Star Wars Zero Firm: A New Hope for Flip-Primarily based Ways

After I spoke with the Artistic Director and Lead Designer of Star Wars Zero Firm earlier this summer time, I left extraordinarily excited concerning the promise of a turn-based ways sport set amid the Clone Wars, made by seasoned arms behind among the style’s finest.

Now that I’ve performed 15 hours of a preview construct over the course of per week, I’m thrilled to report that it completely lives as much as that immense promise. Star Wars Zero Firm is the right fusion of style, developer, and mental property into one thing particular that bodes nicely for the way forward for each ways and Star Wars video games.

Final Staff

You play Hawks, a former Republic officer who now leads the eponymous Zero Firm of mercenaries, starting as many nice Star Wars tales do: suffocating in debt to the Hutt crime syndicate. Quickly, a displaced noble and a Republic Intelligence agent method them about investigating a harmful cult, the Coil, spreading within the outer reaches of the galaxy alongside a mysterious and terrifying plague. It’s a basic, morally clear premise to get you proper into the motion of preventing smugglers, cultists, and droids in gripping, turn-based tactical battles.

As is so usually the case in Star Wars, what actually elevates the proceedings is the scrappy, discovered household of outsiders at your facet. After all, one unlucky Rodian doesn’t survive the tutorial mission to strengthen how permadeath works (taking place in fight offers a wound, and accumulating 3 wounds with out resting is finish of the road). That leaves you with a beginning squad of discharged clone trooper Trick and ex-convict/boxer, Kabb Uppercut (a very basic Star Wars identify, and in addition my Hawks’ finest good friend in line with the bond system, which tracks and rewards characters that do lots collectively). Quickly you’re joined by Jae Mordant, the aforementioned noble whose mining citadel was stolen from her by Fathom, chief of the Coil.

Nevertheless it’s not lengthy till you’re rising that squad your self. Early on, I additionally recruited two totally different snipers from the procedurally generated pool of potential teammates out there for rent: Yaan Nia, a human insurgent firebrand that I took as a result of she type of seems to be like Kleya from “Andor,” and Kos Niemz, a steely Weequay mercenary that I took as a result of she type of seems to be like a California Raisin. I fell in love with each of them virtually instantly – procedurally generated characters, pinging off each other in emergent, systematized relationships, to not point out the looming menace of demise, is a confirmed method in numerous video games from The Sims to XCOM to RimWorld. As you may count on, Star Wars is a completely excellent setting for it, overflowing with iconic species and archetypes to combine and match like motion figures in your personal sandbox. This will probably be nice fodder for imaginative streamers, like XCOM was earlier than it.

Along with totally customizing the looks and specialization of Hawks firstly, you can too respec any of the above characters at any time. The one characters you’ll be able to’t change are these you’ll be able to recruit with distinctive specializations (up to now, a Jedi Padawan and a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter). For the generated characters, you’ll be able to even change their look and character everytime you need. You can even construct characters from scratch from the beginning menu, and allow or disable them for recruitment. It actually is among the most sturdy toolkits I’ve ever seen for customizing your personal adventuring crew of ‘Star Wars guys’ this facet of a tabletop role-playing sport.

My Hawks began as a Scoundrel, however Kabb additionally had that class, so as an alternative I quickly switched her to a quick-firing Gunslinger, with a view to benefit from a weapon mod I’d discovered that utilized accumulating burn standing on each assault. I may simply as simply think about extra RP-minded gamers utilizing these customization programs to make narrative-driven modifications to their crew, like new scars and a change of position after a near-death expertise. Zero Firm empowers gamers each strategically and aesthetically to freely experiment with setting up precisely the crew of operators that they need, whereas reserving the intense friction for the place it belongs: the tactical battles.

Blorbo Chess

Fight will, in broad strokes, really feel proper at dwelling to turn-based ways veterans. Every of your characters has 3 motion factors per spherical, to be spent on shifting, attacking, or utilizing gadgets and talents. You alternate between taking your whole actions and the enemies taking theirs as you struggle via varied docks, touchdown pads, and different unique locales throughout the galaxy far, far-off. Goals are sometimes divided between standing and preventing till you’ve defeated everybody, or attaining a set process (equivalent to rescuing a hostage or holding a spot for a number of turns when you steal one thing) after which shifting to an extraction zone whereas extra enemies pour in.

