This past weekend, Chris Roberts of Wing Commander fame provided the world with an update on Star Citizen – Squadron 42, which is a spin-off of the persistent world of Star Citizen from the recent Star Citizen event, Citizencon 2023. While the latter is an MMO experience, Squadron 42 is closer to a Wing Commander experience that many, including myself, grew up with. Dare I say that it would be comparable to that of Starfield, but with less emphasis on exploration and instead with a more linear narrative.
In this video, Roberts shows off some of the story, gameplay updates, and technology updates regarding Squadron 42, and from what I’m seeing, the game is shaping up nicely. There still isn’t a release date, and as mentioned, the game is now in the polishing state, so it could be another few months to a few years before Squadron 42 arrives in a playable state.
I’ve watched this video several times now, and it looks good. Squadron 42 looks to be a fun single-player game with lots of narratives, space sim combat, and on-the-ground first-person shooter elements. Everything I’ve seen looks amazing, especially where the FPS gameplay comes into play, and I can’t wait to finally try that out for myself.
During Citizencon 2023, Chris Roberts was keen not to reveal a release date for Squadron 42 or Star Citizen; it will be some time before we can play either game. I’m not going to deny that it takes a massive amount of time and resources to complete a game as ambitious as Star Citizen; we’ve also seen games that were just as ambitious released. The closest comparable game, again, would be Starfield, which is a game that Star Citizen has been and will continue to be compared to.
However, like many in the gaming space, I’ve been following Star Citizen for a decade. Hell, I dropped down $100 for the honor of helping Kickstart the game back in 2012. Since then, I’ve moved to a new house; my daughter graduated high school and completed her nursing program, while my parents have passed away. I’m trying to convey that there’s been a lot of time since then, and the persistent game of Star Citizen isn’t anywhere near complete. While having Squadron 42 as a single-player game makes me feel uneasy. Were resources moved from the main game to get Squadron 42 completed and to give people something to play until the main game is completed? I hate sounding like a skeptic, but it is what it is.
Still, Squadron is something to be excited about, and I’ve looked into more info about both games outside of this video. There’s been a massive amount of work put into this game, and I will be checking it out, especially since I did help Kickstart the game. But the million-dollar question is, when will that be? Until then, I need to figure out how to get back into my Star Citizen account. It’s been ages since I’ve last logged in.
