Bit Reactor approached the release of its first game in a difficult state. Shortly before the launch of Star Wars: Zero Company, the studio sent a significant portion of its employees on unpaid leave. A company representative confirmed the fact, and Game File sources claimed that the measure affected about 80% of the team. In addition, Bit Reactor co-founders Greg Foertsch and Alison Kelly continue their legal dispute: Kelly claims she was forced out of the company and is seeking over $20 million in compensation.
Against this backdrop, Zero Company itself initially doesn't cause much surprise. Bit Reactor was founded by ex-Firaxis developers who worked on modern XCOM, and the new studio didn't hide its origins. We have another turn-based tactical game about a small squad, cover, hit percentages, base development, and a global map. Only instead of aliens, there are battle droids; instead of Earth nations, there are planets from Star Wars; and among the operatives, you'll find Jedi, clones, and Mandalorians.
<b>20 Years Before the Battle of Yavin</b>
The events take place in the midst of the Clone Wars. The Republic army is gradually approaching its known end. The main character, Hawks, once served as a Republic captain, but after a failed operation, he lost almost his entire company and left the army. His appearance, look, and specialization can be customized, but the character's past remains unchanged.
After leaving the service, Hawks opens his own private mercenary organization called Zero Company. The company is not doing well: it has accumulated debt to the Hutts and is forced to take on the most dangerous jobs. The Republic intelligence offers a way out, needing help to combat the Infinite Spiral cult. The organization spreads the Shadow Plague and gradually transforms from another local problem into a threat capable of affecting the entire region.
Then begins a separate story within the Clone Wars. It uses familiar events and sometimes features characters from other Star Wars works, but it doesn't turn into a cameo parade.
The plot is linear. Decisions affect team relationships, available resources, and the situation on the global map, but they don't allow rewriting the main story. Even the death of one of the story operatives doesn't force the script to branch off: the game accounts for the character's loss and continues to lead the story to its original goal.
This works better for the playthrough than it might seem. Zero Company doesn't constantly have to find reasons to show another famous character from the universe. The story focuses on its own mercenary group and uses the Clone Wars as a backdrop for their adventure.
<b>Again UE</b>
The most serious problems with Zero Company begin even before discussing its mechanics. The game runs on Unreal Engine 5 and exhibits a familiar set of technical flaws.
Achieving a stable 60 frames per second is difficult. The frame rate drops not only on relatively affordable computers. Problems are also encountered on builds with an RTX 5090. This is especially noticeable when changing camera angles and loading new scenes. (Editor's note. On a 7500F and 5070Ti build with 32 RAM, the game delivered a stable 100+ frames. The only existing problem during the playthrough was freezes when changing scenes or loading.)
The problems are not limited to frame rate. In some dark rooms, the lighting starts to behave incorrectly. During cutscenes, texture loading occurs, and the camera periodically chooses an angle that shows the nearest wall instead of the action. Another "feature" of Unreal Engine 5 concerns cutscenes. In videos, objects constantly twitch during transitions between scenes and even on animated loading screens.
But the most significant drawback concerns problems in long gaming sessions. The longer you play, the higher the chance of an unpleasant crash. Gradually, the game's script execution breaks down. After an action is performed, the script sometimes pauses for a long time before the next move. The game doesn't freeze: music continues to play, the map can be controlled, and frames don't drop to zero, but the next character or enemy may not get a chance to act for several minutes.
<b>Without 1%</b>
The core of Zero Company cannot be separated from XCOM. The player controls a small squad in a prepared arena, hides them behind cover, seeks advantageous positions, and tries to eliminate the enemy before they can retaliate.
Usually, four operatives are sent on a mission. Each gets three action points. These are spent on movement, shooting, using items, and some abilities. This already slightly changes the familiar XCOM formula: soldiers can combine more actions in one turn, and long chains of several skills become the basis of many encounters.
The hit system has also become clearer. The base probability is 100%. If the target is at a suitable distance, the line of fire is clear, and the enemy is not using cover – the shot will hit. You can forget about the famous XCOM misses with a 99% chance here.
