NEED TO KNOW
What’s it Star Wars XCOM, however even higher than that sounds.
Launch date August 27, 2026
Anticipate to pay $50/£40
Writer Disney / EA / Respawn / Lucasfilm
Developer Bit Reactor
Reviewed on Core i5 12600K, RX 9070 XT, 32 GB RAM
Multiplayer None
Steam Deck Not Probably
Hyperlink Steam
It is kinda bizarre that it took anyone this lengthy to make a Star Wars squad ways sport, however studio Bit Reactor has, for all intents and functions, knocked it outta da park. Star Wars Zero Firm is a wonderfully executed—if acquainted—ways sport, nevertheless it’s additionally a brand new all-timer Star Wars story: I am speaking Rogue One, Knights of the Outdated Republic, TIE Fighter-tier.
Soften away the whole lot else, and it is acquired a Terminator skeleton of pure XCOM, the trendsetting ways sequence lots of Bit Reactor’s senior builders lower their tooth on. However the studio struck out from there into extra uncharted territory: lavish manufacturing values, zoomed-in motion game-style exploration, and a few really knockout set items and story beats.
Crucially, none of it got here at the price of problem or crunchy complexity. It looks like Bit Reactor has pitched a giant tent the place ways sickos, RPG storytelling followers, and Joe Sixpack cinematic console game-enjoyers can really discover one thing to like, not simply tolerate.
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Zero to hero
Zero Firm takes place within the twilight of the Excessive Republic, and sees you inhabiting a Commander Shepard-y standpoint character, Hawks. Hawks is a disgraced former Republic officer and, a minimum of in my save file, a Zabrak (Darth Maul man) who delivers each line in a charmingly incongruous cowboy drawl. Whereas Hawks has a largely set character, their gender, look, and costume are extremely customizable, together with your alternative of fight class and Bit Reactor’s admirable embrace of Star Wars’ cantina-going humanoid aliens. I felt a way of possession of my Hawks the identical method I do with Geralt of Rivia.
Your complete solid shares an analogous straightforward charisma, each in your house base crew and recruitable story-centric operators—it is a successful, “household of buddies” ensemble straight out of the BioWare playbook. There are quite a lot of snug Star Wars archetypes amongst them—ponderous-but-loveable alien bruiser, uptight princess, and laconic bounty hunter, to call a number of—however, just like the consolation zone fight mechanics, they’re executed extraordinarily effectively and belie surprisingly affecting twists.
There’s some severe “Aerith dies in Remaining Fantasy 7” stuff in Zero Firm’s again half that knocked my socks off, and Bit Reactor went to such nice lengths establishing a story establishment, the moments that upended it felt like I used to be getting smacked within the chest.
Even when the story’s cruising at a comparatively calm clip, your lovable crew may be at every others’ throats. The solid has the sense of friction and battle I am all the time searching for in an ensemble, and the ex-Separatist characters are a few of my favorites. Former bean counter and Zero Firm operations lead Runa is abrasive, smarmy, and unsightly in one of the best ways, whereas Umbaran bubble boy Luco hates your guts, in addition to these of your clone buddy, Trick.
Zero Firm is mainly Star Wars A-Group: You are mercs with hearts of gold who do non-public struggle stuff for the very best bidder, however in, like, a cool, enjoyable, and moral method. Galactic Republic Intelligence drops a fats contract in your lap to analyze a kooky cult (it is all the time a cult), leaving Hawks and crew to turn-based battle their method into saving the galaxy.
You gear up and handle your operation from the Den, a small however well-realized house base in an asteroid-bound smuggler metropolis. From the galaxy map, you may select to execute from a choice of text-based, noncombat espionage operations harking back to the Conflict Desk stuff in Dragon Age: Inquisition, whereas every “Cycle” (learn: day) on the Den is capped off with a full-fat fight mission that strikes time—and, when applicable, the story—ahead.
You discover the Den with full on, motion game-style driving third-person controls, and that is one in every of Zero Firm’s neatest methods. Each atmosphere is as tactile and richly detailed as one thing in Jedi: Fallen Order, and main story missions even characteristic exploratory interstitials between the fights. However, as quickly as fight begins, Zero Firm seamlessly zooms out to a traditional, tactical view.
The exploration gameplay is nearly painfully easy—work together with factors of curiosity for small bonuses, in any other case you are largely strolling down corridors—however I discovered it had a extremely outsized impact on this ways sport context. Whilst a primary try, it provides this revelatory immersive high quality, whereas Bit Reactor managed a degree of presentation and wow-factor that I would like to see in different ways video games and CRPGs.
Squad wipe
(Picture credit score: Bit Reactor)
You are restricted to 4 squadmates on a mission, and may embark on quite a lot of odd jobs between important quest blowouts: Hostage rescue, steal the factor, blow the factor up, and the surprisingly uncommon “kill all the blokes.” Even on aspect missions, there’s an impish, trolling high quality to Zero Firm’s design that I all the time like to see.
