Star Wars: Squadronsmade a strong first impression this week with itsfirst action-packed gameplay trailer, which showed off the wide variety of ways players will be able to dogfight in their own X-Wing or TIE Fighter. But in news that may disappoint some (or excite, depending on who’s being asked), it’s been confirmed that the game will be locked to a first-person perspective.
Throughout the years, a number of flight-basedStar Warsgames have allowed players to switch between a first-person and third-person view, most notably in the classicRogue Squadronserieson the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube. WithSquadronshowever, EA’s Motive Studio has removed that option, and that’s because, according to creative director Ian Frazier, the team is focusing on immersion and providing players with an experience that lets them feel like they’re actually inside the cockpit of a space fighter.
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“The whole game is designed from the ground up to be first-person all the way through,” Frazier told GameSpot. “Now if you’re in spectator mode, you’re observing, there’s a third-person perspective there. You are the pilot. All the diegetic information is built into the hud, so you could turn off all the game layer UI if you want and rely entirely on your instruments. We want that to be the core experience.”
This is somethingStar Wars: Squadrons’ gameplay trailer does a good job of demonstrating, as the footage does make it clear that the cockpits’ instruments clearly convey all of the important game information, allowing players to keep track of their ship’s health, shields, radar, and more at a glance. This saves them the trouble of having to take their eyes off the action as often, and should be a welcome addition for those playingSquadronsin VR.
That being said, this locked perspective means there will be some disparity between the New Republic and Empire crafts. But while it’s easy to think that X-Wings will have a clear advantage over TIE Fighters due to having shields and a wider cockpit window, Frazier said that’s not strictly the case.
Citing theclassicX-WingandTIE Fightergames from the 1990s(gamesSquadronsseems to be taking quite a bit of inspiration from), he stressed that the lack of shields on TIE Fighters can be balanced out by the fact that players won’t have to worry about managing their shields during combat. “It’s one less thing to manage, so there’s less head-space required for that. … The counterbalance of what you’re losing is what you’re gaining in focus."
More than that, though, Frazier pointed out howSquadrons’ multiplayerwill place emphasis on teammates planning which ships and weapons to take into battle. “It’s not one person against the world, it’s always a team of five," he said. “Everything is built against that idea of a tight-knit squadron. In PvP it’s not just what loadout are you taking, but what are your buddies taking? How can you get synergies between those things?” Therefore, it will be possible for players to get around any weaknesses in a specific ship with the right team composition.
Star Wars: Squadronswill be released on October 2 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
