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Squadron 42 · Manchester hands-on · Spoiler-free

Squadron 42 hands-on: five hours in the first group of 70

I played Squadron 42 myself for five hours, as part of the first of two groups of 70 at the hands-on event in Manchester. After years of waiting, my main question was simple: how does it feel when you are actually at the controls? My impressions were surprisingly positive. The presentation, ground combat, space combat and controls drew me in. At the same time, I encountered bugs that CIG needs to fix before release.

This is my detailed, spoiler-free account of the version I played. It covers selected campaign sections in a prepared event build, rather than a review of the complete campaign.

By Karolinger · Published 9 October 2026 · First-hand experience with mouse and keyboard

Squadron 42 in Manchester: what I actually played

I was in the first group of 70 people who could play Squadron 42 at this event. The presentation was elaborate: a setting resembling a UEE carrier flight deck, large screens and an F7A Mark II on display. Chris Roberts, Sandi Roberts, Rich Tyrer and other developers attended. Mark Hamill appeared as a surprise guest, and I had the opportunity to meet him. That was a special moment, although I mostly wanted to get back to the game.

CIG provided my access to the event. I paid for my own travel and hotel, and I receive no fee for the video. These impressions come from my own mouse-and-keyboard session, briefly interrupted during the visit from Mark Hamill and Chris Roberts.

I began with the opening, prologue and tutorial. That introduction felt roughly an hour long, moving between cinematic scenes and moments when I took control. We then made a previously announced jump to another part of the campaign so that we could experience more locations and situations. This was part of the event format; it does not establish how the finished campaign will normally flow.

A cinematic story that made me want to keep playing

Before long, I stopped thinking about the development time. I wanted to see the next scene, play the next encounter and find out what happened next. It felt like a major science-fiction adventure in the tradition of Wing Commander: familiar elements from Star Citizen, arranged around a story-driven single-player campaign.

The strongest part was the sense of being my character. People reacted to me, conversations included me, and my role grew out of my experiences. I did not feel like an all-powerful hero defeating entire fleets alone. I was part of a crew and a larger story. Even Admiral Bishop’s already public speech felt different and much more emotional within the connected experience.

Mark Hamill, Gary Oldman and Gillian Anderson contribute a great deal. Original voices, motion capture, facial expressions and eye contact work together convincingly. Small remarks help the characters feel believable. The cast makes more of an impression in play than a list of famous names on a promotional poster.

Cutscenes and gameplay transition very smoothly. As you walk through an area, the camera changes, cinematic bars appear and the scene begins. You then regain control. Conversations offer choices, and sometimes you can react, act or choose not to respond. I cannot judge the long-term consequences of those decisions across the full campaign from this session.

The campaign is guided and largely linear, but the sections I played left room to explore, find alternative routes and approach situations more directly or quietly. It is not an entirely open sandbox. For this adventure, the balance between direction and player choice worked very well for me. I did not feel that prior Star Citizen knowledge was essential: the important context was explained.

Graphics and animation: a clear step forward from 2024

The current version looked considerably more detailed to me than the publicly available 2024 gameplay. That applied to skin, eyes, clothing and armour, as well as ships, cockpits and surfaces. Small scratches, stickers, navigation lights and differences between materials made spaces believable. Even familiar locations such as the Gladius cockpit looked better.

Asteroids, rock formations, large stations and lighting particularly impressed me. Huge battles gave me the feeling of being among the fleets. Smoke and fire were also part of the environment and could affect visibility. In some places, lighting or ventilation could be used to influence the situation.

I did not encounter conspicuous flickering, heavy smearing or obviously missing textures in the sections I played. There were still smaller visual faults. Animation was mostly clean: characters placed their feet appropriately on stairs, got up convincingly and responded through expressions and eye contact. F4 also let me use a third-person view. Individual problems remained visible, including some standing-up and weapon animations.

These observations describe the build I played at the event. The video uses archival footage, and my own session footage was not available when this report was written, so that visual improvement cannot yet be directly demonstrated here.

Native 4K, HDR and at least 60 FPS: what I observed

I played at native 4K with HDR. Frame Generation was explicitly disabled; the menu included options such as DLSS and DLAA. The game used Vulkan with a mixture of very high and maximum settings. Both on foot and in the cockpit, it felt smooth and responsive on the event PC.

I had the FPS display on at times, including some large scenes near the beginning. When I checked it, I saw at least 60 FPS, sometimes more. That describes the moments I observed. I did not record a complete benchmark with averages, 1% lows or measurements covering the entire session. It is therefore not a guaranteed minimum frame rate.

I cannot provide a verified component list for the PC. These were modern high-end systems with Nvidia graphics cards, but my impressions about a 50-series GPU and the amount of RAM remained unconfirmed. I could not verify the CPU or exact GPU. These observations cannot establish final Squadron 42 system requirements or support a specific hardware purchase recommendation.

