Star Wars: Zero Firm was offered by EA for assessment. Thanks!
Star Wars: Zero Firm was an enormous shock to somebody with no emotional funding within the Star Wars universe, in that I loved myself. That’s partly as a result of I like turn-based technique and partly as a result of I had enjoyable with the characters and setting. Whereas it isn’t a recreation I can suggest for the Steam Deck proper now as a consequence of efficiency and technical points, Zero Firm is fairly rattling compelling.
I imagine it’s protected to say that we’ve got had little luck with Star Wars within the final decade, and video video games are not any exception. Jedi: Fallen Order was respectable sufficient, however Survivor had a brutal launch with technical points, and Star Wars Outlaws additionally had a tough begin, although patches did enhance that recreation. I had my doubts about Star Wars: Zero Firm when it launched, nevertheless it took me by nice shock.
If in case you have performed something XCOM-like, Star Wars: Zero Firm will make you’re feeling proper at residence, though it’s significantly much less punishing. Flip-based fight is the secret, blended with some respectable story beats and the type of gameplay I normally dig. Gamers tackle the position of Hawk, a distrusting and struggling mercenary captain on onerous occasions, together with his firm in debt to what I nicknamed ‘Low cost Jabba’. Whereas the Star Wars universe is embroiled in its common Republic struggle shenanigans, Zero Firm is on the fringes of that as Hawk battles a cabal often called the Mortal Coil. The story, whereas nothing to jot down residence about, was sufficient to maintain my curiosity.
I ended up surprisingly connected to my little crew of characters, who’ve vary of personalities and felt actual to work together with. Runa began as any person I despised on precept for being our resident accountant with a big stick up her arse, however over time she grew on me. My favourite character general is Hawk himself, and all that is helped by the good voice appearing with totally mocapped cutscenes.
The early story takes you right into a stable tutorial to be taught the ropes of the core fight and base administration, in addition to instructing the hazards of overreach by killing off one of many solid instantly. I appreciated the man and couldn’t save him, nevertheless it’s an effective way of displaying the results of your actions. Screw up, particularly on permadeath, and your crew members may be misplaced eternally!
In contrast to many video games I’ve performed the place permadeath doesn’t actually influence a lot in regards to the narrative, Zero Firm bucks that development in that the story accounts for lacking characters, and issues do change. It’s nonetheless bizarre how few video games in 2026 have penalties on your actions. I like to recommend enjoying on better difficulties for that reason, as Zero Firm wants a bit of work on the steadiness.
Seeing how developer Bit Reactor comprises most of the individuals behind the XCOM video games, Zero Firm is actually XCOM with a recent coat of paint. That could be a good factor, and I’ve had a blast throughout fight. Completely different operators have totally different skills, with loads of customization and weapons to unlock. I like fight techniques that allow me tailor models to my wants, and Zero Firm does a stable job of that.
Squad members have a backup mechanic the place they name on one another for help when attacking an enemy, which additionally boosts their relationship. Missions in fight normally contain coping with waves of enemies as their reinforcements arrive, or safely evacuating after reaching a purpose. The number of missions isn’t superb, nevertheless it does the job.
In contrast to XCOM, you don’t simply drop right into a battle map, and normally you’ll discover an space earlier than combating. For instance, one of many early missions is to snoop on smugglers, taking you thru a tough borough of seedy dockworkers. It’s a good approach to do some worldbuilding and set the scene, though I want Zero Firm did extra with these sequences. These exploration sections really feel extra like corridors of environmental storytelling than lively hubs that broaden gameplay, and I might have most popular some aspect quests to enhance the transitions. Not unhealthy, however might use some fine-tuning to make these segments extra thrilling.
Between missions, gamers return to the Den, Hawk’s little headquarters that’s the base of operations. There, you get to relaxation up, test on companions, purchase new gear, improve amenities, and the same old administration stuff that you simply would possibly count on from XCOM. I actually appreciated these cooldown occasions, as they supply the juxtaposition between frantic fight and downtime that many video games excel at.
I’m pondering video games like Persona with its life sim/dungeon crawl gameplay, the latest launch of Pax Autocratica with base constructing and roguelike squad fight, and naturally XCOM with base administration and the turn-based missions. Magic usually occurs even when two separate genres may not be probably the most refined by themselves, however work properly collectively. That’s actually the case with Star Wars: Zero Firm.
Whereas I loved the core recreation a lot, there are some tough edges that maintain Zero Firm again from being actually nice. The issue is a bit far and wide, and whereas some missions provide loads of curveballs that make me think twice about learn how to get my squad out alive, it’s pretty simple to make your workforce insanely highly effective. I like to recommend enjoying on onerous mode, and permadeath turned on to benefit from the supposed expertise.
The principle criticism I’ve for the sport is, sadly, its technical aspect; I skilled my justifiable share of bugs, crashes, and quest softlocks. Most of those had been minor, and the hunt locks, whereas annoying, had been solvable by reloading a save generally. The worst-case situation was me having to restart a mission from scratch. There have been a few patches since launch, however with Bit Reactor’s workforce furloughed after launch, long-term help for Zero Firm is a priority.
Star Wars: Zero Firm – Steam Deck Efficiency
Star Wars: Zero Firm is rated Unsupported for the Steam Deck, with ProtonDB giving it a Platinum Score. Regardless that the sport boots on the Deck, it does not carry out properly.
On launch, our foremost man Noah gave his impressions of the Steam Deck efficiency with some very disappointing outcomes. We’ve solely seen a few patches for the sport since launch, so I hoped for not less than playable framerates in a pinch. Sadly, nevertheless, Zero Firm is simply not a choose for the Deck proper now, and I discovered Noah’s evaluation wholly correct. There’s simply no practical method of constructing the sport playable on the dated Steam Deck chip.
Given the steep system necessities, this was no huge shock to me, however it’s a disgrace nonetheless. Play Zero Firm elsewhere.
Accessibility
Star Wars: Zero Firm is obtainable in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Simplified Chinese language, Conventional Chinese language, and Portuguese. Full audio is barely out there in English and German, nevertheless.
The sport presents a variety of accessibility settings that go above and past what’s typical for a turn-based ways recreation. There’s full-screen colorblind filter help, extra-large textual content choices, controller and keybind remapping, subtitle changes, together with text-to-speech, a stabilizing dot to assist with movement illness, and 4 issue ranges, with the choice to disable permadeath. There’s loads in right here, and full credit score to Bit Reactor for its wonderful accessibility choices.
Conclusion
Star Wars: Zero Firm took me by nice shock, which is the most effective type of shock in life. Whereas I wasn’t anticipating the sport to be unhealthy by any means, most issues to do with Star Wars in recent times have made followers curl up and sob in a nook. Zero Firm is the type of recreation the place you’ll be able to inform it has been constructed with love and care, and regardless of some issue gripes and a few unlucky technical hiccups, I’ve had lots of enjoyable enjoying..
Between the stable core gameplay, respectable writing, and surprisingly likable characters, Star Wars: Zero Firm is an effective choose for technique followers. Simply don’t count on to play this on the Steam Deck any time quickly.
Our assessment relies on the PC model of this recreation.
When you loved this assessment, you’ll want to try the remainder of the content material on SteamDeckHQ! We’ve all kinds of recreation evaluations and information which are positive to assist your gaming expertise. Whether or not you are on the lookout for information, suggestions and tutorials, recreation settings and evaluations, or simply wish to keep up-to-date on the newest tendencies, we have got your again.
