The support ships exemplify this dynamic. In Star Wars: Squadrons, even a group of light, agile A-wings-long the dominant dogfighter in the Star Wars universe-can't stand up to a well-balanced group aided by support ships like the U-Wing, a newcomer previously introduced in Rogue One.

Star Wars: Squadrons, takes the loosely-defined roles of ships like the TIE Bomber and makes them far more explicit, demanding that you bring a diverse mix of fighters to each encounter. Where it diverges is in how it handles squadron composition. It's entirely restricted to a first-person cockpit view, favorites like the X-Wing and TIE Interceptor return, and the prologue even has you inspecting freighters-an activity TIE Fighter fans will remember well. Its roots are in 1997, but otherwise it's a space sim that firmly belongs in 2020.ДЄt first blush, Star Wars: Squadrons looks a lot like its forebears. In other words, while Star Wars: Squadrons is definitely built on nostalgia, it's not entirely a throwback. What surprised me was how much it resembled modern shooters, particularly Rainbow Six Siege of all games. In the course of dabbling in the campaign prologue, the Dogfight mode, and the new Fleet Battles mode, I found an unpolished, but generally sincere effort to evolve the venerable genre. Not all of those fears were allayed in the ensuing four hours, but enough of them were that I emerged from the event with my enthusiasm still intact. Would Star Wars: Squadrons play as well as it looked in the trailer? Would it be a glorified budget game? Coming off its very successful first showing back in June, my expectations were high for Star Wars: Squadrons. We were on hand to experience Star Wars: Squadrons for the first time, using gaming PCs that EA shipped to journalists in their homes (the weirdness of that experience practically deserves its own article). 'Star Wars: Squadrons is a passion project,' creative director Ian Frazier told an assembled group of journalists last week-his way, perhaps, of setting expectations for EA's revival of the classic LucasArts flight sim series.

X wing top view