First Thoughts on ‘Star Wars Squadrons’

Earlier this week, YouTube’s algorithm pushed the first trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: Squadrons game onto my homepage. I have neither a console nor a good enough PC to ever be able to play this game, but as a player of the classic LucasArts flight sims, I took a look, and as an EU-loyal Star Wars ‘reenactor’, wanted to share my thoughts as they relate to our pursuit of the ‘costume arts’ and authentic living-history in the galactic setting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04mFcoCLmVA
First off, I really like that we are seeing a return to flight combat games. I mostly missed out on X-Wing Alliance back in the 90s, so I got it working last year, and really dug it – it’s a great primary source for living history research, so I highly recommend tracking it down on Steam or GOG. It’s cool to see that it looks like Squadrons might include the power management system for speed/shields/lasers, like in the old games. Since this is primarily a console title, I’m sure they won’t be able to go as in-depth like the old X-Wing games—which almost required a full keyboard to play—but anything is better than a simplified, Rogue Squadron-style arcade game.
With that said, I do have a few thoughts/grumbles:
-This one’s a no-brainer: it’s going to be set in the Disneyverse. This means it will include ships that didn’t exist previously (like that ‘U-wing’–possibly my least favorite ship design), and will likely include many references to existing post-Disney properties. For example, in the Rebel briefing scene, I recognized the green Twi’lek ‘Hera’ from Rebels (more on recurring post-Disney characters in a future post).

-I audibly chortled when this Imp pulls off his helmet, and his long hair is completely immaculate:What a romantic ‘flyboy’ image!…and totally unrealistic. Compare this with Dass Jennir’s mop in the Dark Times comics:
Clearly none of the devs thought seriously about what it would really be like to take your sealed helmet on and off. Surely a short, Imperial-regulation haircut would be more practical and likely?

-When I saw that there was a new dogfighting game coming, I was intrigued. In this post-Disney era, I’ve found that the more disconnected something is, the better I’m able to enjoy it: think quick ‘vignettes’ set in the Galaxy, without familiar characters or much of a larger story. In this case, I had hoped Squadrons might be akin to the ‘Instant Action’ mode of the X-Wing series…pick a location, number of ships on each side, their armaments, and then skirmish! (It sounds like Squadrons’ multiplayer will be along these lines). But it looks like there will also be a singleplayer campaign…and naturally, the devs couldn’t leave well enough alone, and simply follow around a random squadron: no, they have to be Elite squadrons (At least that’s what the Imperial side looks like. The same gripe goes for EA!BattlefrontII’s Inferno Squad). As someone whose knows that good living-history is geared towards common characters, I’m just tired of elites.
And how can we tell the Imps are elites? Their helmets now have this red skull painted on them:

Now, I spend a fair amount of time (okay, probably too much time) browsing Star Wars cosplay groups, so suffice to say that like galactic elites, I’m just realllllllllly tired of armored characters. When it comes to these, it seems like not a week goes by that I don’t see someone who wants to build a Custom Sith outfit covered in spikes and skulls, or build a Custom Mandalorian helmet with a scary skull instead of a T-visor (which honestly really makes it look like not a Mandalorian). So I feel the need to point out that aside from a small handful of examples, humanoid skull motifs aren’t really part of the GFFA aesthetic. The standard Stormtrooper/TIE pilot faceplate is already plenty skull-like, it doesn’t need emphasizing.
I would be very interested to hear what all examples of skulls we can brainstorm! All I could come up with was Darth Nihilus, and the overused standard Mando ‘mythosaur’ symbol (though that’s obviously not really humanoid).

Someone tried to tell me that General Grievous’ mask was a skull motif (I disagreed); and this ‘Clone Force 99’ guy was suggested. Apparently he shows up in the last season of Clone Wars (I dunno, haven’t watched it since it ended its original five-season run). From what I’ve seen via internet osmosis, this specialized 99 crew seems silly and exists just to sell toys and give cosplayers a new set of elite characters to 3D print or foam-craft. Pass.

The redskull TIE pilot seems to be in the same boat—a character design created to be yet another variant, informed purely by the ‘rule of cool’ and which will pop up like mushrooms in the costuming circles for the next year. Even if we ignore that skulls aren’t part of the galactic ‘look’, the idea that an Imperial squadron would paint skulls on their helmets is laughable. We aren’t talking about clones in the GAR…Imperial doctrine has always been about faceless uniformity.

And finally—this one isn’t necessarily a criticism, more just of an recognition of a recent trend—I noted that musically, this trailer checks off two boxes of modern trailers: the sad piano, and the big, bombastic Force Theme that sounds like it’s being played on Inception Horns. Where does this cue come from? It must be post-Disney. However, I did notice and enjoy the new orchestration of the ‘Asteroid theme’ from Empire Strikes Back!

Are you looking forward to Squadrons after this first look? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think, or come join the conversation at the SWLH facebook group!

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