Star Wars - Squadrons, NEW CONTENT - B-Wing and TIE Defender

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**Turnip Jedi**

Trust ye not the reveal video, for the spin is donk and full of fibbers

**Skinnereal**

5v5? Not chuffed about that.

I expect there will be open play, to some extent.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Same.

Trailer here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0eRkhR1z6A

Hard to tell what’s cinematic and what’s game engine, but my interest remains piqued.

**Skinnereal**

The initial shot looked to be the only in-game, which was marked up as such.
The rest looked to be a mix.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Yeah. I mean it does look like what I’ve been craving. It’s been far, far too long since we had a dedicated SW Space Shooter.

But I need to see more of the gameplay.

**Kanluwen**

In Star Wars: Squadrons, players will enlist as starfighter pilots, stepping into the cockpits of iconic starfighters from both the New Republic and Imperial fleets. They’ll plan skirmishes with their squadron in the briefing room before taking off for space battles across the galaxy. Players will engage in strategic 5v5 multiplayer space battles with the goal of demolishing the opposing flagship in Fleet Battles and will feel the rush of first-person multiplayer combat as they work with their squadron to defeat as many opponents as possible in Dogfights. Pilots will triumph as a team, adjusting the composition of their squadrons to suit their playstyles as they progress, crushing their opponents and completing objectives across known and never-before-seen locations, including the gas giant of Yavin Prime and the shattered moon of Galitan.

Star Wars: Squadrons will offer rich cosmetic and gameplay customization options with rewards and bonuses that are earned solely through gameplay. As players move up the ranks, they’ll earn components such as weapons, hulls, engines and shields to customize the performance of their starfighters; and gain cosmetic items to customize their cockpit, ship exteriors, and appearance of their pilot. In addition, players will be able to squad up with their friends and play against others, regardless of platform, as cross-play will be supported on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and VR.

Star Wars: Squadrons will also feature a single-player story that brings to life events following the Battle of Endor when the Rebel Alliance has successfully destroyed the Death Star II. Through the story, players will learn what it means to be a pilot as they battle from the alternating perspectives of two customizable pilots, one serving in the New Republic’s heroic Vanguard Squadron, while the other fights for the Galactic Empire’s fearsome Titan Squadron. The authentic story features a diverse cast of original characters, as well as some cameos from familiar faces in the Star Wars galaxy.

Worth noting that this is dropping at $39.99 rather than the usual $59.99 for a game.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

OK, definitely interested now.

**Tannhauser42**

Not sure what I think about it. I think I'd rather have a Star Wars version of Wing Commander: Privateer.
It could still be good, though.

**SamusDrake**

Rogue Squadron meets X-Wing VS Tie-Fighter?

Speaking of Privateer, Dash Rendar seems a good choice for such a game.

**Voss**

Eh. Multiplayer and squadron focus is off-putting.

Story elements are kind of interesting. New Republic vs Imperial Remnant, with the Imperial forces taking the role of the rebel forces from the old X-wing games (disrupting shipbuilding, conducting raids, and etc).

**Kanluwen**

Gameplay will be shown at EA Play later this week. Game is set post-Endor.

**Gitzbitah**

5v5, and it looks like it keeps capital ships around as objectives- I expect this will be similar to flying Overwatch, or League of Legends. Looks like you want your squadron to include different ships, probably with different roles.

I am very, very excited to see more!

**H.B.M.C.**

Star Wars: Siege then, I guess.

"Through the story, players will learn what it means to be a pilot as they battle from the alternating perspectives of two customizable pilots, one serving in the New Republic’s heroic Vanguard Squadron, while the other fights for the Galactic Empire’s fearsome Titan Squadron."

... and then, after the first mission as Titan Squadron, your entire group will defect to the New Republic, because Disney Star Wars is like movies from the 1950's-60's, where the bad guys are never allowed to win!

[EDIT]: Hang on a minute...

"Star Wars: Squadrons will offer rich cosmetic and gameplay customization options with rewards and bonuses that are earned solely through gameplay. As players move up the ranks, they’ll earn components such as weapons, hulls, engines and shields to customize the performance of their starfighters; and gain cosmetic items to customize their cockpit, ship exteriors, and appearance of their pilot."

EA aren't Ubisoft, but what's the bet that everything in the above paragraph is 100% true, but also 100% a half-truth. Yes, you can earn everything in game and cannot purchase these items... but maybe you can purchase boosters to increase the speed at which you earn them. As I said, EA ain't Ubi, but it's not outside the realm of possibility.

**GoatboyBeta**

Seems to be more X-Wing/Tie fighter than Rogue Squadron. Hmm.... I really sucked at those two games

**Skinnereal**

We played 2-player in them, one on stick, and the other pressing buttons. We learned to play solo, but it was a busy game when we first played them.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

It’s the cross platform play that’s really got my interest. Means me an interwebular chums can form a squadron of our own, without anyone having to pay for more than the software. Well, I say that, I’ll likely need a headset with which to taunt my opponents a second time....

**Skinnereal**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Well, I say that, I’ll likely need a headset with which to taunt my opponents a second time....

Webcam. Shout at the telly!

**Eumerin**

GoatboyBeta wrote:
Seems to be more X-Wing/Tie fighter than Rogue Squadron. Hmm.... I really sucked at those two games

I'd be patient and wait for more info. The genre that spawned X-Wing and TIE Fighter is still largely dead. I suspect that this game won't be as technical as those games. Plus, some adjustments to the setting will clearly need to be made since you can't have a 5 v 5 game that has Rebel (or New Republic) fighters on one side, and TIE Fighters on the other. The setting has long-established the TIEs are simply outclassed by the Alliance fighters. So a mechanism, or some tweaks, will need to be implemented to make people actually want to fly TIE Fighters.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Oh my......Eckhart’s Ladder, a youtube channel I enjoy offer thoughts.,..

