We’ve talked before about how much of a cultural phenomenon Star Wars is and the video games the colossal franchise has spawned recently in our best Star Wars games on Switch, and now there’s a new padawan hoping to vie for your precious attention. Entering the free-to-play arena shooter space, is Star Wars Hunters, a 4v4 squad shooter in a similar vein to Overwatch, The Finals, and even Rainbow 6 Siege. With these comparisons, can it do enough to escape being in the Clone Wars? What’s It Like? Squad up, equip your blaster, and let’s do it all for the Wookie, as we review Star Wars Hunters on Nintendo Switch.
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Star Wars Hunters is an arena shooter that lets you compile a team of assorted characters and classes, and duke it out in a range of arena gameplay styles. These include traditional modes like TDM and Capture the Zone, but also includes character mixup match-ups, allowing you to all be randomly assigned heroes even if they aren’t unlocked. Win or lose, you earn both hero XP, which unlocks upgrades and cosmetics for that particular hero, and overall XP which unlocks new modes, social options, and heroes. Initially, the game throws a lot of things at you in the menu. Hero passes, quests, and daily challenges, and gives the player plenty to do when beginning this journey. As a matter of fact, navigating the menus and quests is more complex than actually playing the game!
Thankfully, the actual gameplay is fast, fluid, and balanced, meaning it’s a rare occasion when one side absolutely dominates, and as we know, only a Sith deals in absolutes. I found this refreshing, as a long-time Overwatch player, I’m used to either decimating the opposition, or being steamrolled due to skill ceilings, and perhaps it’s because the game has only been publicly available today, but I’m hoping it continues to keep this balance. Heroes have certain traits like tank, DPS, and support, and playing each one feels intuitive thanks to skills being kept to simple L, R, and Ultimates. For example, one of my favorite characters, Sentinel, a chain laser-wielding stormtrooper, has a shield that can be deployed, a melee sweep that knocks characters over, and an ultimate that can call in additional Stormtroopers to fight by your side. Another tank, Grozz the wookie, can heal instead of a shield, uses melee attacks, and has a cool charge attack. This variation makes unlocking new hunters exciting, and while learning new characters can sometimes feel daunting in other games, Hunters manages to strike the “easy to play, difficult to master” balance well.
The art style is another standout for Star Wars Hunters, offering up a diverse cast of characters in a similar style to Overwatch, somewhat reminiscent of sitting on the fence of realism and cartoons, and Hunters works well with what it was aiming for. Characters have flair and ooze charm, and despite the sometimes hectic action of the battlefield, you can easily recognise who’s playing who to help plan out your attack during battle. The rounds are fairly fast-moving, another trait from its mobile-based lineage, and I really enjoyed being able to queue, play, and re-queue within a 5-minute window. This rapid-fire method of gameplay means you’re never sitting idle for long. Map design is also balanced, offering some new yet familiar Star Wars locales that even have things like pod racers crashing through them, giving players other hazards to avoid. Performance is solid in handheld and docked mode, with minor framerate dips when the action gets a bit over the top.
While all of this sounds good so far, there are some minor issues present in the early release. Mainly some heroes (specifically those that use a single-shot DL Blaster or Sniper rifle, rely heavily on a decent internet connection. Zaina, a rebel hero who used the DL44 Blaster that Han Solo made famous (and shot first with) was all but unplayable when my connection hit peak hour. Some characters like Sentinel, seem like they may be too overpowered when facing DPS and Support characters. I also had a bug pop up twice where my controller didn’t register and only responded after my character was defeated. Despite unlocking it, ranked mode is currently unavailable to play, and looks like it will have its own battle pass attached to it.
As always, the lingering question is just how free to play is Star Wars Hunters. As it is based on a more Mobile game format, it is littered with cosmetic microtransactions, with battle passes to come, but the game is 100% playable without spending a cent, and due to the addictive nature of the gameplay, unlocking heroes while a little bit of a grind, gives you a good selection to start out with. I was interrupted with some particularly discounted deals like a cosmetic skin pack for the hero I was using for around $3 AUD, which I actually purchased for the purpose of this review. I did feel that the cosmetic packs on offer were rather expensive, and to draw comparisons to the Fortnite Marketplace where $30 could get you 1-3 different purchases, most of Hunters were sitting at that $25 mark, making them not very appealing to purchase. I personally have a rule where if I enjoy a free-to-play game, I purchase a starter pack (which most are about $15) but in Hunter’s case, it was also $25.
For my vision-impaired scoundrels, wookies, and Jedi, there are no accessibility options. So further research may be required to find if Star Wars Hunters is for you. The game does feature Gyro aiming which is off by default, and seemed to work well when I tested them, although I’m not traditionally a fan of gyro controls.
I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Star Wars Hunters as much as I did… To be honest, I’m not sure what I was really expecting from the game, but it was a pleasant surprise. It’s hard not to draw comparisons to Overwatch because to be fair, it’s heavily influenced by that style of play, but it also makes it much faster-paced, a bit more accessible, and takes care with the Star Wars license. I think I was expecting a micro-transaction-laden hive of scum and villainy, instead, I got vibrant and unique characters, stylish and fast-paced action, and an addictive gameplay loop that allows you to get a whole lot of gameplay in a short amount of time. It’s early days that’s for sure, but there’s a solid foundation here for a great arena shooter that will hopefully be further developed to stand tall beside those that came before it. As it’s free, it’s a no-brainer that any Star Wars fan should give it a go, and if I may disagree with Master Yoda on one thing… no need to do or do not, give it a try.
So, What’s It Like? Star Wars Hunters is like Overwatch with Blasters and Lightsabers.
