---
title: 'Star Wars Zero Company is Full of (Excellent) Surprises - Hands-On Impressions'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ma3fE3nWCqw'
video_id: 'Ma3fE3nWCqw'
date: 2026-08-16
duration_sec: 1088
---

# Star Wars Zero Company is Full of (Excellent) Surprises - Hands-On Impressions

> Source: [Star Wars Zero Company is Full of (Excellent) Surprises - Hands-On Impressions](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ma3fE3nWCqw)

## Summary

This video is a hands-on impressions review of the upcoming strategy game Star Wars: Zero Company, developed by Bit Reactor. The reviewer highlights the game's surprising quality in storytelling, presentation, and gameplay, positioning it as a potential spiritual successor to XCOM. The video covers the game's narrative depth, character customization, visual fidelity, and innovative mechanics, all wrapped in a Star Wars setting.

### Key Points

- **Surprising Genre Evolution** [00:25] — The reviewer notes that XCOM-style strategy games can be surprising, citing Mario + Rabbids and Marvel's Midnight Suns as examples that evolved the formula. Star Wars: Zero Company is another such surprise, exceeding expectations.
- **Production Values Are Absurdly High** [01:20] — The game features high-quality cutscenes, writing, voice acting, and character customization, which is unusual for the genre. The reviewer was immediately impressed by the production layer.
- **Depth Shouldn't Cost Elegance** [02:12] — Bit Reactor's mantra is 'depth shouldn't cost you elegance,' meaning they aim to balance deep gameplay with strong storytelling and presentation, avoiding the typical trade-offs in strategy games.
- **Story: A War Beneath the War** [03:03] — Set during the Clone Wars, the story follows a shadowy unit called Zero Company, composed of outcasts and mercenaries, who undertake off-the-books missions that subtly influence the larger conflict.
- **Character Creation and Limitations** [03:30] — The game offers a robust character creation tool for the protagonist, Hawk, but with only two voice options (male and female), both with a grizzled, cynical personality. This limits role-playing but supports a strong narrative.
- **Class-Based Abilities** [04:23] — The class choice determines abilities; for example, the gunslinger can fire quick, low-damage shots, and getting kills refunds ability points, reminiscent of a cowboy fanning a six-shooter.
- **Setup: A Ragtag Group in Debt** [05:08] — Zero Company is a group of down-on-their-luck mercenaries deep in debt to the Hutts, hired by the Republic to quietly resolve a separatist movement. The setup is strong and immediately engaging.
- **Writing Pedigree** [06:12] — The narrative director, Aaron Contreras, previously worked on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor, contributing to the game's excellent writing and character development.
- **Permadeath and Narrative Consequences** [07:19] — The game includes a hardcore mode where characters can die permanently, and their deaths alter the story. This adds weight to tactical decisions and increases replayability.
- **Base Management and Relationships** [08:09] — Player choices at base, such as conversations and decisions, affect character relationships and story outcomes, adding another layer of depth beyond combat.
- **Visuals and Art Design** [09:17] — The art style is Clone Wars-adjacent but more mature, with concept art by Terrell Whitlatch. Characters have detailed facial animations, enhancing emotional delivery.
- **Exploration Between Missions** [10:58] — The game features small explorable areas between missions, allowing players to walk around, talk to characters, and discover optional encounters, similar to Mario + Rabbids but less ambitious.
- **Gameplay: Familiar XCOM Fundamentals** [12:34] — The combat is classic XCOM-style with cover, overwatch, and hit chances, but with new twists like environmental destruction and a shared super ability meter. The team includes former Firaxis developers.
- **Origin Story and Vision** [14:50] — Game director Greg Foertsch, a 20-year Firaxis veteran, pitched the game to Vince Zampella, who asked if it could be a Star Wars game. Five years later, Zero Company is set to release on August 27th for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series.

### Conclusion

Star Wars: Zero Company appears to be a standout strategy game that successfully combines deep XCOM-style gameplay with high-quality storytelling and presentation. The reviewer is highly optimistic about its potential, calling it a 'spiritual successor to XCOM' and a 'match made in heaven.'