Enemies will spawn simply far sufficient away that you’re going to wrestle to succeed in them on a primary flip, however they will haven’t any drawback counterattacking after you have dedicated. Reinforcements typically spawn proper in your path to an exfiltration, and it appears solely enemy snipers have entry to the actually good rifles that may pinpoint strike you from throughout the map.
Zero Firm’s problem feels very well-judged to me: I felt pressured sufficient on Regular, however not overwhelmed. My guys would get downed right here and there, however I solely needed to take a second strive on one struggle in my playthrough.
I am an enormous sucker for gimmick battles in a turn-based sport—the Iron Throne in Baldur’s Gate 3, for instance, or the flaming oil tower from Divinity: Unique Sin 2—and Zero Firm’s important marketing campaign missions are constantly stuffed with “oh shit” challenges that had me grinning. One in all my favorites had me and my squad trooping out in discover mode down a suspiciously abandoned catwalk with the MacGuffin of the day on the far finish.
As soon as we grabbed the factor and the lure was sprung, enemies began filling within the path to the exit, and droid bombers started strafing the bridge in a turn-by-turn increasing killzone that pressured me to remain transferring at the same time as unhealthy man reinforcements blocked my path.
In different missions, issues may get actually bizarre: One memorable important story degree gifted me a one-time, functionally invincible super-unit to clear a path as I had my regular guys comply with alongside and full goals—it felt like a reverse-escort mission on this delightfully shocking method. One other jaw-dropper, season finale of a mission hit me with what I can solely describe as “Spec Ops: The Line type-shit,” a simple-but-devastating mechanical twist that completely complimented the narrative one.
Buildy boys
I used to be stunned at how a lot RPG buildcrafting there’s in Zero Firm. We’re not fairly at Rogue Dealer ranges of spreadsheet psychosis, however there are some enjoyable synergies to take advantage of. A bit of methods in, Zero Firm introduces multiclassing, after which we’re actually off to the races.
My jam has been the Gunslinger: They get stronger the extra assaults they make in a spherical, and in addition get a quickdraw potential that refunds its motion level price on a kill. Crowds of one-shot, dopey battle droids got here to resemble juicy Thanksgiving turkeys to my quickdraw-addled thoughts, powering me up for DPS assaults on beefier foes.
Astromech droids are help gods in Zero Firm, and I nearly by no means went out with out one. They cannot make direct assaults, however they’ll refresh squadmates’ AP and get bonus slots and makes use of for utility gadgets like grenades. They’re support-casters that really feel like Faculty of Lore Bards in Baldur’s Gate or the Officer class in Rogue Dealer.
Along with Zero Firm’s important solid, you may rent generic mercenaries extra in keeping with the nameless, proc-gen squads of XCOM. I largely caught with the canon crew, however I used to be pleasantly stunned at how seamlessly the customized operators slot into the Den. They draw from a choice of “personalities,” every with their very own voice actor, and they are often discovered chilling across the Den like Mom Base troopers in Steel Gear Strong 5. They even have related commentary on the story because it unfolds, and can converse with one another in addition to the story soldiers.
Hanging over all of them is the specter of permadeath. I did not expertise its penalties instantly in my playthrough, however even the specter of it lends every struggle greater stakes. I am unable to assist however admire the chutzpah of hanging completely missable story content material on such a lovable, fragile solid. These systemic dangers are additionally supported by the story in a extremely intelligent method: Some characters depart the stage in stunning, everlasting trend. All of it contributes to a story that feels tragic and grown up in an analogous strategy to Rogue One.
Full bundle
Zero Firm has been a deal with from starting to finish, and I’ve discovered little to complain about. There’s small stuff, some patchable, and a few much less so; EA has indicated there can be a day one patch I didn’t have entry to within the evaluation interval. My largest concern: I am a reasonably anti-waypoint man lately, and Zero Firm’s exploration segments are so linear, the ever-present Skyrim quest marker felt prefer it was main me round by the nostril—I am shocked there is not already a toggle within the choices.
I skilled two arduous crashes in my playthrough, in addition to one extreme graphical glitch that required me to reload a save. Smaller points popped up right here and there: minor graphics hiccups, flickering UI parts, a protracted dangle time whereas the sport would attempt to resolve an enemy flip, however nothing I discovered notably odious. I’m sorry to say that Zero Firm will not be a Steam Deck candidate, and it is arduous to see how Bit Reactor may make it match that field. Bottoming out settings and maxing FSR resulted in a soupy, unparsable, 15-20fps mess for me.
Minor points apart, Star Wars Zero Firm is without doubt one of the greatest video games of 2026 and a brand new all-timer Star Wars videogame. Whereas I do not see it having the modding/sandbox “endlessly sport” gravity of XCOM 2, it’s glorious, substantial, and extremely replayable. I’ve discovered it to be a mic drop of a debut from Bit Reactor, a way that is solely compounded by its crowd-pleasingly anachronistic price ticket of $50.