This is looking magnificent,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewyENQ5iRzY

Automatically Appended Next Post:
And the trailer without analysis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIonDr2OVZs

**Commodus Leitdorf**

While I enjoyed Rogue Squadron and own all 3 games I would rather it not be an arcade shooter. Give me a proper X-Wing/Tie-Fighter sequel please! Looking from the gameplay footage it does look more like a good proper Space Flight simulator I've been waiting for.

Finally an excuse to drop money on a new joystick.

**SamusDrake**

Okay, Squadrons is looking good.

So long as its not too expensive, yeah, I'll give it a shot. Maybe get with the 21st Century and try some online multiplayer too.

**Tannhauser42**

I watched the new gameplay trailer and...I don't know. What's with those support ship things, what are they supposed to do, and I don't recall even seeing those ships before? Why is the TIE Fighter in there as the equivalent to the X-Wing? Why not have the B-Wing and TIE Defender, or will that be DLC?
And is this going to be the kind of online multiplayer where I don't really get to play the ship I want to play, but will be stuck with whatever the team needs? Like, if everybody else chooses fighter, will I have to be the one person with a brain and go with a bomber to actually accomplish the mission?

**Commodus Leitdorf**

The different fighters probably work like different classes do in Team Fortress or Battlefield. Each with their own specialty and way to play which fits into the modern game design philosophy.

And yes, most likely if you want to take out a Mon Cal cruiser you'll have to fly a good old sluggish Tie Bomber. I don't think it'll work like the old X-Wing games where, in my boredom, after I had completed the mission and could hyperspace out I would hang around and single-handily take out the Star Destroyer for kicks.

Hopefully someone will try and Mod the old X-Wing and Tie-Fighter campaigns into the game.

**SamusDrake**

I'd be surprised if they didn't include other ships and single player missions. There will at least be a lot of demand to fly the Ghost and Falcon.

Funadamentally, this kind of game is a lot simplier to develop than most other 3D engine games(we had Elite and Starglider long before even Wolfenstein 3D), so it really isn't expecting too much of them to throw in extra content down the road. Even X-Wing and Tie Fighter had expansion sets back in the day.

**Commodus Leitdorf**

Well, It had one, Balance of Power which I own but honestly never played. By the time I had gotten it I was heavy into X-Wing Alliance which was what I always wanted in a space flight sim. Finally got to fly the Battle of Endor!

But yeah it'll probably focus on Multiplayer as most games do nowadays anyway. Having a strong multiplayer community keeps the longevity of the game going far beyond what a normal single player game lifespan does (with a few exceptions of course) as well and increases the potential profit of the game.

I mean there's a reason Rockstar keeps re-releasing GTA 5 afterall...

**Kanluwen**

They didn't say "no" to possible ships down the road, but it is important to note that the ships are set up as classes/roles:
Fighters are the 'all-rounders' and are X-Wing and TIE Fighter at launch.
Interceptors are for going after the other squadron and are the A-Wing and TIE Interceptor at launch.
Bombers are for going after the capital ships in Fleet Battle mode and are Y-Wing and TIE Bombers at launch.
Support Ships are...interesting. They can come equipped with tractor beams, mines, or autoturrets and apparently can transfer power over to the other ships in their squadrons. These are the TIE Reaper(the 'dropship' for the Death Troopers in Rogue One's Scarif sequence) and the U-Wing(again from Rogue One, it's the Rebel ship with the swing-wings).

I'd imagine that we might be best served to look at the X-Wing tabletop game to get an idea of what might come down the pipe. I don't think we'll see more single player stuff unless they add new classes of ships though.

**H.B.M.C.**

Power management and systems? This is starting to look more X-Wing-y all the time, which is impressive.

I fear the single player will be a bit like the single player in the original Battlefront games, or even Siege - just variations on multiplayer that are rather shallow and meant to introduce mechanics more than tell a story.

It's interesting that there are "classes" for the fighters. Makes the lack of B-Wing make more sense now. I guess if they wanted to introduce a "gunship" class, then the B-Wing could come into play for the Rebels and... I dunno... the TIE/d for the Imps?

**ScarletRose**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
Power management and systems? This is starting to look more X-Wing-y all the time, which is impressive.

I fear the single player will be a bit like the single player in the original Battlefront games, or even Siege - just variations on multiplayer that are rather shallow and meant to introduce mechanics more than tell a story.

It's interesting that there are "classes" for the fighters. Makes the lack of B-Wing make more sense now. I guess if they wanted to introduce a "gunship" class, then the B-Wing could come into play for the Rebels and... I dunno... the TIE/d for the Imps?

Would they bring back the assault gunboat for the Empire? It made it into the X-wing miniatures game so the gunboat must have passed some sort of muster with Disney.

**H.B.M.C.**

I thought about the Assault Gunboat as the opposite for the B-Wing. It certainly makes more sense than my suggestion of the Defender (the Defender is a Space Superiority Fighter of which there is no equal on the Rebels side, IIRC). I just don't know if Disney (almost wrote GW... heh!) would bring it back in that capacity. At least the TIE/d showed up in a canon source (Rebels), bringing it back into Star Wars proper. I don't think the Gunboat has yet.

Then again, one of the upgrade options is a SLAM drive, which I believe first came about because of the Assault Missile Boat (please correct me if I'm wrong - TIE Fighter was a long time ago!), so who knows what they might have planning.

They may do a "Heavy Bomber" version and give us the K-Wing and the Missile Boat or TIE Scimitar!

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Pre- orders seem possibly in the U.K. price is around £33, on average.

That’s a rather appealing price for my pocket.

Copy ordered from Amazon. And apparently due 2 October.