Star Wars: Squadrons Mission Gameplay Footage Revealed at Gamescom

Electronic Arts and Motive Studios have revealed our first look at a mission in Star Wars: Squadrons, the new space combat game set in the galaxy far, far away. The gameplay footage sees the New Republic and Imperial pilots preparing for a dogfight over Hosnian Prime, the planet that was destroyed in The Force Awakens. We get brief cameos from Wedge Antilles and Rae Sloane, too.

Watch the footage below:

“In Star Wars: Squadrons, players will enlist as starfighter pilots, stepping into the cockpits of iconic starfighters from both the New Republic and Imperial fleets. They’ll plan skirmishes with their squadron in the briefing room before taking off for space battles across the galaxy,” EA said in a press release.

Star Wars: Squadrons will emphasize not only mastery of combat skills but also the systems inside the cockpit. Players will have to manage power, targeting, and shields as they zip through space, making the game a big more involved than past space combat games based on the franchise.

As opposed to the third-person perspective of the Rogue Squadron games, Star Wars: Squadrons is played in the first-person, with players being able to see all of the controls in the pilot’s seat. The game can also be played completely in VR and is compatible with joysticks and HOTAS controller systems.

The space battles will be 5v5 matches over locations such as “the gas giant of Yavin Prime and the shattered moon of Galitan.” The game takes place after Return of the Jedi at a time when the Empire is in decline and the New Republic has already been established. 

EA has announced two multiplayer modes so far. There’s Fleet Battles, multi-stage matches where the objective is to “demolish the opposing flagship.” The match will start with a dogfight before moving on attack and defend mid-sized cruisers, and then a battle to protect and destroy one side’s capitol ship in the final stage. The publisher confirmed that players will be able to play Fleet Battles against AI.

Dogfights will make players feel “the rush of first-person multiplayer combat as they work with their squadron to defeat as many opponents as possible.” This is a more traditional deathmatch mode.

The single-player mode will “bring to life events following the Battle of Endor when the Rebel Alliance has successfully destroyed the Death Star II” and will be told from “the alternating perspectives of two customizable pilots, one serving in the New Republic’s heroic Vanguard Squadron, while the other fights for the Galactic Empire’s fearsome Titan Squadron.”

EA explained during EA Play that players will create a custom pilot for both the New Republic and Empire and will experience the story through these two characters. 

Star Wars Squadrons is out on Oct. 2. The game is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. It will retail for $39.99. The game will also be cross-play, meaning that you’ll be able to jump in and play with your friends no matter what platform each of you is playing on. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X ports are also planned at a later date.