EA's upcoming Star Wars Squadrons is a rare return to the days of TIE Fighter for the franchise, and the two games may be able to share a control scheme on consoles. Putting players in the pilot's seat of the Star Wars universe's wide range of spaceships has been a goal of video games based on the franchise since the beginning. From the more simulation-focused X-Wing and TIE Fighter games on PC to the excellent Rogue Squadron and its sequels by Factor 5, players are very familiar with everything from the B-wing to the Z-95 Headhunter.
Electronic Arts have also delved into this area in the past, dedicating a game mode to space battles in their recent Star Wars Battlefront 2. It was one of the most well-received additions to the Battlefront formula, so it only makes sense that the publisher would dedicate an entirely new game to the concept for this year. Electronic Arts is also trying to retain the Star Wars audience after the controversies surrounding Battlefront 2, so they've dedicated resources to making Star Wars Squadrons feel as authentic as possible to those who grew up dogfighting high above Yavin 4.
To that end, one of the more surprising features of Star Wars Squadrons is its inclusion of HOTAS controls on PC. These are the full flight setups that include joysticks and throttles that you may see in videos for games like Microsoft Flight Simulator. Today on Twitter, Star Wars Squadrons Creative Director Ian S. Frazier confirmed on Twitter that the HOTAS support would also be coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in a day-one patch for the game. Considering that the game also supports virtual reality via PlayStation VR, an enterprising player could create a pretty intense set up in their living room to really live life as an X-wing pilot.
It's nice to see Star Wars Squadrons include such esoteric features, especially since the game is not a full-priced release and it's coming out at the tail end of a console generation. Those who pick up the game on the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 will be playing through backward compatibility, and it's possible that newer consoles will not support all the third-party hardware that its predecessors do. That's something players won't likely know until consoles make their way into he hands of the general public, so anyone hoping to fly the friendly skies of Star Wars with a HOTAS should likely stick to older consoles or a PC.
Everything players have seen so far from Star Wars Squadrons has been quite exciting. Even with the lesser scope from normal AAA releases, its been far too long since a game had dedicated itself to Star Wars dogfights, and the concept is so simple that it seems like a slam dunk. Whether it becomes a visually impressive title to build out the library of VR owners or just a quick thrill for Star Wars fans, Squadrons will likely serve its purpose as a stop-gap between bigger Star Wars games and deliver some fun along the way for good measure.
Star Wars: Squadrons is scheduled for release on October 2nd, 2020, for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Source: Ian S. Frazier/Twitter
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