Star Wars Zero Company Review
Table of Contents
The XCOM formula, when paired with the right IP, has been proven to be a winning combination. Marvel’s Midnight Suns proved it, and now, we have another contender coming from a galaxy far, far away.
Set in the twilight of the Clone Wars, Star Wars Zero Company is a turn‑based tactics game that places you in command of a small squad of soldiers navigating missions in the Star Wars galaxy, and what’s great about it is that it just doesn’t lean on the IP to carry it because its gameplay fundamentals are equally as strong. Despite not tackling a story that directly affects the larger Star Wars universe, it’s a fantastic time that totally deserves your attention.
A Galaxy Far Away
Players take control of Hawks, a former Republic officer and the leader of Zero Company, a ragtag squad of operatives who have found themselves recruited against the rising threat of the Infinite Coil, a Separatist‑aligned cult infected with the mysterious Shadow Plague. Clever and cool-headed, players can customize the look of Hawks to their liking, with a pretty sufficient character creation tool that will have you looking like the finest scoundrel there is.
Star Wars Zero Company doesn’t attempt to retell sweeping galactic events, but don’t mistake that for the game not having an engaging narrative. Instead, it zooms in on the action on the ground, making the game more personal than usual by emphasizing survival, camaraderie, and the moral choices that come with leading a group. And that works because a game that uses the XCOM formula is personal to begin with, as you embark on dangerous missions where a comrade can die permanently (you can turn this off) if you’re not careful.
That rings true here, especially since we’re dealing with written characters with their own characteristics, motivations, and personality. Getting attached to the rest of Zero Company is not hard to do, as the rest of the cast is likable and important, meaning they are not some random character who you recruit out of the blue. There are still some random characters to recruit, but the fact that you have some key characters to deal with really raises the emotional connections you can form.
Tactics Galore
Fans of Firaxis titles will not be disappointed here, as Bit Reactor has done a superb job of bringing the tried-and-tested tactical formula to life in the Star Wars universe. Players will definitely know what to expect, with hiding behind cover, attacking with a hit percentage, and each character in the field having three action points per round that govern how much they can perform (attack, items, move, etc).
Cover is a base element in the game, where players will need to take advantage of the environment to keep their characters safe by blocking line of sight and outright preventing enemies from attacking. Some cover can be destroyed, altering the battlefield, so this is one of many considerations when thinking of what moves to make.
Star Wars Zero Company employs several interesting mechanics, such as Overwatch, where players can set up a cone area that automatically attacks any enemy that passes through it. The farther away the players set up the cone, the less accurate the Overwatch will be. Players can also cast Backup, where characters can assist each other during combat and increase their bonds.
In a bind, your characters can get injured during battle. They won’t die outright, as you’ll need to be injured three times to face death. Injuries can be dealt with in between battles through the medbay in your HQ, and you’ll have an option to choose between resting, which takes a day cycle, or an instant Bacta Tank recovery that’s more expensive. Injuries in Star Wars Zero Company are more often than not due to obvious mistakes rather than chance.
In between missions, players can access their HQ, or “The Den,” where they can chat with party members, access operations, perform upgrades, advance to the next mission, and more. Operations are concise, task‑based activities that consume a resource known as Intel Cost. Some operations may also require a specific number of operators to initiate, and once triggered, they typically resolve immediately and provide direct rewards. However, operations are time‑sensitive as they expire after a set number of cycles. Because they rely on a limited resource, players must carefully prioritize which operations to undertake.
That said, team composition definitely plays a role in Star Wars Zero Company. Of course, if you’re willing to dive enough into character roles and synergies, there’s a lot to dig into and experiment with. Each character, or operator, has a specialization that defines their abilities, and while you’re able to respec some of these, some characters will be tied to what’s given. Each operator also has a unique talent that only they have, like Hawks increasing assist damage and chance-to-hit while present, and Trick can automatically revive during the next turn.
Each character in Star Wars Zero Company has a focus tree, which is basically their skill tree where you can allocate points to improve their abilities. In my playthrough, I built my Hawks to be a sharpshooter who would assist party members with long-range attacks; hence, upgrading overwatch chance to hit and damage was a must.