## Transcript

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squarespace.com/skillup. More details after the video. Okay, Star Wars Zero Company. This one kind of blew me away, and I'm really have a pretty firm idea of what these XCOM style strategy games are at this
point. We know the general size and shape of them, and because we know that, surprising they can be, and I'll give you two examples. Number one, Mario and the sequel are two of the best Switch exclusives. It's basically XCOM
with Mario, and it just rules. No one saw it coming. We were all skeptical landed, and then it just crushed it. Another one, Marvel's Midnight Suns. storytelling in the genre like never before, while also having a number of
governing player progression, in addition to some wildly ambitious the focus on manipulating your environment during combat. This thing category, and while some parts of it hit for some and not others, it was a
genuine evolution of the XCOM formula, the likes of which we haven't really examples, but I genuinely had forgotten how surprising this genre could be when Wars Zero Company, because I think we can all picture a Star Wars XCOM game in
our heads, right? Like it's a pretty obvious pairing. So, how surprising surprising. From the first moment I booted this thing up, I was like, "Wait a second. Why does this cutscene look so good? Why is it written so well? Why is
the voice acting so good? Why is the character customization so deep? Why do authentic? Why do all the characters I'm meeting seem so interesting?" The production layer here is frankly absurd. It's wild how good this looks, and this
deprioritized its presentation all in on storytelling, but it was very static in how it told that story. Lots monastery talking to each other. Mario Rabbits had fantastic presentation, but
no story. XCOM was pretty spartan when it came to both presentation and story, much focused on the gameplay. But here at developer Bit Reactor, it was like, what if you had a strong story, and incredible presentation, and rock solid
XCOM inspired gameplay? What if it was just a full stack offering with no compromises? That was very much the vibe I got when I started playing this, and doors briefing featuring some of the studio's senior leadership, and they
said almost exactly this. They kept coming back to this mantra of depth shouldn't cost you elegance. And they were never really explicit about what mean that they look at other strategy games and see the tension between
storytelling. And it seems like they feel like no game has been able to get all three right at the same time, and I think that's pretty accurate. But after Company, I was already thinking to myself, "Okay, I think these guys have
cracked it." >> Kriff. >> Easy to cut loose if something goes wrong. You know the drill.
the era of the Clone Wars, and it tells the story of a war beneath the war. galaxy, Zero Company's shadowy operations subtly tilt the scales this lets the storytellers go where they want without upsetting the delicate balance
against legendary heroes and events without leaving too many fingerprints. military operative who's fallen from grace, and is now doing the only thing they know how to do, survive. In many ways, Hawks is very much your hero to
creation tool that lets you customize the species, features, attire, and class of your Hawks. It's surprisingly robust, and I actually spent quite a bit of time straight over this stuff. One limitation though, is that there are only two
have a very specific personality attached to them. They are grizzled, cynical, tired combat veterans who've seen and done it all. There's no bright, chipper, optimistic voice, no nerdy science guy voice, no officious Republic
the role-playing potential of Zero Company, but the upside is that it does story centered on a voiced main character that has a personality. you being a sort of silent commander. I think I would have been more
disappointed with this decision to limit role-playing if the storytelling wasn't excellent, so I am more than happy with the trade-off. mail and sanctimony that makes government work so rewarding.
naturally going to lead many people to make the same character creation led me to a classic gunslinger archetype. Your class choice determines And in the case of the gunslinger, their core ability is being able to fire off
quick, low-damage shots. But, if they get a kill, then ability points get reminiscent of a cowboy fanning the hammer of their six-shooter, albeit hammer of their six-shooter, albeit much, much more slowly.
potatoes of the story, and the setup here is very strong. A shadowy outfit is leading to a separatist movement, and so the Republic military want to shut them down quietly. A wealthy aristocrat also has an interest in the matter since her
affected by what's going on, and she too wants things resolved with as little spectacle as possible. So, an independent, off-the-books, disposable outfit is just what the doctor ordered. >> We're prepared to offer Zero Company a
>> Smash cut to Zero Company, a ragtag group of outcasts and mercenaries down on their luck and deep in debt to the Hutts. That's right, Bit Reactor are the hits for a reason, and Zero Company's story quickly positions itself
