Bizarrely earnest for EA. Sometimes almost adorable. It reminds me of those Amazon Original sci-fi shows: well meaning, in many ways competent, but also rather visibly amature.

Some of the early reviews described it as built like an "old" game. They mean this very literally. The non-flying segments flash me right back to X-Wing Alliance, and sometimes Wing Commander. Mechanically they work the same (stationary character with clickable scenery that serves as a sort of menu), and the effect is strengthened by visuals that really don't hold up outside the cockpit in VR or otherwise. I have to admit I find it a little cute, but the style certainly hasn't aged well. Between that and the poorly lip-synced, stilted campaign dialogue, you're likely to find yourself craving a can of Surge and a Cyrex processor. It's up to you whether that's a good thing or not. It turned me off at first, but then it started making me warm inside.

So is it worth anything besides nostalgia? Probably not in the campaign, but core gameplay is actually quite solid. Dogfights are fun, fast-paced, and don't often deadlock. System management and shield balancing is actually proactive, and makes up for a lot of the engagement lost to the relatively little flight model nuance that comes part and parcel with Star Wars canon. The multiplayer is solid, and as long as it maintains a userbase and you don't mind a UI that's a little rough around the edges, I can happily recommend it as a current year X-Wing game. But if you didn't grow up with the old games, the things I find cute you will find sloppy. A lot of it is straight up antiquated; there's no way around it.

Bizarrely earnest for EA. Sometimes almost adorable. It reminds me of those Amazon Original sci-fi shows: well meaning, in many ways competent, but also rather visibly amature. Some of the early reviews described it as built like an "old" game. They mean this very literally. The non-flying segments flash me right back to X-Wing Alliance, and sometimes Wing Commander. Mechanically they work the same (stationary character with clickable scenery that serves as a sort of menu), and the effect is strengthened by visuals that really don't hold up outside the cockpit in VR or otherwise. I have to admit I find it a little cute, but the style certainly hasn't aged well. Between that and the poorly lip-synced, stilted campaign dialogue, you're likely to find yourself craving a can of Surge and a Cyrex processor. It's up to you whether that's a good thing or not. It turned me off at first, but then it started making me warm inside. So is it worth anything besides nostalgia? Probably not in the campaign, but core gameplay is actually quite solid. Dogfights are fun, fast-paced, and don't often deadlock. System management and shield balancing is actually proactive, and makes up for a lot of the engagement lost to the relatively little flight model nuance that comes part and parcel with Star Wars canon. The multiplayer is solid, and as long as it maintains a userbase and you don't mind a UI that's a little rough around the edges, I can happily recommend it as a current year X-Wing game. But if you didn't grow up with the old games, the things I find cute you will find sloppy. A lot of it is straight up antiquated; there's no way around it.