Your squad’s strongest talents require a shared useful resource, Benefit, as an alternative of motion factors, which accumulates as much as a max of 10 when any of your crew efficiently offers harm to the enemy. This ingredient of tempo results in large, dramatic swing turns the place you flip the tide of battle with a determined, ingenious, heroic mixture of strikes out of your crew, and is an ideal instance of how the spirit of Star Wars infuses the design from high to backside.

Lead Designer James Brawley instructed me in June about how he sees ways video games as a method to generate numerous distinctive puzzles from the mixtures of enemies, environments, and your talents. It feels nice to go from panicking concerning the seemingly inconceivable again foot the enemy has me on, via assessing my choices and eking out one other victory, spherical by spherical. On the builders’ advice as a style veteran, I performed on Exhausting (third highest out of 4 difficulties) and located it very properly difficult, practically all the time feeling like I’m scraping by and taking a wound or two, although not but shedding anybody completely. There are well-balanced choices to use kind of problem to fit your style, and the cutely named Beskar mode is that this sport’s equal for XCOM’s Ironman, with no reloading earlier saves.

I’ve solely simply scratched the floor of how a lot selection there may be to discover within the fight and crew composition. One of many larger eye-opening moments of my playthrough was once I lastly acquired an astromech, which has no primary assault, however carries three totally different utility gadgets – all styles of grenade, on this case – with two makes use of every (versus one slot and one use for everybody else up to now). Utilizing them acquired me to begin considering extra laterally about how I used grenades with different characters as nicely, equivalent to utilizing the concussive grenade to knock individuals off the map solely. Brawley had talked about that he favored with the ability to subject a squad solely of astromechs, partially as a type of homage to his childhood curiosity of operating all white mages in Closing Fantasy. I look ahead to exploring this wide selection of choices that open up as the sport proceeds.

Dwelling Is The place the Holotable Is

Between missions you retire to The Den, your cozy base of operations on a dramatic former mining-turned-trading outpost referred to as the Ring of Kafrene (first featured at first of “Rogue One,” the place Cassian Andor’s contact confirms the existence of the Dying Star and units the plot in movement). Right here you run round in third particular person to speak along with your crew, handle your assets and crew, and choose your subsequent mission on the holotable.

Along with selecting your subsequent mission, the holotable additionally has a strategic map of your affect all through totally different sectors of the galaxy, unlocking varied rewards as you do issues in them. Operations are little text-based storylets that you choose from the holotable between subject missions, often with a selection to find out the result, generally requiring you to ship operators out with related dangers. These generally advance the primary story or side-quests as a part of narrative chains resulting in missions, however are sometimes simply one other method to get the credit, intel, and equipment that it’s worthwhile to function. For sure, significantly charged ethical selections, everybody in your squad may have an opinion, with the UI clearly displaying how every choice will have an effect on Hawks’ bond stage with each different character. All these programs satisfyingly interlock to present you plenty of little selections that dynamically feed again on each other – it offers off that basic, Sid Meier sense of a sport being “a collection of fascinating choices.”

Apart from strategic administration of your personnel and tools, the Den additionally serves as an excellent narrative interlude to your harrowing battles, studying extra concerning the members of your squad in addition to different, non-combatant members of the crew, like your wry android physician. Dropout star Vic Michaelis stands out specifically as Runa Blask, a Togruta (like Ahsoka) former Separatist partisan finance knowledgeable who’s turn out to be Hawks’ principal advisor. She’s extraordinarily sensible, slightly imply, and won’t hesitate to let you know the way a lot she hates the Republic. I actually want she’d choose up a blaster and be part of us within the subject.

Go See a Star Conflict

Ask me a number of years in the past, and I’d have simply instructed you that I’m extra of a Trek man, however the one-two punch of “Andor” and now Star Wars Zero Firm has severely shifted that heart of gravity. Very like that distinctive TV collection, Zero Firm places Star Wars in a barely totally different style context than I’m used to, achieved with such ability and care that it makes me admire with recent eyes what’s all the time been nice concerning the franchise, like discovered households, cute little aliens, and the tinny voices of hapless, overconfident B-Collection battle droids being instantly owned (they’re fodder enemies that go down should you breathe on them, and it by no means stopped being humorous).

It’s additionally all the time nice to see builders whose work I’ve beloved unfold their wings at a brand new studio. Even on the preview stage, Star Wars Zero Firm is a incredible first outing for Bit Reactor, and past wanting ahead to taking part in extra of it, I’m additionally already enthusiastic about no matter they determine to do subsequent.

I’m desirous to get again to the adventures of my Blorbos quickly when Star Wars Zero Firm launches on XBOX Collection X|S on August 27, 2026.

