Star Wars Zero Company

Star Wars Zero Company is an excellent tactical game that does a fantastic job of slathering on the same cinematic look and feel we saw in Respawn's Star Wars Jedi games, incorporating strong characters and a storyline that's refreshingly centered on non-Force users and a non-traditional villain.

Star Wars is a rich playground for games, with loads of differentiated hero and enemy types and powers baked in, and Zero Company takes full advantage of that to make an excellent tactics game in its own right. In doing so, it has made the next great evolution of the genre.

A new all-timer Star Wars game and a stunning debut for Bit Reactor.

It's all very reminiscent of being aboard the Normandy, in Mass Effect.

Developer Bit Reactor largely succeeds at what it sets out to do, and if you’re a fan of either Star Wars or XCOM it’s an easy recommendation, even if I wish the story had just a bit more juice. If you’re looking for a sci-fi tactics fix, Zero Company delivers the goods.

Split priorities between scripted and emergent story moments hamper an otherwise brilliant Star Wars-themed successor to XCOM

The biggest achievement of Star Wars Zero Company is how much it made me care about a universe that has grown achingly dull and predictable in recent years.

Star Wars Zero Company is by and large a great turn-based strategy game, featuring a neat cast of characters and deep, compelling tactical missions. It's complex but not complicated, with several layers to the action that never overwhelm. On PS5, it's only really let down by poor technical performance, with visual snags and unfortunate bugs interrupting the fun. There's a great game here, and it is worth playing despite its flaws, but it'll come even more highly recommended if and when they're resolved.

You can feel the XCOM DNA in Bit Reactor's debut title, Star Wars Zero Company, but its cast of rogues is the special sauce that helps it shine, despite a somewhat lackluster story and unfortunate performance issues.

A rocket that takes off vibrantly, and then coasts a little too early.