is not a clear one, but after 12 hours with Star Wars Zero Company, I'm afraid it strays ever-so-slightly onto the wrong side of that line. It's a solid tactics game; grounded in its setting, satisfying in its combat, and with squad-based progression that's quick to reward intelligent choices. But it's also lacking the playful spark I think it needs to sustain what promises to be a meaty campaign.
Zero Company is a mercenary outfit that finds itself working for Republic Intelligence during the Clone Wars. Led by player-character Hawks, who I outfit as a sharpshooter in my hands-on, the crew is a rag-tag group of exiles from around the galaxy: discharged clone Trick; one-armed boxer Kabbney; exiled aristocrat Jae. Your medbay droid is also your pilot, your mechanic is clueless, and your accountant is a stressed-out former Separatist with a giant chip on their shoulder. Your debt to the Hutts is coming due, and while Zero Company's narrative thrust is hardly unique in that sense, it's enough to get the ball rolling on a story that weaves through the background of one of Star Wars' most sprawling eras.
All those different characters might imply an array of different playstyles, but for the first several missions you're limited to a group of characters that rely almost entirely on their skills with a rifle. Different weapons allow for different strategies; Hawks stays at the back with the sniper, which I'm quick to enhance with weapon mods and an ability that heightens their damage and accuracy as long as they stay in one place; Trick will unload as much of his weapon as he can in one burst, doing more damage the more Action Points he uses; Kabbney and Jae, who round out my team for almost the entire preview, juggle melee attacks and the ability to fire twice if you manage your AP effectively.
All that shooting could be augmented by character-specific abilities. Hawks hands out extra AP. Trick can charge up a long-range explosive strike. 'Utilities' – throwable items like grenades or stims – offer alternative ways to help friends or hurt foes. But, the best way to chew through enemies quickly is to make use of Zero Company's Backup system. Each turn, one character can call for help, instructing a given ally to fire a free shot at a given target. When properly lined up, and with abilities like Overwatch also in the mix, Backup adds a tactical edge that can see even the spongiest foes go down in a hail of blaster fire.
Who shot first?
That careful arrangement of all your sights in the same direction is one of Zero Company's most satisfying tactical systems when it works in your favor. But, it quickly starts to feel like a bit of a one trick droid. As much as mowing down squads of battle droids is as cathartic as it is in the best Star Wars games, it's not likely to hold up a 30-hour campaign.
The intended solution is in characters that move away from the traditional blaster-focused combat. Early on, one of those is an Astromech droid who rolls into battle armed not with a blaster, but with a cocktail of grenades and the ability to buff allies and disrupt enemies. Later on, you join forces with a Jedi Padawan whose kit focuses on controlling the battlefield – Force pushing enemies around and deflecting blaster fire back at them.
The trouble is, those characters don't really feel different enough from their traditional counterparts to warrant their existence in your squad, especially once you account for the bond-based progression system that encourages using the same team, and a permadeath system that's far too soft to require actually rotating through new characters. A pyromaniacal support droid and a Jedi should feel like brand-new ways to experience Zero Company, but they interact with the limited combat arenas in a way that's too similar to everyone else.
And that's where Zero Company fails to become a great tactics game so far. The best turn-based RPGs of the past decade are those that show you a battlefield and a ruleset, and set you free to navigate them as you see fit. Sometimes, that means games like Baldur's Gate 3 where combat is an enormous sandbox. Other times, it means the guesswork and deadly stakes of XCOM 2. Even on a small scale, the likes of Fights in Tight Spaces and Tactical Breach Wizards prove that a playful approach – driven by experimentation rather than optimization – are what elevate an amazing strategy game. Zero Company is perfectly competent, but it's missing the whimsy that it should have been able to take from a galaxy far, far away.
Here are some of the best tactical RPGs you can play while you wait for Zero Company.