happy to sing along to. >> Can't keep working like this. Said it wasn't his fault, but he won't do it again. No, no, this is about money. Rent is [music] due, and our last two clients
skipped out on us. >> We just wrapped up the Sara Lonus job. >> Well, even when they pay up, it won't cover a third of our debt to the Huts. were all, "Oh, desperate [music] times, Roo." And guess what? Surprise,
>> So, right off the jump, you probably noticed that that cutscene was pretty crisply written with tight dialogue, strong characterization, some subtle and good that I immediately thought to myself, "Wait a second, I think this
game might be well written. Who wrote this?" The answer is a team of people, Aaron Contreras, the game's narrative director. Back in the day, he worked on as a mission designer. That's a pretty good starting point right there. More
director on Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor. And those are fantastically well-written Star Wars games. They're like some of the best the original trilogy. Really great writing, and now he's a narrative
his talent and his experience with the Star Wars franchise. Every new character personality. Every new plot point was intriguing. Even minor interactions worthwhile, endearing me to these characters while adding color to their
never forgetting that all of this sits within a broader Star Wars plot, and that these people have got a job to do. >> Speaking of mysteries, for a guy who barely played, Elan Rodian was suspiciously lucky at Corellian
Spike. >> You think he was rolling loaded chance more interesting. This is an XCOM-style game, which means if you enable the setting, your main characters, the ones you fight alongside, they can die. And
differently depending on whether or not those characters are still around. To be sorts of games, XCOM games have an option for a hardcore-style mode, where if someone dies in battle, they die for real. That's it. They're gone from the
narrative perspective, that wasn't that big a deal in old XCOM because the didn't have any story attached to them. But here, many of the people you're fighting alongside are real linchpins in the narrative. If they die, the story is
manifestly changed by them no longer being around. And that's exactly what said one of their core pillars is storytelling and decision-making that lives and dies, or you'll accidentally watch someone die, and if you carry on
forever altered. I'm really interested to see the different permutations of this story that exist based on who lives, who dies, and who you choose to the other thing that Bit Reactor have been clear about, your story outcomes
doing on the battlefield, but also what you do back at base. You can choose to firefights. You can choose to have conversations with them back at the den. don't agree with. You might have one character who's your ride-or-die best
single mission, and you make decisions that make them happy the whole way each other. Alternatively, that same character might be someone that you piss team entirely. All of that is on the
just feels like a really great Star Wars story. It's tropy in the sense that it's a Star Wars story, but it's hitting those beats while also serving up things factions to work with or against, as well as a finely balanced tone that
feels at odds without being too dark. The team say they were inspired by both in terms of how they were shaping the story, and you can totally feel that in had a sense of swashbuckling adventure with a really strong emotional core.
buttoned-up spy thriller full of intrigue and high stakes, and so far I'm really loving it. >> How many of them are corroded?
>> I feel like I'm being really impressed by the story was no doubt helped by the bringing to the table. And this is ultimately the part that I wasn't really Reactor team were hanging their hat on when they pitched us this thing. I've
from the briefing, but seeing it for yourself, it's pretty hard to disagree level of presentation here for strategy games. First of all, these visuals. I really love this art design. It's Clone Wars adjacent, but it's obviously more
than that. It's got its own style that feels like Clone Wars for grown-ups actually. The team worked with one Terrell Whitlatch who was a concept really wanted to nail the aesthetic of this era and I think they totally did
that. Every scene and setting just looks so authentic. It's understated in all flourishes where they need to be. Furthermore, and I wasn't expecting this at all when I saw this stylized art style, but each character is
look at this. >> Just stick with me for now, okay? >> You can hear the tone in Hawk's voice here sure, but you can also see it on his face. The tilt of his head, the slow blink, the sad look in his eyes, the
looking at him and very few games are able to get it this right. The voice heavy lifting here. I'm playing the male Hawk's incredible voice performance. line. >> The Coil's threat is real.
And they're gathering strength. Someone needs to stop them. >> Last time I bought a pitch like that, a lot of good soldiers died. but you take so much more from it owing to the strength of the delivery. You can
hear that this guy has seen and heard it all before and he's not about to go for going to get spun around. There's subtlety in that delivery just like there's subtlety in the writing and the animation. It just feels so expertly put
