Star Wars and turn-based tactics always sounded like a combination that should work. You have Jedi, Clone Troopers, Battle Droids, bounty hunters, and more planets than most games could ever use. Put all of that into something that plays a bit like XCOM and you already get me excited to play it. That was basically how I approached Star Wars Zero Company. I wanted a tactical game where I had to think about where I moved my squad, who I sent into battle, and how I dealt with whatever was waiting on the other side of the map. Did it work? Let’s jump in
Zero Company takes place near the end of the Clone Wars and follows Hawks, a former Republic officer leading a rather unusual group called Zero Company. Their mission eventually puts them up against the Infinite Coil, a Separatist-aligned cult operating in the shadows of the war. It is a good period for a game like this because there is already so much happening in the Star Wars universe at that point. The Republic and Separatists are still fighting, familiar factions are everywhere, and the game can pull from years of Star Wars history without needing to explain why all these different types of characters suddenly exist at the same time. I really enjoyed that side of it. There is a lot here for people who know their Star Wars lore, but Zero Company still tells its own story with its own group of characters. I never felt like the game was simply waiting for another famous cameo to appear. The people in my squad were the ones I wanted to spend time with, and that helped a lot because I was constantly taking them into battles where one bad decision could leave somebody in a very uncomfortable position.
I have a plan
The XCOM comparison is impossible to avoid, so there is little point pretending otherwise. You move your squad around turn-based battlefields, use cover, look for good positions and try to deal with enemies before they get the chance to do the same to you. It is a familiar setup, but it works really well here. More importantly, Zero Company actually made me think about what I was doing. I regularly stopped before moving someone because I wanted to check where the rest of my squad was standing, which enemies could still attack, and whether I was about to leave somebody exposed. Sometimes the obvious move wasn’t the smartest one, and simply running towards the next objective could quickly create problems. That is exactly what I want from this kind of game.
The different characters also help because I didn’t feel like I was moving the same soldier around five times with a different face attached. Your squad has different abilities and ways of dealing with situations, so who you take with you can change how you approach a mission. I started developing favorites fairly quickly, partly because of what they could do in combat and partly because I simply liked having them around and that really is important for a game like this. Tactical games can easily reduce characters to numbers, abilities and equipment, but I actually enjoyed this cast. Zero Company has a strange collection of people from across the galaxy, and seeing them interact between missions gave me a reason to care about who I was sending out next, which also fits Star Wars very well of course. This series has always been good at putting people together who probably wouldn’t choose to share the same room and then forcing them to save the galaxy.
There are systems around building your squad and developing relationships between its members as well, but I never felt like I needed to spend half my evening studying menus before I could enjoy the next mission. Most of my time with this game was spent where I wanted it: on the battlefield, trying to make sure my next brilliant plan didn’t immediately fall apart.
This is a very good Star Wars setting
I also think the Clone Wars were a great choice for Zero Company. There is so much material available from that period, and the game clearly enjoys using it. You get familiar factions, weapons, species and plenty of smaller references, but they are worked into a new story instead of turning the campaign into a tour of famous Star Wars moments. In such a vast universe, it’s pretty difficult to create the right balance, but this worked for me. I like recognising something from the wider universe, especially when it is a slightly deeper reference, but I don’t need someone from the movies walking into every second scene. Zero Company gave me enough of that Star Wars feeling without constantly dragging attention away from its own squad and ultimately, that squad and the tactical combat are why I kept enjoying myself. The basic idea is easy to explain: move carefully, use cover, combine abilities and try not to get anyone killed. Actually doing that well is where the fun comes from, I had plenty of moments where I was staring at the battlefield and trying to work out the safest way forward, only to change my entire plan because I noticed one enemy standing somewhere inconvenient.
There is nothing particularly wrong with borrowing so much from the XCOM formula when you use it this well. I wanted a proper Star Wars tactics game, and Zero Company gave me one. It has enough options to keep the battles interesting, a cast I liked spending time with and a setting that gives Star Wars fans plenty to recognise without taking over the whole experience.
Conclusion
I had a great time with Star Wars Zero Company. Give me a squad of characters I actually like, a battlefield where I need to think before moving and enough Star Wars lore to keep me curious, and I’m happy. I lost count of how many times I told myself I would do one more mission before stopping. Sure, anyone who has played XCOM will know where a lot of these ideas come from but I didn’t really care. I wanted a good tactical Star Wars game and that’s exactly what I got.