Hands up if you ever thought Star Citizen, the Kickstarter success story from 2013 and counting, was never going to come out. As of today, you would still be right, but this year’s CitizenCon brought a surprise for the single-player portion of the package, with Squadron 42 finally ready to see the light of day again.
“We are excited to announce that Squadron 42 is now feature-complete!” Cloud Imperium Games said. “As we move into the polishing phase, we’re fully focused on optimizing and fine-tuning all aspects of the gameplay experience to deliver an unprecedented cinematic adventure. To celebrate this milestone, we have gathered our core development leadership from around the globe to share what this means.”
For over 26 minutes, Cloud Imperium founder Chris Roberts showed off parts of the game along with the other developers who have been working on the project, which, if backers recall, was meant to be delivered in November of 2014. That marks almost a decade on, but we got to see the likes of Gillian Anderson, Mark Hamill, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Rhys-Davies, and Liam Cunningham lend their acting chops to cutscenes.
The gameplay for Squadron 42 will be quite familiar to anyone who has played a modern shooter, with senior game director Richard Tyrer bringing attention to the “tactical FPS combat and stealth, which has seen a suite of improvements from improved looting, weapon feel and balance, realistic scopes, and smoother locomotion alongside our new and improved FPS radar and scanner that provides you an overview of the battlefield, but at the cost of ramping up your own emissions. We’ve also seen the introduction of our Maelstrom-powered destructible environment.”
“Ultimately, this is the final phase of gameplay iteration before we fully transition into optimization and stability on the road to release.”
That road to release remains a mystery in terms of how long it will take. With the company’s track record, who knows at this point? But Roberts was keen to emphasise that when there is a “locked release date,” supporters will be the first to know about what he calls this “generation’s Wing Commander.”
We guess that it’s time to hold tight then if you are hoping to enjoy Squadron 42 sometime in the future.
Jake is a full-time trophy hunter and achievement gatherer on consoles, and part-time Steam Sale victim. He has a thing for Batman and awesome statues, and running out of space for both. Send help.
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