35 hours in and we’ve rolled credits on Zero Company. That’s not an insignificant amount of time to spend in a game these days, and in that time, we’ve seen and done probably 85% of what the game has to offer. Short of going for specific achievements and playing new game+ our time with Zero Company is officially at a close. For the time being, anyway.
What we can say after all of this, is that we’re looking forward to picking it up again one day and doing another play through. Not just for the gameplay, but for the story, the characters and the overall joy that’s it’s been.
Zero Company, on the outside presents as XCOM but Star Wars. But, in many ways, that’s too superficial a comparison. It’s perhaps not as tactically relentless, but it excels in so many other ways.
Zero Company
Let’s just get it out of the way. Zero Company is an exceptional game, and we’ve loved it.
Core gameplay aside for a minute, the Star Wars universe lends itself so well to a game like this. You’re part of the wider universe, part of something that feels familiar, but unique. You brush-up against key events and characters that are of significant impact to the lore of this massive behemoth of a media franchise.
But it all feels organic, it all feels like you’re in there, fighting the fight for your own reasons and the cross-overs and interactions are just incidental to everything else. It’s ll so well pieced together, that Bit Reactor deserver some serious praise. It would have been easy to slap some Star Wars theming and sound effects onto a tactics game and called it a day. Hell, we would have played it!
Zero Company has depth and originality, and with Hawks and crew, you’re making your own story in this massive universe.
Characters
You’d be forgiven for thinking Zero Company would be heavy on gameplay and light on story, cutscenes and acting. But that’s why it’s so different to XCOM. Your core cast are wonderfully voiced and acted. There’s personality and sincerity in all of them.
Your bonds grow as you fight side by side, and as you do their personal side quests, you see more of their background and get some strong character exposition. Everyone in Zero Company is there because that’s where their path has lead them. Everyone has their own story and past lives. It’s reminiscent of the excellent Mass Effect stories and side quests.
With some interesting twists and turns on some of those as well. Zero Company never slouches when spinning a yarn.
As Hawks, you lead the group and you have your own history. But being fully voiced and acted means you’re in control of him, but only a witness to his story and this company. You’re making some surface-level choices in very specific moments and conversations. But this isn’t your story, it’s Hawks’ and that of the crew in the company. Which is why it works so well.
Oddities
For all of the excellent things that Zero Company does, there’s one specific element of gameplay that frequently left us more frustrated than interested.
Being put in a position to explore some of the locales in third-person with your squad is such a great idea. Certainly, the design and implementation of these is lovely. But you’re set on a very linear path, with nothing to really find or do. They’re essentially moments to walk through a glorified corridor, perhaps see a quick scene of you scouting the area, and then you get to where the combat begins.
In theory, there’s some potential here to help with world building and exposition. But it just feels very tacked-on or half-implemented. There’s likely plenty of reasons that this ended up being what it is, so we’ll not harp on about it too much. It’s just the most grating part of the game, where it could be so much more, and instead it just slows the pace down a bit and doesn’t really offer much for your time.
The Core Combat
At it’s very core, Zero Company is just like XCOM or Phoenix Point or even Mario + Rabbids (highly underrated!). Tactical, turn-based combat. Keep your squad alive, whilst working to clear down enemies and bosses.
The core of it is perfect, exactly as you’d expect. You have so many action points per unit, and so many units in a round. You use those points for moving (into cover or closer to an enemy/ally), attacking or perhaps providing supporting actions like scanning, overwatch or even healing and buffing.
With a great variety of roles and classes, you can make it so pretty much each time you pick a squad to take with you, you’re covering all bases, and nobody is ever just a generic assault or sniper. You can absolutely mix classes to get some pretty interesting builds.
Add to it some Jedi and Mandalorian characters that come with their own styles as well, and your options are broad.
Having Tel the Jedi become a mainstay of my party saw me completely change the way I play games like this. Much more aggressive and on the attack, because her abilities and lightsabres absolutely favour that approach. Or having a character with a jump pack that can be used for bonus actions, dropping in behind enemy lines, causing some chaos and then jumping out again, all in one turn.
The room to play and experiment is huge, and the fun is ripe for the taking. The entire experience, even with tougher fights or feeling overwhelmed by enemy forces, feels well-crafted and balanced.
Some of the missions forced you to play differently and keep pushing. Some rewarded co-operative attacks to whittle-down enemy health quickly. The main game was a well-made, batch of levels that always applied pressure but never felt unfair.
Overall
Look, if you like tactical strategy games, Zero Company is a no-brainer. If you like Star Wars games with an original story, good characters and well-integrated into the wider universe, this is a no-brainer.
If you’re unsure based on those descriptions, it’s maybe not for you. But we would bet our bottom dollar that this being more accessible and forgiving than XCOM and so perfectly tied-into the Star Was universe, with a solid campaign and story. Almost anyone could be taken in by Zero Company, and we would 100% recommend it to anyone even slightly curious.
DAM that’s excellent.
