Anakin Skywalker’s Role in Star Wars: Zero Company Goes Far Beyond a Cameo

Star Wars dives back into the Clone Wars era with Star Wars Zero Company, an ambitious tactical release that fully embraces its “Star Wars meets XCOM” identity. Alongside fresh faces—including your fully customizable protagonist, Hawks—the roster features familiar icons like Captain Rex. Among them is Anakin Skywalker, who took center stage in one of the game’s initial promotional trailers.

I initially assumed Anakin would merely make a fleeting cameo just to headline a trailer and drive pre-launch hype. However, after investing roughly 15 hours into the campaign, I am thrilled to admit I was mistaken. While Anakin does not dominate the entire narrative of Star Wars Zero Company, his brief appearance brilliantly embodies the ultimate Jedi power fantasy while simultaneously highlighting why one of your standard squadmates can never quite reach that same echelon.

In Star Wars Zero Company, you command a specialized unit of operatives investigating a mysterious cult on behalf of the Republic. Your eclectic team includes the Clone Trooper Trick, the Mandalorian Cly Kullervo, and the sharp-witted Jae Mordant, alongside Jedi Padawan Tel-Rea.

Before getting my hands on the final release, I wondered how integrating a Force-wielder would affect the mechanical balance of the tactical combat. Historically, Jedi rank among the most formidable combatants in the galaxy (barring those unfortunate instances when they take a blaster bolt to the back). Surely, having a true Jedi on the frontline would completely break the game’s carefully tuned encounters?

Fortunately, that is not the case. Tel-Rea is remarkably grounded and proves no more overpowered than any other operative. While her lightsaber strikes can effortlessly shear through half an adversary’s health bar, she is restricted to a single activation per turn. Because every operator is allotted just three Action Points (AP) per turn to divide between positioning and special maneuvers, Tel-Rea often has to exhaust her entire reserve simply to close the distance for a melee hit. Doing so leaves her completely vulnerable, as she requires remaining AP to successfully deflect incoming enemy fire once her turn concludes.

Even so, Tel-Rea remains a staple of my deployment loadout. (After all, fielding a Jedi in your squad is inherently thrilling.) Her unique skillset injects welcome variety into a team otherwise reliant on traditional firearms, and thankfully, she avoids breaking the gameplay loop as I had initially feared. However, a specific mid-game assignment involving Anakin Skywalker joining your ranks starkly illustrates just how far Tel-Rea still has to go on her path to mastery.

During an undercover operation to monitor a high-stakes prisoner exchange between Republic and Separatist forces, Anakin steps in to represent Republic interests. Predictably, the situation rapidly deteriorates into an ambush. Casualties mount, forcing Hawks, Anakin, and a third unexpected ally to carve a desperate path to safety.

Up until this juncture, the campaign maintained an optimal difficulty curve. Certain skirmishes pushed my tactical planning to the absolute limit, occasionally leaving units battered and nursing severe battle injuries. (Given that Star Wars Zero Company enforces permanent death by default, these setbacks carry genuine weight.) Yet, the moment Anakin joined the active roster, the mission temporarily plummeted into an effortless power trip.

As a seasoned Jedi Knight (though notably denied the rank of Master!), Anakin easily trivializes standard threats. His lightsaber strikes routinely secure instant eliminations, and his defensive deflection mechanic reliably turns enemy volleys back against their handlers. Furthermore, he suffers from zero positional constraints thanks to his lightsaber throw, which functions as arguably the most devastating ranged attack in the entire game. Grouped enemies clustered together? He dispatches multiple targets in a single sweeping motion. (While Tel-Rea also possesses a lightsaber throw, it lacks Anakin’s devastating impact and availability.) For the duration of this sequence, I largely kept Hawks and my third operative safely back, content to let Anakin orchestrate the slaughter.

Stepping into Anakin’s boots for a single operation only to return to Tel-Rea afterward powerfully emphasizes the vast developmental gap she still faces. It serves as a stark narrative reminder that she remains a youthful learner, cut off from rigorous, uninterrupted tutelage under a seasoned Master for quite some time. While she more than holds her own alongside conventional soldiers, she has a remarkably long road ahead before approaching the legendary capabilities of an established Jedi Knight.

Confining Tel-Rea’s role to a developing Padawan rather than indulging in an unbridled Jedi power fantasy for the entire campaign proved to be a brilliant design choice by Bit Reactor. If every mission in Star Wars Zero Company mirrored that effortless excursion with Anakin, players would never experience the genuine dread of losing valued operatives—and that unforgiving permadeath mechanic is precisely what makes the tactical loop so compelling. Of course, I say this now only because my roster remains fully intact. Check back in with me if Cly Kullervo happens to meet a tragic end; she is simply far too iconic to lose.

Zero Company weaves in a surprising amount of Andor DNA.

Source: Polygon