STAR WARS: Squadrons

Free at Epic Game Store 25th november 2022 TILL 2 December 2022.

To fix the gray login screen you have to log out of EA app and sign into EA app via steam, it then ask you to link EA to Steam account.
So far i dont know if the game is really good or bad, just wanted to let people know

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☐ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☑ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☑ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☑ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

I'm 11 hours in, I've been using this game as a place to test dual flightstick. I've been thoroughly enjoying it. Might play it with stick + mouse, probably wouldn't play it with keyboard + mouse, might play it with controller. It's pretty obviously been abandoned, but there seems to be a Reddit community that organises weekly fleet battles. I assume they're all turbonerds that have played since the game's inception, but it's reassuring to see activity still. Fun flight, nice controls, satisfying combat, unfortunately EA. 6/10 overall in 2023.

I first played a version of Squadrons back in early 1978.
I was ten years old and had just been taken to the cinema to watch this new film experience called "Star Wars". Even though the film had opened in the USA the summer before, it didn't premiere in the UK until 6 (painfully long) months later. In the old, analogue world, where pre-booking was not yet even a concept, it took a couple of long waits in the cold to try and get in to see the film. Finally, we got our tickets and as clichéd as this may sound - a part of me changed forever.
As I sat in the plush maroon seats of the now demolished, Gaumont Cinema in Sheffield, I was transfixed watching a brave young Skywalker pilot an X-Wing against the evil hordes of the Empire. Peering through the haze of smoke I whooped with joy as spectacular dogfights and space battles ensued.
What happened then across many school playgrounds were action-packed re-enactments of these scenes. Children with anoraks tied around their waists, wooshing and screeching, firing lasers and cannons at each other, the sound of "pew-pew" louder than the ringing of the dinner bell.
My version of Squadrons back then was projected from inside my overly active imagination and I could only dream that some day and somehow, it might be possible to climb (virtually or otherwise) into the cockpit of the bad-ass X-Wing.
>> >> fast forward 45 years >> >>
I'm only 5 hours in to playing single player Story Mode. I'm big on SP and my opinion is based purely on that. There's plenty of folk happy to comment on the online experience. If that's what you're expecting from me, I gotta tell you - these aren't the droids you're looking for.
My PC setup isn't by any means high-end. I'm running an i5, 16Gb, GTX 750Ti and a couple of SSDs. I didn't want to build my hopes up, kinda hoped it would at least load. It runs smoothly and judder free at 1920 x 1080, it's frantic and fast paced. The graphics were auto-detected and despite being set towards the lower end, still present a visual feast. I can imagine it is nothing short of beautiful if you've got the hardware to run at the highest setting levels.
I'm an old flyboy having put 1000's of hours into many sims over the years. I decided on the Pilot mode with Aviator settings. After an hour of "Pilot Destroyed" I decided that there was no shame in dropping the levels and that changed everything! I can now hold my own against foes of all shapes and sizes, the story unfolds cleverly and the playing from both Imperial and Rebellion perspectives is a stroke of genius. Playing a single mission from a different stance feels fresh and is a smart move by the devs. This narrative freedom allows you to fly all the ships without any sense of betrayal.
Do I recommend it? Yep. Absolutely. The first time I was in the virtual pit of the X-Wing I found myself grinning. A big, childish grin on my face as I looked around at the dials, controls and instrument panels and realised that those years of waiting have been worth every moment.

Now they NEED to make a VR POD RACER game like this minus the numerous crashes

Squadrons is two games. On one hand, you get a really fun singleplayer campaign with a pretty high skill ceiling. It's a pretty forgettable story, but it's still so immersive to have to fiddle with your starfighter's power and targeting systems. You have a lot of direct control and it's just, a fun control scheme to play with. The problem is the second game. This is a competitive 4v4 online pvp game.
Now, to the uninitiated, mixing immersive spacefighter sim mechanics where you have an option to turn off your HUD and just play with the physical cockpit to relay all the important information to you with online comp multiplayer is an... interesting decision. The game's primary method of play just doesn't mesh well with its mechanics. It would have worked *so* much better as what plenty of other people have suggested, co-op Battlefront-esque space battles. And that sort of exists? But it's so much more focused on the competitive aspect. It's just a really baffling decision; imagine taking a really good VR flight sim game and making its entire premise competitive PvP 4v4 matches. You're just not playing to the strengths of the mechanics.
If you like reasonably replayable campaigns with a good amount of mission variety and challenge on the higher difficulties, I'd say there's worse games out there than this. Just be aware that unless you also happen to want its weird (and basically dead) competitive pvp multiplayer mode, you're getting what is and definitely feels like half a game.