STAR WARS Zero Firm™ Deluxe Version

Digital Arts

☆☆☆☆☆
31

★★★★★

$69.99

$62.99

Pre-order* STAR WARS Zero Firm™ to outfit your droids with the Crystalline Astromech Pack Preorder Bonus, which incorporates the R3 droid and translucent “crystalline” astromech heads for the R4, R5 droid variants, in addition to Star Wars Zero Firm’s™ unique BR-1 droid.

Unlock distinctive beauty gadgets impressed by the Clone Wars™ period with Star Wars Zero Firm™ Deluxe Version.

The “Grand Military of the Republic” Beauty Pack
• “Republic Officer” Uniform
• “a hundredth Clone Firm” Armor Set
• “ARC Trooper” Armor Set

The “Shadow Collective” Beauty Pack
• “Pyke” Helmet Beauty
• 5 beauty tattoos
‎ – “Pyke Syndicate”
‎ – “Hutt Cartel”
‎ – “Dying Watch”
‎ – “Black Solar Syndicate”
‎ – “Crimson Daybreak”

5 Weapon Set Themes
• “a hundredth Clone Firm”
• “Kafrene Informant”
• “Black Solar Syndicate Enforcer”
• “Bespin Safety”
• “Separatist Warrior”

Command an elite squad via a gritty and genuine story in Star Wars Zero Firm™, a single-player turn-based ways sport set within the twilight of the Clone Wars™.

Lead the Clone Wars’ Most Crafty Operatives
Command the galaxy’s most interesting in tactical operations, investigations and different heart-pounding missions via a cinematic authentic story.

Select Your Path to Victory
Strategize and adapt to make each transfer rely. The outcomes of your choices make every playthrough totally different.

Interact in Tactical Star Wars Fight
Deploy a crew of operatives starting from scoundrels to astromechs, or perhaps a Jedi, selecting from an arsenal of talents to defeat your foes.

Forge Deep Bonds along with your Squad
Enhance your squad’s expertise on missions, as they be taught to work collectively and unlock new fight synergies.

Personalize Your Combat
Customise Hawks’ fight specialization and look, then fill your crew with authentic and custom-made Star Wars characters, tailoring their appearances, loadouts, and talents.

*Circumstances and restrictions apply. See https://www.ea.com/video games/starwars/zero-company/disclaimers for particulars.
Lucasfilm, STAR WARS and associated properties are emblems and/or copyrights, in the USA and different international locations, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its associates. © & TM 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.

STAR WARS Zero Firm™

Digital Arts

☆☆☆☆☆
31

★★★★★

$59.99

$53.99

Pre-order* STAR WARS Zero Firm™ to outfit your droids with the Crystalline Astromech Pack Preorder Bonus, which incorporates the R3 droid and translucent “crystalline” astromech heads for the R4, R5 droid variants, in addition to Star Wars Zero Firm’s™ unique BR-1 droid.

Command an elite squad via a gritty and genuine story in Star Wars Zero Firm™, a single-player turn-based ways sport set within the twilight of the Clone Wars™.

You’ll step into the footwear of Hawks, a former Republic officer who leads Zero Firm as they’re recruited for an operation that pits them towards an rising menace that may devour the galaxy if left unchecked.

Lead the Clone Wars’ Most Crafty Operatives
Command the galaxy’s most interesting in tactical operations, investigations and different heart-pounding missions via a cinematic authentic story.

Select Your Path to Victory
Strategize and adapt at each your base of operations and an ever-shifting battlefield to make each transfer rely. The outcomes of your choices make every playthrough totally different.

Interact in Tactical Star Wars Fight
Deploy a crew of operatives composed of a wide range of archetypes starting from scoundrels to astromechs, or perhaps a Jedi, selecting from an arsenal of tactical talents to outmaneuver and defeat your foes.

Forge Deep Bonds along with your Squad
Enhance your squad’s expertise as you deploy them on missions, the place they be taught to work collectively and unlock new fight synergies that might be the distinction between victory and defeat.

Personalize Your Combat
Customise Hawks’ fight specialization and look, then fill out your crew with authentic and custom-made Star Wars characters, tailoring their appearances, loadouts, and talents to suit your playstyle.

*Circumstances and restrictions apply. See https://www.ea.com/video games/starwars/zero-company/disclaimers for particulars.
Lucasfilm, STAR WARS and associated properties are emblems and/or copyrights, in the USA and different international locations, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its associates. © & TM 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.