Star Citizen fans can get a sneak peek at the Squadron 42 single-player module thanks to a short preview featured on IGN First . In the two-minute clip, The Last Jedi’s Mark Hamill voices the cantankerous Steve “Old Man” Colton.
The clip itself doesn’t tell us much, but it’s certainly a solid tone piece to get the ball rolling in preparation for Thursday’s Holiday Livestream. With its epic orchestral swells and military atmosphere, the Wing Commander vibes are out in full force for this hybrid gameplay cutscene.
In addition to introducing Colton’s gruff personality and insane physical ability, the trailer also shows off an updated look at the $90 Gladius ship, a support NPC and, most importantly, the new “inner thought” dialogue system. As it stands in this build of the game, the player selects one of two dialogue options and the character repeats the name of that selection as an inner thought to confirm it.
Like most of Star Citizen, however, there are plenty of clues to suggest that much of what’s seen here is unfinished. Especially when it comes to dialogue options, we’d have to imagine there will be more than two possible options available during critical moments. The names of those options could stand to be more descriptive too. Either this will be a pretty distasteful part of the larger experience, or the current content on show is simply a placeholder for more developments to come.
The character models look like they could use more work as well. Facial and hair animations aren’t nearly as detailed as they could be despite this particular exterior environment looking fantastic. Those sorts of modeling refinements are often saved for the end of a project, so, at least for now, the implication is that Squadron 42 probably hasn’t passed that threshold of completion. The teaser doesn’t list any release details, and we’d be surprised if we heard any information of that nature during tomorrow’s stream.
This is especially true considering Squadron 42 is one of the major points of contention embroiled in the lawsuit between the game’s former engineers at Crytek and its developers at Cloud Imperium Games. Crytek alleges that CIG breached its contract by creating Squadron 42 using the company’s CryEngine technology. Previous agreements reportedly only allowed CIG to build Star Citizen with its tools. According to the filing party, Squadron 42 was not included in that paperwork. If the case is pushed far enough, it’s technically possible that development of Squadron 42 could be shut down altogether.
Until that fairly unlikely day comes, however, Squadron 42 will be the primary focus of CIG’s Holiday Livestream Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. EST. During the presentation, we’ll likely see more of the game in action and learn about how the project has progressed.
Star Citizen is available in alpha for Kickstarter backers on PC.
What are your thoughts on this Squadron 42 teaser? Has it restored your faith in this hugely ambitious game? Tell us in the comments section!
