The release of “Star Wars Zero Company” in April 2025 attracted the attention of Star Wars fans and fans of turn-based tactical role-playing games, especially “XCOM”. Audiences on both sides aren’t too spoiled for big, high-quality projects like this, so getting them interested with a good trailer isn’t going to be hard. But making a fun and addictive game is more difficult than editing a two-minute video.
Since I’m a fan of Star Wars and turn-based games, I definitely couldn’t miss this project. Currently, the game has been completed to the end credits on medium difficulty, and in the future I plan to complete it on Ironman on maximum difficulty. There won’t be big spoilers, but I’ll hide some of the highlights so you can open them at your own discretion.
I suggest starting with the issues raised by bloggers and media before release and discussed by players after release – optimization and bugs. On my regular PC with a 3070 Ti, 7800X3D and 32GB of RAM, seeing 15fps in a stage scene with a mix of medium and high settings is very disappointing. In general, games are very heavy on the graphics card, which is why we have to turn on the lock at 75 frames to avoid the GPU load reaching 99% continuously.
At the same time, the graphics of the stars in the sky were not adequate, and attempts to lower settings further resulted in a breakdown in the game’s visual style. This is especially noticeable in the stage scenes, although the combat doesn’t suffer too much as a result.
The buggy situation is much better and I didn’t experience any moments where the game crashed and I couldn’t continue playing. However, small problems are encountered time and time again. For example, the most striking thing to me was the instances where the animations of opponents and agents were torn during combat. A few times I ran into issues with being unable to assign consumables or dual operators. But these are rare cases that are resolved within seconds.
Now let’s jump right into the gameplay, there’s a lot more going on here than it first seems. The combat system here is very simple and can be understood by anyone who has played a similar game at least once. During combat, the character has three action points, which he can use to move, attack, use first aid kits or grenades, interact with points of interest, etc.
Additionally, there is a separate level through which characters can activate unique skills. Someone will fire rockets at a group of enemies, someone will inspire allies, someone will fire a lightsaber, destroying everything and everyone in the distance.
The surprises provided by the annoying percentage of successful attacks system are no worse than those in the XCOM series. The first hour of the game resulted in a 95% miss. The situation where the character walks through several boxes to hit a target (which at first glance should completely block the view) has not been forgotten either.
On average difficulty, the opponent has no problem, thanks partly to the simple artificial intelligence and partly to the team, to quickly eliminate any target and complete the mission objectives. The main problem is the endless enemies, cameras, and interface in some missions.
The last two points were the most unpleasant for me personally, as they caused me to repeatedly make mistakes when selecting targets and movement points. In locations with multiple vertical planes, the camera can move to the side on its own when clicked, and the character will run from the intended hex to the next. There are very frequent moments where the camera shows a black wall instead of an attack animation or a new enemy squad appears.
One thing I can say about the interface – most likely, it was designed for consoles and not redesigned for PC. The radial menu covers everything around the character and never falls away from him under any circumstances, raising questions from the first appearance to the final battle.
Between missions, we communicate with the team, order improvements for our base, and perform text actions as we accumulate special resources. In addition, operations can be connected to the main story or to the stories of team members. Many times, you will be faced with a dilemma of choosing a solution. There’s not a lot of depth to it all, but the activities dilute the main gameplay and do a good job.
Character development and power depend on many factors: completed tasks, development of the base, and relationships with each other. Moreover, the main emphasis is on completing tasks and plot progress, and there are no rewards for killing opponents. In my opinion, this is the right decision, and it allows you to not cultivate enemies and instead focus on the objectives of the mission, sometimes just running past optional dummies.
You can change your agent’s profession at any time, and after some events you can choose a second profession, which will significantly affect the variety of builds and gameplay. However, the first section of the game felt rather lackluster in terms of tactics, and we were limited to one profession.
The main storyline, subplots, and overall tone of the story are the main fluctuations in my evaluation of the game. At some point, I got the impression that there were several teams of writers working on this game, one with less expertise than another. Some events feel like an elaborate story, while others feel like a simple attempt to extend the length of the game.
Maybe I’ll start with six stories of our agents who appear on the team as the main plot progresses. In one place, we are exposed to the original story of the series, the involvement of famous characters, and in another, we just get a revenge story and some fighting.
For example
For example, there’s the story of an apprentice, Tel-Rei Vokoss, who lost his master and, before meeting us, tried to fight the game’s main villain on his own. It’s not the deepest story, but it at least goes some way to showing personal experience, attempts to save friends, and at least some character development.
On the other side there’s Clay Celefro, Luco Blanc and some Cabo uppercuts, and the whole chain is the result of someone taking revenge. Yes, these plot threads all have their own sad backstories, staged scenes, and some “what a twist,” but in my opinion, they’re just the same story compared to Tell Ray’s.
However, the main plot also faces similar problems. In some places it seems lengthy, in others it’s quite good, and in others it’s fine and at least generates some drama and tension. The main villain is simply evil and wants to take over the entire galaxy with the help of his zombie underlings.
Maybe I’m missing something in her motivations, actions, and global goals, but it all looks like another “evil for evil’s sake” and “hero saves the entire world.” At one point, the plot cliché reaches the point where the protagonist only has to lower a lever to win, and we’re treated to several pathetic scenes and festive fireworks.
At the same time, sometimes you will find the intrigue of “What will happen next?” and you will not want to skip the stage scenes, although before these same characters caused boredom and the desire to skip their dialogues.
If you are a Star Wars fan then…
If you are a fan of the series, have seen the animated series The Clone Wars, remember Captain Rex or General Tarkin, and know how the events unfolded after Count Dooku’s death and what Order 66 is, then this game can provide you with interesting references and gameplay elements related to the lore of the series.
In some places, names and events flash through dialogue, in some places we directly control familiar characters, and in some places the story heats up in anticipation of events we have already seen from different perspectives in other works.
In fact, you could spend a long time talking about the pros and cons of this game, but overall, Bit Reactor is a good game for the masses based on a well-known and popular series. Furthermore, it’s a story-driven game, with plenty of dialogue, stage scenes, and a single ending that clearly hints at a continuation of Zero Link’s adventures. Yes, the complexity and depth of the combat system here is also designed for a mass audience, but perhaps that’s a result of the game’s average complexity.
“Star Wars Zero Company” can be recommended to fans and players looking for a good project with a 25-30 hour turn-based combat system. But that’s only if you accept the technical limitations, a sometimes-problematic camera, and an interface that isn’t the most successful of the PC versions. These issues can easily ruin the experience of the game, and there’s nothing the developers can do to fix them in the near future or long term.
Also, I want to throw stones at Electronic Arts, which not only does not sell the game in the Russian Federation, but also does not translate the text into Russian. The most well-thought-out regional price policy raises questions not only among Kazakh residents.
