While it was somewhat overshadowed by Oblivion​​​​​​'s shadow release, Star Wars Zero Company was recently showcased with its first exciting announcement trailer, offering a sneak peek at its unique gameplay style. While there hasn't exactly been a shortage of Star Wars titles in recent years, thanks to the release of games like Star Wars Outlaws and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, they've often failed to achieve their potential on release. With how many canceled Star Wars projects I've been waiting for over the years, Zero Company seems to have the best chance at breaking out of the franchise's mediocrity streak.

This isn't to say that either of the most recent Triple-A Star Wars experiences didn't offer an enjoyable experience, but Outlaws especially had a great recipe for a perfect Star Wars game. While it was far from a commercial failure, the most recent Outlaws failed to deliver the expansively immersive Star Wars experience I was hoping for, even after its interesting combat updates. While the storytelling of a game like Star Wars Zero Company is somewhat more limited in scope compared to a galaxy-spanning open-world RPG, Zero Company's smaller scale can have significant benefits for creating a reactive narrative experience.

XCOM-style Gameplay Is A Perfect Fit For Star Wars

Taking Advantage Of Turn-Based Tactics And Player Freedom

While the tactical decision-based gameplay of XCOM and other games like it certainly aren't for everyone, Zero Company's gameplay mix feels right at home for the varied sci-fi franchise Star Wars has grown into over the years. Having virtually limitless factions, species, and archetypes to draw from, Zero Company can easily flesh out its character offerings with challenging and unique gameplay options that fit perfectly with the genre.

Challenging and unique gameplay options that fit perfectly with the genre.

From avoiding watchful Probe Droids to using specialized gear or the environment to overcome Droidekas and other powerful foes, it's easy to imagine all the intense, smaller-scale battles taking place all across the galaxy between various factions. Compared to the potential of Zero Company, games like Star Wars Outlaws felt somewhat limited by both their choice of setting and game design, with watchful Stormtroopers or generic human soldiers making up the majority of your combat encounters.

One of the more exciting aspects of Zero Company's turn-based tactical gameplay is how the game's story plans on reacting to your moment-to-moment choices throughout the game, with branching choices that influence both the game world and the developing bonds between characters. XCOM and other tactical role-playing games have already paved the way for the kind of replayable storytelling that Star Wars Zero Company could provide, so long as the concept and setting don't get watered down too much when appealing to wider audiences.

The Clone Wars Has Massive Potential For Original Storytelling

A Surprisingly Underused Setting For The Franchise

According to a StarWars.com interview with one of Zero Company's developers, rather than retelling the events of the prequel trilogy from a new angle, "Zero Company promises a boots-on-the-ground perspective of the conflict that's never been seen before" ~Kellog. Taking place near the end of the Clone Wars, Zero Company already has a better chance of offering a perspective that hasn't been explored much in past franchise entries. Compared to the more straightforward good versus evil of the Empire, The Clone Wars has much more room for unsteady alliances, clandestine operations, and heartbreaking betrayals without borrowing too heavily from past entries.

Leaning into the tension and risks of tactical gameplay can elevate the experience to even greater heights.

Even if Star Wars Zero Company did want to draw from more recognizable Clone Wars characters, Zero Company has no shortage of options that could easily provide nuanced allies or enemies, depending on your choices. Rather than coming across major characters like Darth Vader or Obi-Wan Kenobi that could easily overshadow the storyline, the period of the Clone Wars has plenty of interesting characters and even planets that can fit into the seamlessly developing story of Hawks and his band of unlikely allies.

Rather than relying on nostalgic optimism and the classic sights of Star Wars Outlaws​​​​, Zero Company could finally explore the grittier elements of the series with a more nuanced intrigue, as you fight through the "shadow war that no conventional army is equipped to encounter," ~Contreras. Taking notable inspiration from Star Wars media like Andor and Rogue One, while still acknowledging the themes of the original trilogy, I'm optimistic about the direction Zero Company is choosing to take to hopefully deliver more satisfying narrative payoffs.

Zero Company Could Offer More In-Depth Character Relationships

Putting Together A Diverse Crew Of Powerful Allies

Aside from its overall tone and gameplay preview, the highlight of Zero Company's Star Wars Celebration announcement trailer was easily the diverse squad of characters you'll be controlling throughout the game. Rather than just being made up of a band of Clone Troopers, Mercenaries, or Jedi, Zero Company has from all walks of the galaxy that are bound to provide unique character interactions. Compared to the narrow cast selection in games like Star Wars Outlaws, which tend to be more one-dimensional in their presentation given their gameplay focus, Zero Company has a much greater potential for engaging relationship dynamics.

Character-driven stories have always been a core part of the Star Wars experience.

Character-driven stories have always been a core part of the Star Wars experience, with Zero Company's tactical squad-based gameplay taking the concept to its natural conclusion with more player choice than before. Offering both pre-made characters and your own personally crafted squad , Zero Company can better fill in the gap between character-driven stories seen in games like Rogue Trader and the desire for more original experiences that XCOM's player-made soldiers can provide.

Zero Company Is Currently The Most Promising Star Wars Game

The Latest Franchise Entry Is Already Off To A Strong Start

Being one of the only Star Wars projects that hasn't been canceled or gone years without any signs of development progress, like the Knights of the Old Republic remake, Zero Company is already ahead of the competition when it comes to delivering a satisfying experience for the franchise. Even if it might not have the same drawing power as large-scale open-world games like Outlaws or Jedi: Survivor provide in spades, Zero Company's higher focus could be its greatest saving grace.

The Bit Reactor studio behind Zero Company is a new development team made up of who have worked on several successful strategy games, such as XCOM and Civilization.

For Zero Company to be successful, it will need to lean into the elements of the genre more than ever, without being afraid of scaring away fans with its experimental gameplay. Whether through character death or other lasting consequences of player choice, leaning into the tension and risks of tactical gameplay can elevate the experience to even greater heights. Given that one of my biggest complaints with Star Wars Outlaws was the lack of meaningful player choices, I have high hopes that a game like Star Wars Zero Company can deliver a more intuitive storytelling experience with plenty of twists.

Source: StarWars.com