The tactical gameplay of Star Wars Zero Company has fans excited due to its clear XCOM inspirations, but other revealed features have shown even greater depth to this title. More details about building custom squads of units have been revealed, showing how players can customize their mercenaries for upcoming missions. In addition, personalized changes to the game’s main character show that Star Wars Zero Company has many layers to its story than players may not have expected.
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With the inclusion of permadeath in Star Wars Zero Company, making squads is already something with far more narrative weight within the strategy game. Although the protagonist can’t meet an untimely end, several characters key to different stories are at risk of being lost forever. The personal connections between players and their favorite squad members make the character customization features even more important, as both systems together add an extra level of investment into succeeding missions without losses.
Star Wars Zero Company Allows For Fully Customizable Unit Characters As Playable Mercenaries
One of the core mechanics of Star Wars Zero Company is having four characters in a squad you deploy on various missions. However, that squad has a lot of flexibility depending on who you recruit throughout the story. While some missions require some characters to be present, you largely have full control over which faces attend which encounters on different worlds. The protagonist Hawks can team up either with specific story characters, or fully customizable mercenaries you recruit throughout the game.
Story characters have their own backgrounds, and sometimes even their own custom class that normal mercenaries can’t adopt. For example, you can’t just recruit a random Jedi Padawan, as that Exotic class is reserved for one story character. That being said, there is a ton of flexibility in how mercenary characters can be made regardless of those restrictions. There are eight classes any mercenary can spec into to suit your needs, including:
- Assault
- Heavy
- Sharpshooter
- Scoundrel
- Gunslinger
- Scout
- Medic
- Soldier
Each of these classes have their own specializations, skills, and ultimate ability that can be unleashed during a battle encounter. Yet, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as mercenaries have fully customizable races as well, featuring many alien species from across the Star Wars universe. There are even opportunities to recruit Astromech droids similar to R2-D2, with players able to use solely a team of four Astromechs for missions for uniquely satisfying challenge runs.
Compared to other Star Wars games getting released this year, Star Wars Zero Company is the only one that almost lets you create the stories of completely original characters based on the mercenaries you build for your squad. These characters aren’t just blank slates either, as they each have unique backgrounds for you to follow. Much like the XCOM series, Star Wars Zero Company does a good job of making you feel for every character who participates in your missions.
Story Characters & Custom Squad Members Mesh Together With Equal Levels Of Personalized Depth
The narrative behind Star Wars Zero Company is mainly driven by the protagonist Hawks, a disgraced Republic operator looking to make amends. However, Hawks’ story is largely defined by how players present them, as Hawks is yet another fully customizable character for players to tweak as they please. Hawks can embody several iconic Star Wars species, from the horned Zabrak to the distinct Twi’lek. With every player embodying their own custom Hawks, engagement with that character’s journey is worth following even more than if they were a rigid face.
As far as alien races are concerned, mercenary recruits gain access to a few species that Hawks doesn’t. Weequay, Ovissian, Rodian, and Neimoidian peoples are restricted to mercenaries, giving them greater variety than even some figures in the main story have access to. Much like one of 2026’s upcoming RPGs, Star Wars Zero Company has a blend of characters to round out a squad “party” with plenty of interactions between certain individuals. This is especially true with defined story characters, who can form complex relationships with Hawks or other members of their team.
Promises of Mass Effect companion systems give story characters extra layers alongside any mercenaries you hire. When paired together with Hawks as well, you can build a network of bonds between practically anyone, making it all the more devastating when someone dies in service to a mission’s success. With the depth of character customization in Star Wars Zero Company, no two squads will look the same, leading to completely unique stories based on how you build your loyal group.
What is your favorite part about Star Wars Zero Company‘s character customization? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!
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