together because it is. But BitReactor weren't done in trying to find new ways innovations Mario has brought to bear in this genre was this idea of what if you than just sitting in a mission hub booting up missions? What if you
to get to places rather than just be instantaneously teleported to battlefields? That ended up being a really great idea and Zero Company has its own version of it, albeit less ambitious. So yes, there is a hub and
from there. But when you get down to those missions, there are stretches before, during, and after where you're able to walk around and explore space. combat scenario finishes and instead of just being teleported back to your base,
you just start walking and then you can move over to the next combat encounter. docks and rather than just dropping me outside the mission area where I start talking to people about what the hell's
through. My path is blocked by these goons, so I have to find a different direction. I go around, I'm able to spy something in the distance, I get spotted combat scenario. It's all a wrapper, don't get me wrong, it doesn't result in
that wrapping combined with all the other wrapping they've got going on here overall commitment on the part of Bit Reactor. They felt confident in the core like their point of differentiation was going to be the Star Wars license and
That's why you get this great art design, these brilliantly written, voiced, and acted characters, these engaging cutscenes, and these small but explorable patches of this galaxy far, far away.
>> On the presentation front, Bit Reactor are looking to enlarge the frontiers of of things, it does feel like they're more comfortable operating within the existing borders and the novelty comes from leveraging the unique opportunities
could force push someone into an overwatch? That sort of thing. The old-fashioned XCOM style gameplay that we know and love and that Bit Reactor large number of them are former Firaxis people who worked on the XCOM series and
Marvel's Midnight Suns. That naturally results in an expertly built combat loop almost like a spiritual successor to XCOM given how similar all of its core types with their own strengths and weaknesses, there's half cover and full
cover, there's explosives, there's overwatch, there's 95% chance to hit but goddammit, why does anyone play these games? All of this feels very familiar familiar for those of you who are looking for more ideation within the
genre, but I remind you that the last numbered XCOM game came out 10 years a new numbered entry anytime soon, at least not as far as I know. So, if a Firaxis veterans is the closest thing we're going to get, I'll gladly take it.
flourishes here and there though. A big focus on exploding environmental leaving you exposed. There's a shared super ability meter that allows you to in a given scenario, as well as a backup ability where you can ask teammates to
gameplay juice is going to be what's squeezed out of Star Wars. How does it tactical grid? How do you balance a Mandalorian's jetpack? How much fire car? In our Q&A, the dev team were very excited by the prospect of running an
entire squad that's nothing but astromechs. And you know what? I too would be sick as hell if the galaxy ends up being saved by a bunch of astromechs to death, celebrating their kills with excited beeps and boops. It does remain
squeeze out of Star Wars here. And since I was only able to play a few hours of definitive conclusions, but I will say that my imagination is very alive to the rock solid fundamentals you'd expect
experienced as they are with this genre, I think it is highly unlikely that the to disappoint. >> I'll cover you. >> You said last time. >> Great kill, Captain.
I got from the Q&A session I attended. Game director and Bit Reactor co-founder Company came to be. He'd been working at Firaxis for 20 years before going out on his own, and he had the idea for a new
speaking to various people about it, and late one night he got a call from Vince about Greg's game and wanted to learn more. Zampella was really interested and asked him, "Can you make this a Star Wars game?" And now, some 5 years later,
Zero Company exists. And so far, it's exceeding all the expectations I had for gets you a lot. It gets you funding, it gets you a baked-in audience, it gets musical pillars on which to build. Those things don't count for much if you don't
vision for how to use them. We need only look at the sequel trilogy to see that. Zero Company, you can't come to any other conclusion than the fact that people not only have a firm command of Star Wars, but a clear vision for where
genre experience of former Far Axis staff with the storytelling pedigree of Respawn's writing team is a match made in heaven. We get ourselves a spiritual successor to XCOM in a Star Wars wrapper that delivers rock-solid XCOM-style
gameplay fundamentals and levels of storytelling and presentation that are a genuine first for the genre. Depth and elegance, you might say. I think this it. I think it's going to be great. It's out on August 27th for PC, PS5, and Xbox
Series consoles. Do look forward to my full review at or near the embargo. Thanks for watching, and a big thanks to this video's sponsor, Squarespace. stepping into a new career, or just sharing something you love with the
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