EA has released a new CG cinematic short story for Star Wars: Squadrons. The video follows the perspective of Imperial Captain Grey, a loyal soldier of the Galactic Empire and leader of Titan Squadron for the Empire portion of the story, as well as a glimpse of Squadrons' customizable starfighters.
Following the story mode reveal trailer from 2020's Gamescom in late August, players get to see more of the narrative, this time for a major character in Star Wars: Squadrons' story mode. Titled "Hunted," the short opens with a battle between the forces of the New Republic and the Empire clashing over an imperial dockyard, following Captain Grey and his Titan Squadron on the losing end of things.
The video displays the conflict taking place after the famous Battle of Endor, confirming the creative director's statements about the story's place in Star Wars canon, and shows the rippling effects it had for the Empire. The story starts with the fierce fight tipping into the New Republic's favor to the Imperials' frustration. This is noted by Captain Grey, who's ordered to call his attack off, noting "another retreat," as the Empire is shown to be on a losing streak. The short also reveals the toll the losses take on the Empire, not only on its ships, but also its soldiers at the end of the Galactic Civil War.
The story centers on Captain Grey's personal point of view, showing the inside of his TIE Fighter's cockpit, his controls, and his hologram display. More importantly, it shows his struggle in maintaining to fight for a declining Empire after many defeats. He's repeatedly surrounded with imagery of the Empire in collapse, debris from their ships, the pilots he lost, and even a stern Republic pilot saying, "The war is over, Imp." But by the end, he finds the resolve to continue fighting with Titan Squadron, showing the Empire may be down but not out.
The cinematic highlights a key strength of its story mode: exploring the Imperials' side. It focused on showing Captain Grey's perspective on the war, and gave a glimpse into the nature of Titan Squadron, their skills, and loyalty to each other that players may expect from the singleplayer mode. And even though gameplay wasn't shown, the video still provided the cockpit experience players will have in the game, even without the usual gaming HUD, for both the New Republic and the Galactic Empire.
Star Wars: Squadrons is set to release on October 2, 2020, for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.