Star Wars: Squadrons could signal the return of good Star Wars flight sims, or at least we hope so. Based on the first trailer and a dressed up look at gameplay, we know it looks nice, what with those chunky ship dashboards and flashy maneuvers. The promise of full VR support and complete compatibility with HOTAS setups piques PC gamers' interest even more. But how does it actually play?
Star Wars: Squadrons could signal the return of good Star Wars flight sims, or at least we hope so. Based on the first trailer and a dressed up look at gameplay, we know it looks nice, what with those chunky ship dashboards and flashy maneuvers. The promise of full VR support and complete compatibility with HOTAS setups piques PC gamers’ interest even more. But how does it actually play?
Based on a Polygon interview with Star Wars: Squadrons creative director Ian Frazier, we finally have some idea. Read on to find out how you’ll be shunting power to and fro, where Squadrons pulls its flight models from, and what it’s like to design interesting combat around an established universe.
Flight modeling and aiming reticles
It maybe be a space flight sim, but Squadrons isn’t simulating space flight, exactly. «First and foremost, it’s inspired by World War II aerial combat footage.» says Frazier. The combat is meant to feel terrestrial compared to more realistic space flight sims like Elite: Dangerous or Star Citizen.
Squadrons won’t have a leading reticle either, which grounds it in something closer to a WWII dogfighter. Frazier explains: «We wanted you to look at the ships and stay in the environment, and we felt like the moment we added a leading radical it started to become more of the UI game and less the Star Wars pilot game» However, the color of the aiming reticle will change to signal when a properly aimed shot will hit.
But that terrestrial feeling is just a starting point: «Okay, how do we use things like power management to take that World War II sort of base, but then amp it? What does the accelerated version of that look like?» Let’s dig in.
(Image credit: EA)
How ship power systems work
Ship power systems with are split between shields, lasers, and engines.
