EA Motive’s new space combat sim, Star Wars: Squadrons, is due out soon. It’s high time fans get in the mood for some warring amongst the stars. To that end, a seven-minute long, CG short film has been released to set the tone for the game’s story mode.
Titled “The Hunted,” the Star Wars: Squadrons feature is set shortly after the climactic Battle of Endor from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. At Endor, the Rebel Alliance finally triumphed over the Empire, destroying the second Death Star, defeating Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, and routing the Imperial Fleet. The short begins at the Var-Shaa Dockyards, where Imperial Star Destroyers are retreating from the approaching New Republic fleet.
Interestingly, the feature takes the perspective of the Imperial pilot Varko Grey, callsign “Titan Leader.” He’s Captain of Titan Squadron, the Imperial Starfighter Corps squadron centered in the Star Wars: Squadrons Imperial campaign. Grey pilots a TIE Interceptor during the battle, but is left behind by his mothership’s retreat, and hunted by an ace X-Wing pilot.
The game will also have a Republic-side campaign, featuring Vanguard Squadron. In multiplayer, players will fly on opposing sides in dogfights, flying a variety of playable Star Wars ships in multiple roles. Iconic craft like the X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Y-Wing, and the U-Wing from Rogue One will be playable. Star Wars: Squadrons signature mode is a fleet battle, where players on each side (or cooperating against bots) fly in a multi-phase operation to take out enemy fighter screens, destroy target capital ships, and then fly bombing runs to take out an enemy flagship.
Star Wars: Squadrons releases on October 2, 2020, and will be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. No current plans have been revealed for a separate PS5 or Xbox Series X version of the game, but it will be playable on the new consoles via backwards compatibility.