Further calculations involve distance, cover, elevation difference, and the operative's condition. A wounded character shoots worse, a distant target reduces the hit probability, and an enemy behind good cover forces you to find another position. Therefore, values around 60–80% have not disappeared. It's just that the game less often gives the impression that the dice roll result is completely detached from what's happening on the screen.
Normal shots also do not damage allies. A soldier can stand directly between the shooter and the target, but the laser charge will pass through them. For grenades and area-of-effect abilities, there are no such concessions: the explosion is equally dangerous for both sides.
Old problems with lines of fire have not completely disappeared. Sometimes a character is formally able to attack an enemy from a position that visually is not suitable for it. A blaster shot can fly out of a wall or pass through part of the environment.
"Overwatch" also works differently. An operative doesn't automatically get to shoot at everything around them. The player pre-selects a sector controlled by the character. The wider and further it is, the worse the hit probability.
Zero Company's own ideas don't end there. Once per round, you can request support from a comrade, after which two operatives attack one target. Hits also accumulate a "momentum" resource for special and very powerful abilities, unique to different classes. Jedi can push enemies with the Force in an area, melee fighters can knock them out of cover or smash them against a wall, stormtroopers can unleash continuous fire from blaster cannons. Most environmental objects are destroyed when these techniques are used, which creates a feeling of real power in the player's hands.
<b>Enterprise Management</b>
After the mission, the squad returns to the lair – the Zero Company office on the Kafrin Ring. You can freely walk around it in third person, talk to team members, and prepare for the next sortie.
Upgrades are distributed among several objects. Gadgets and weapon modifications are changed in the armory. Abilities and relationships between operatives are upgraded through the personnel terminal. And the base control post unlocks various improvements. For example, it expands the number of beds in the infirmary, the merchant's assortment, upgrades weapon effectiveness, and expands soldiers' pockets for consumables.
Character development is done by earning focus points to develop abilities. Later, each is allowed to add a second specialization. There is no strict weapon-to-class binding: a medic can be given a rifle, and a sniper can keep a pistol if desired. Four main weapon types are further improved with attachments.
The bond system plays a separate role. Joint missions, mutual assistance in combat, and certain decisions improve relationships between two operatives. Leveling up unlocks joint training, which provides permanent stat bonuses. This encourages the game to periodically change the squad composition, rather than playing the entire campaign with the same four.
But against this background, hiring seems like an unnecessary option. For credits, you can hire your own operatives, change their appearance, specialization, character, and other parameters. The problem is that the story already gradually provides enough characters, and their classes can be freely reconfigured to suit the squad's needs. However, there are exceptions. For example, a unique Jedi companion cannot be retrained for blasters, and a marksman cannot be taught the Force.
Hired soldiers have one practical application. They can be sent on operations – events on the galactic map that do not require full gameplay on the tactical map. But even in this case, it is more useful to send story operatives. In them, they also gain relationship points, allowing them to unlock an additional bonus.
<b>Cycles of a Distant Galaxy</b>
The main part of the base is the galactic map. Through it, we choose further actions in the universe.
The game itself consists of conditional days – cycles. Each game cycle consists of preparation, operations, and a full tactical mission. Operations are conducted exclusively through text. The player spends intelligence, receives a description of the situation, and chooses one of several solutions. The options differ in risk, requirements, and rewards.
Their execution requires intelligence points, which are constantly in short supply. Operations also exist for a limited number of cycles, so it's impossible to close all markers on the map. You have to choose between credits, equipment, information, and other rewards.
The same principle applies to tactical missions. Several tasks appear on the map simultaneously, but only one can be completed per cycle. A story operation can sometimes be postponed, but its timer gradually runs out, and at a certain point, there is no choice left.
Crises periodically arise. The game shows two possible enemy enhancements and offers to disrupt only one of them. If you go to destroy the development of one technology, the other will remain with the enemies until the end of the campaign. And such decisions cannot be undone.
