Lucasfilm and EA nearly broke the Internet yesterday when they dropped the first trailer for Star Wars Squadrons. The new game focusses on the battle among the stars, featuring one-on-one and team dogfighting with the two most iconic fighters in Star Wars. Whether as an X-wing or TIE pilot, you can now take part in “monumental fleet battles” in the galaxy far, far away.
Familiar faces in Star Wars Squadrons
The brand new story line will take place “during the final days of the Galactic Empire and the rise of the New Republic after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.” That will generally coincide with portions of the Aftermath timeline, and more likely the events of Alexander Freed’s Alphabet Squadron. (The screen shot below, showing four of the five ships of Alphabet, strongly implies we’ll see the squadron itself.) As a result, Star Wars Squadrons will include some recognizable faces in its narrative.
(Image: Lucafilm Ltd./EA)
The new story will take players to never-before-scene locations, but will still hold some degree of familiarity. As the official game description notes, “[t]he authentic story features a diverse cast of original characters, as well as some cameos from familiar faces in the Star Wars galaxy.” You can see a couple of those characters in the preview trailer for Star Wars Squadrons, above. Chief among them is ace Rebel pilot Wedge Antilles. Thus, we can assume the action takes does indeed take place in the Aftermath timeline, before Wedge “retires” and marries Norra Wexley.
Likely to feature even more heavily, however, is Star Wars Rebels favorite Hera Syndulla. The Rebel leader has taken on a much larger role in the greater Star Wars universe since Rebels ended. She’s had cameos (albeit by name or via her ship, the Ghost) in both Rogue One and The Rise of Skywalker. She’s also a major player in the Alphabet Squadron series, as well. (More on that in the coming days….) With yesterday’s trailer launch, we can confirm she’ll play a part in Star Wars Squadrons, too.
We’ll just have to wait and see if the Calamari officer next to her in the trailer is the one and only Ackbar. Otherwise, the cinematic preview of the game has already wowed Star Wars and gaming fans alike. Here’s hoping the actual game play lives up to the hype.
Star Wars Squadrons arrives October 20, 2020. For more details, visit www.starwars.com.
