STAR WARS: SQUADRONS

Motive’s dogfighter wisely focuses on strategy over spectacle

Nothing is quite so true to the spirit of Star Wars than pinching things from the past. This latest entry in EA’s oeuvre is a first-person starfighter simulator that casts an eye back to the ’90s heyday of the X-Wing and TIE Fighter series, and centres on the giddy delight of being thrust into a dogfight – illuminated by distinctive green and red lasers that streak across the cockpit, soundtracked by angry squeals from Imperial TIE fighters on your six. More importantly, it echoes a past when what you bought was what you got. So yes, this feels like a reaction to Battlefront II’s troubled launch.

It’s focused and intricate in a way that Star Wars games haven’t been for a while, and that starts with the ships you pilot. Step into the cockpit of one of the eight on offer and you’re presented with an array of retrofuturistic buttons and faux-CRT screens that instantly evoke a sense of nostalgia, but these visual flourishes are more than childhood memorybait. For instance, in your pilot’s peripheral vision is a power management system similar to the ones found in the X-Wing games of old, which shifts the focus of your craft’s capabilities, letting you min-max your thrusters and lasers.