Star Wars Zero Company‘s level design is also great, offering players multiple ways to approach the skirmish and rewards creative play. There’s destructible cover, interactable items, explosives, and so much more, adding to the number of factors that can dictate which strategy to take. There are also choices to make and optional objectives that can provide rewards at a cost, adding tension to the proceedings. Add good enemy variety that needs different approaches, and you’ve got interesting levels throughout that will require players to think two steps ahead and chain combos as much as possible.
Everything is held together by a UI and control system that’s easy to learn and understand, whether you are a newcomer or tactics veteran. Star Wars Zero Company clearly indicates attack and movement ranges, AP usage, harmful effects, and more, while gradually introducing new mechanics. The developers made sure everything is readable and easy to understand, making the onboarding process simple while leaving enough depth for players to get creative.
Look Like a Scoundrel
Star Wars Zero Company is also undoubtedly Star Wars, featuring familiar sights and sounds, atmospheric locales, and the sense that you are just a tiny cog in a much larger conflict. That authenticity helps the game feel like a genuine Star Wars story rather than a generic tactics title with a license slapped on.
This is accomplished through production value that you would normally associate with Star Wars Jedi titles. Environments are detailed and varied, from cramped interiors to war‑scarred exteriors. Lighting and particle effects add cinematic flair to firefights, while character models and armor designs feel authentic to the universe.
Star Wars Zero Company‘s audio design also complements the visuals: weapon sounds have weight, ambient noise sells the setting, and the score leans into the franchise’s musical DNA without being derivative. These elements combine to create an immersive tactical experience that fans of the IP will immediately relate to.
Star Wars Zero Company PC and Steam Deck Performance
Here’s what we used to play Star Wars Zero Company:
- Ryzen 5 5600x, 16 GB DDR4 3600 RAM, NVIDIA 4070 Super, 1TB NVMe SSD
- Steam Deck
- ROG Strix OLED XG32UCWG
And here are the System Requirements for Star Wars Zero Company:
Recommended PC System Requirements
- OS: 64 bit Windows 10/11 (Windows 11 Recommended)
- Processor(AMD): Ryzen 7 3700X
- Processor(Intel): Intel Core i7-10700K
- Memory: 32 GB
- Graphics Card(AMD): Radeon RX 7800 XT
- Graphics Card(Nvidia): Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080
- Direct X: 12
- Online Connection Requirements: N/A
- Hard Drive Space: 50 GB
- Additional Notes: Resolution: 2560×1440 FPS: 60 Graphics Settings Preset: High
Minimum PC System Requirements
- OS: 64 bit Windows 10/11 (Windows 11 Recommended)
- Processor(AMD): Ryzen 5 2600X
- Processor(Intel): Intel Core i5-8400
- Memory: 16 GB
- Graphics Card(AMD): Radeon RX 5600 XT, or Intel ARC B580
- Graphics Card(Nvidia): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080
- Direct X: 12
- Online Connection Requirements: N/A
- Hard Drive Space: 50 GB
- Additional Notes: Resolution: 1920×1080 FPS: 30 Graphics Settings Preset: Low
As you can see, it doesn’t take much to run Star Wars Zero Company, and we can imagine most PCs can run the game at the recommended settings. That said, our playthrough resulted in some stuttering issues, which we hope will get patched before launch. While we experienced a couple of freezes that required a restart, it wasn’t enough to detract from our enjoyment of the game.
On the other hand, Steam Deck performance is another matter. To hit a stable 30 FPS, you’ll need to either push the settings to low or medium, and then turn on FSR frame generation set to performance. That way, you’ll get stable 30 FPS gameplay, and if you unlock the frame rate cap, it can even go as high as the 40s on low settings. You’ll be losing a lot in terms of graphical fidelity, which is a bummer because the game is visually appealing.
Verdict: 9/10 Buy it!
Star Wars Zero Company is a triumph in the tactics genre, striking a good balance that’s approachable enough for newcomers, deep enough for veterans, and atmospheric enough to satisfy franchise fans. The game’s focus on small‑scale survival and squad dynamics gives it weight, while its tight combat design delivers consistently tense, rewarding encounters. This is definitely the Star Wars tactics game that you’ve been looking for.
*Star Wars Zero Company was reviewed on a PC/Steam Deck with a review code provided by the publisher.
