STAR WARS: Squadrons

I am 52 years old. I waited in line for two full days in 1977 to see Star Wars and it altered my young creative life. This game is a Monumental Achievement. I grew up when Pong was still cool. I never dreamed I would have a chance to fly an X-Wing in battle against the Empire; though I flew countless missions in my young and vivid imagination. Thank you to ALL of you who thought this was a good idea and dedicated yourselves to making it Real. Because that's what it feels like to the eight year boy who dropped his popcorn when Darth Vader came through that steam. I am grateful.
Kudos on So Many Levels.
Matthew Burnett, Portland, Maine 2022

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

All the time I spent flying a Cessna 152 in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 has unknowingly been preparing me for this game.
Do you have a VR headset? If so this game is absolutely worth it. You are flying around in a f'ing Xwing. Remember how cool you imagined it would be when you were a kid... its cooler.
Do you love flight sim games? Absolutely worth it. It’s a pretty good sim game, single player missions are decently fun, some of them I’d have done a little different but overall solid storyline.
Are you nostalgic for the old X-wing/TIE Fighter games from the 90’s? Absolutely worth it.
Haven't tried MP yet, not really into that as I am not a neckbeard, but if you like Star Wars games generally and are willing to try out a multiplayer flight sim? Probably worth it.
All in all it’s a fun game. Campaign story is surprisingly decent, nothing great, but flying an X-Wing and diverting power to the shields/engines/weapons while dodging blaster will never be not fun.
Cons?
OH... you get weird stripe marks on your face if you've worn your VR headset for more than 16 hours in a row. My wife was not super thrilled about that. My wife’s boyfriend says the stripes mark me as a real gamer man. Give it a try.
8/10

---{ 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 am going to recommend this game because I am still glad that I bought it, but let me address some complaints that I have.
The stage was set, we got good controls, we got amazing graphics, we got native vr support that is mind-blowingly immersive, we got cool and exciting space battles, we got multiplayer. It's everything we dreamed of....almost. The most disappointing part of this game for me, by far, was the lack of any iconic ships or battles from any of the movies. They couldn't even be bothered to make a pay-dlc including the OT ships and the battle of Yavin. Why can't I help blow up the Vuutun Palaa in a Naboo starfighter? We don't get to tie up AT-ATs legs with snow speeders. It is beyond my understanding how a company like EA, who is notorious for making endless DLC for the Sims and charging premium price tags on every single minuscule pack, can let this game fester without any pandering to fans whatsoever. I can only hope that it is some kind of licensing issue because this should have been the stickiest ball ever to just drop. The whole reason I waited so long to review this game is because I had hoped we would eventually get ship and map DLC
That being said, this game is extremely fun and I do recommend it to fans of Star Wars and space flight simulators in general. If you own a VR headset and a HOTAS, it is a must-have, especially at it's current $9.99 price point. The story exciting, the characters are memorable, you really feel like you're playing a part of the bigger picture of the timeline during which the campaign takes place. That's what makes it even more disappointing that I can't do a death star trench run.

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.

Overall I like the game. It was alot better back in the early days of play though it had significant networking issues. I haven't played multiplayer in quite some time, but I can attest that its a perfectly fine compstomp/star wars figther simulator though the combatants are New Republic and Imperial Remnant. I'm still working my way through the story but its interesting enough.
Keyboard and Mouse work just fine.
IF you have a flight stick and throttle the game is worth playing with it due to the fun factor but I fear that it is.... suboptimal for multiplayer play, I haven't tried it yet but I definitely Do not do as well as I did with the Throttle and Joystick as compared to mouse and keyboard.
Only Complaint: If you're familiar with space sims like Elite Dangerous, there is a power system in place. It works. However, for optimal success I don't see much of a reason to manipulate your pips beyond Min and Maxing them. There is a setting in the options that allows you to do so if you choose, but with how rapidly you switch between focusing different systems and with how vital it is, I'm not sure if more detailed control over power management is really warranted at all.