Squadron 42 five-hour preview draws mostly positive player feedback
Community creators who attended a Cloud Imperium Games playtest in Manchester have reported largely favorable impressions after playing about five hours of Squadron 42, the studio’s single-player game set in the Star Citizen universe.
Accounts of the preview describe a segment spanning the game’s prologue and portions of a later mission, with ship flight and combat, on-foot traversal and puzzles, first-person shooting, and time to explore the player’s ship between objectives. Because the reports cover a limited, controlled preview rather than the complete game, their observations offer only an early indication of the final release.
Cinematic presentation and combat praised
Several attendees highlighted the game’s cinematic approach, pointing to its visuals, music, sound design and character interactions as strengths. Players described a story-led structure built around cutscenes and quieter sequences aboard the ship, while also praising the environmental detail and the sense that non-player characters were carrying out routines in the background.
First-person combat received particularly positive comments in the playtester accounts. Attendees said weapon handling, looting and other interactions felt responsive, while enemy AI was described as engaging. The preview’s space-combat and flight sections were also well received, with some players saying the ships felt more substantial and the travel systems clearer than comparable systems in the current Star Citizen experience.
Reports also singled out the variety of activities shown in the preview. Alongside shooting and dogfights, attendees encountered scanning and multi-tool puzzles, optional interactions, exploration opportunities and social scenes. One account said the game allowed separate difficulty adjustments for elements including FPS combat and flying.
Bugs and onboarding remain concerns
The feedback was not uniformly positive. Some attendees reported minor visual glitches, including issues in cutscenes, and occasional bugs that required checkpoint restarts. However, the available accounts generally characterized these as intermittent rather than session-ending problems.
A number of players also raised questions about pacing and onboarding. The game’s emphasis on dialogue, cutscenes and walk-and-talk sequences may feel slow to some players, according to the reports. Tutorials were described as unclear in places, particularly for those accustomed to Star Citizen’s systems.
One creator also criticized the character-skill progression system, saying the small bonuses on offer were not clearly explained or compelling during the preview. How much freedom players will have between missions was another unresolved question, since the playable slice offered limited evidence of the wider game’s structure.
Despite those reservations, the common theme across the attendee reports was optimism about Squadron 42’s potential as a polished, narrative-driven space-combat game. The preview suggested a more directed experience than Star Citizen, combining first-person action, ship combat and a heavily cinematic campaign, though players said further polish and clearer instruction would be needed before release.
Sources
Internal sources
- I Interviewed 14 Squadron 42 Playtesters | Here’s Every New Detail We Learned
- People Actually Played Squadron 42… Level With Me Ep. 156
- I Played 5 Hours of Squadron 42 — and Three Days Changed My Mind
- Will Squadron 42 Break Star Citizen?