This is an important distinction of Zero Company from games where the global map gradually turns into a to-do list. Here, you don't need to and won't strive to complete everything. The game intentionally gives more tasks than the available time allows. You have to look at the squad's condition, rewards, and the consequences of a specific task.
<b>You Can't Kill Them All</b>
Zero Company has plenty of missions where eliminating every enemy is not the goal at all: rescue hostages, plant explosives, retrieve important items, or simply hold a position. After completion, the final stage begins: retreat to the extraction point.
Story missions use separate maps and more often offer unique tasks. Side quests gradually start to repeat familiar patterns, but different locations and random reinforcements prevent them from becoming completely routine. Therefore, attempting to methodically clear the map often creates problems: while the squad is dealing with another enemy away from the main objective, reinforcements may arrive or the situation may change. It's more important to understand exactly what the task requires, fulfill the condition, and leave on time.
Enemies can be divided into three types. Separatist droids are most common. They are weak, and large clusters, even on the highest difficulty, are destroyed by a grenade. Super Battle Droids B2 and Droidekas pose more danger. They have a lot of health and impressive firepower. The second category of enemies is bandits. They are no less dangerous, but no special tactics are needed against them.
The most interesting are the "Spiral" fighters. Their key feature is a post-mortem buff to the nearest ally. If such an enemy receives two buffs from killed enemies, they will have access to powerful abilities. For example, invisibility or a counterattack.
<b>Customize the Game to Your Liking</b>
Zero Company tries to please everyone, not just people who have played XCOM for thousands of hours. The game has four main difficulty levels and a separate option for permanent operative death.
The injury system becomes a link between individual missions. When a soldier loses all health, they are incapacitated and suffer an injury. An ally can bring them back into the fight, but the consequences will remain after the mission is completed. A wounded character receives penalties, and to recover, they must be left in the infirmary or additional resources must be spent on quick healing.
With permanent death enabled, the third injury becomes the last. Story companions are subject to the same rule, and the story continues without them. Hawks remains an exception: his loss leads to mission failure.
For those who want to completely abandon save loading, there is the "Beskar" mode. It leaves one automatically overwritten save and does not allow rolling back an unsuccessful decision. It can be combined with high difficulty and permanent death, turning the campaign into a mode where one poorly calculated move can lead to the loss of a leveled-up operative.
At the opposite end is story difficulty. It allows you to experience the story and understand the mechanics without constant punishment for mistakes. Therefore, Zero Company does not require a beginner to immediately learn all the intricacies of the genre, but if desired, it can become noticeably tougher.
<b>Verdict</b>
Star Wars: Zero Company turned out to be a good turn-based tactical game that gradually managed to emerge from the shadow of XCOM. The familiar foundation, almost down to the smallest detail, provides more opportunities and mechanics for tactical maneuvers.
You have to play not only carefully but also pragmatically. You need to select a squad for a specific task, read the conditions of operations, and understand what the game requires of you. Attempts to complete every event on the global map or clear every combat arena contradict the design of the campaign itself.
Randomness, however, has not completely disappeared. Even a good plan is periodically thwarted by a missed shot, and a positioning error can result in an operative being wounded or lost. Zero Company requires thinking several moves ahead and at the same time accepting that a perfect outcome is not always achievable. However, there are no situations with a 1% chance of missing here.
The main problem lies outside the tactics themselves. Rough work with Unreal Engine, unstable performance, camera errors, and freezing game scenarios regularly hinder the playthrough. For a turn-based game, this doesn't make battles unplayable, but it forces you to fight not with difficult enemies, but with the game itself.
But technical issues can be fixed. Despite attempts at review bombing, the community warmly received Zero Company: it has about 81% positive reviews on Steam, and its peak online reached 78 thousand people. Such a start gives reason to hope that the game's revenue will help Bit Reactor overcome its financial crisis, bring all employees back from unpaid leave, and compensate them for lost earnings. Then the studio will have the opportunity to fully staff and refine the game.