It utilises almost an entire keyboard, then resorts to Shift commands to fit everything else it wants on your substandard, non-Galaxy-Far-Away tech. TIE Fighter is famously tough, and complex to the point of being laughable. Just playing through its combat training missions showed how far DICE could have gone. Star Wars does so much to convince us that its universe is tangible - that everything in it could actually work, that I could press this and that would happen - that seeing its designs used as a simple veneer feels a little wrong.įighter Squadron created an itch too strong for it to scratch, which led me to the depths of GOG.com, where I downloaded classic DOS space fighter, Star Wars: TIE Fighter - a game I’d only ever heard about in hushed tones from wizened old games writers fused to their office chairs like crumb-strewn Ents. You don’t even have control over opening and closing an X-Wing’s fanning prongs, which seems like it might be an actual fireable offence to me. The act of flying is pretty great, too - freed of the tiny targets you’re faced with in the likes of Walker Assault mode, Fighter Squadron creates big, rangy sky battles to get stuck into - once you’ve levelled up a little, you’ll start to be matchmade with fighter aces that can turn single kills into thrilling, minute-long affairs that switch from chases to escapes and back in the sweep of an aileron.Īnd yet the fact that I don’t see a big futuro-Hugo Boss glove slam down on a big red button and hear a childish “wheeeee” when I press the boost button in a TIE Interceptor still rankles a little.

I understand why a game designed around accessibility to curious Star Wars fans as much as it is for seasoned online murderers might not want to copy Elite Dangerous’ (beautiful, distracting) multiple command consoles just to get their Snowspeeders to shoot straight.Īnd, to be fair, they are some lovely-looking cockpits - X-Wings are crammed with injection-moulded plastic, like souped-up, soaring 1982 Volkswagen Polos, while TIE Fighters’ faceted windows make you feel like you’re shooting around in a big spider’s eye, firing lasers out of its big spider eyelashes.

And so it was that I turned on Star Wars Battlefront’s aerial-only Fighter Squadron mode, switched to cockpit view, and discovered the spartan realities of DICE’s dogfighting.

Star wars battlefront cockpit view