Occasional brief pauses or stutters occurred during particularly large battles, including an enormous explosion, before the game immediately ran smoothly again. I do not know their technical cause. Saves normally loaded within a few seconds; that, too, describes the event machine.

German localisation: translated text and original English voices

The German localisation was one of my most pleasant surprises. It covered subtitles, menus, descriptions, small displays, signs aboard ships and screens in the background of scenes. Much of the text I encountered was available in German. I noticed a few missing lines marked “Missing” and minor translation errors, but they were relatively rare.

Spoken dialogue remained in English, with the original actors. This hands-on does not confirm a fully German voice dub. That distinction matters if you are looking for information about Squadron 42 in German: translated text and spoken voices are separate features.

The settings menu felt more modern and organised than the current Star Citizen menu. Head bobbing, bloom, motion blur and depth of field could be disabled. Field of view and text size were adjustable. Controls offered separate flight and FPS sections, axes, sensitivities and other bindings.

Options for controllers, aim assistance, joysticks and HOTAS were present. I only tested mouse and keyboard. I could not try head tracking, eye tracking or potential future VR support without the relevant devices. I therefore cannot assess their quality or final feature set.

Ground combat: responsive gunplay, weapon feedback and healing

I had been sceptical about FPS combat before the event. Gunplay in the Persistent Universe often feels too sluggish to me. In Squadron 42, movement, aiming and shooting worked together much more directly. Changes of direction, sprinting, climbing and overcoming obstacles felt more precise and much closer to a modern shooter.

Hits had visible consequences. Helmets could be shot off, and armour pieces could be damaged and broken away. Weapons felt distinct in their roles: shotguns and electric weapons at close range, SMGs, single-shot weapons and sniper rifles. Hit markers and reactions made it easier to judge the effect of my fire.

Grenades also felt understandable. The aiming aid showed a clear area, and my throws landed where I expected. Cover mattered. Enemies shot through a glass pane, taking away my sense of safety behind it. These situations make you pay attention to the environment.

Equipment included two main weapons, a pistol and a melee weapon, plus familiar attachments. The Vanduul spear could combine close and ranged combat. Ammunition management remained awkward in places. Healing and injuries mattered; in one mission area, I could not fully treat an injury because the right supplies were unavailable. Running blindly into every fight on Wingman was a poor idea.

Enemy AI and difficulty: Wingman was already challenging

The available difficulties were Rookie, Wingman and Ace. I played Wingman, the middle setting, and died several times. Even four or five FPS enemies could keep me very busy. These impressions cover Wingman; I did not play through Rookie and Ace for comparison.

Enemies used cover, changed position, tried to surround me and pressed forward. They reacted to sight, sound and grenades. Some called for help, waited for support or retreated. Doors did not reliably stop them, and enemies who had not been definitively taken out could be revived.

That created much more pressure than many of my PU encounters. I could also sneak past and avoid some fights if I remained unseen and unheard. The AI was not faultless: in space combat, I saw ships get stuck or collide, and allies occasionally knocked into me. A positive overall impression does not mean consistently perfect AI.

Scanning, hacking and the Navy Multitool

Scanning did not do all the exploration for me. A scan could reveal important clues and briefly visible enemy silhouettes, but the information faded. Not every route was permanently explained by markers. Yellow highlights and adjustable aids helped with orientation without automatically solving every task.

I tried hacking myself for the first time. Connections had to be aligned, points decoded and joined into a working network. It reminded me of a maze with rotating tiles. At one point, I needed help understanding how the steps connected. Afterwards, it felt like a small, understandable puzzle.

The Navy Multitool is one feature I especially want in Star Citizen. Its different functions were built into the device, including a tractor beam, cutter, salvaging and loading or unloading. B switched modes, and the mouse wheel adjusted their effect. Pulling, pushing and placing objects precisely worked well. I did not constantly need to find another attachment for the next job.

Switches and terminals were more direct to operate too. Clicking or pressing F was often enough, with a small interaction point indicating my target. Inventory context actions made moving and taking items easier. Each improvement may seem small, but together they noticeably reduced friction.

EVA and zero gravity, with and without a suit

Movement with EVA equipment was broadly familiar but felt more pleasant and approachable than in the current PU. I needed less correction. Transitions into areas with gravity generally worked cleanly.

Without an EVA suit, the principle changed: hold on, push off and reach another suitable grip. I could not freely correct my direction along the way. A badly chosen push could carry me past the target and kill me. That makes the tutorial useful even for experienced Star Citizen players. Zero gravity only featured in a limited part of my session, so this is not a comprehensive EVA test.

Flying the Gladius: cockpit, MFDs and ship systems

I flew the Gladius myself, both in the simulator and on missions. It responded immediately to my inputs. Flight felt cleaner and more understandable to me, although I would not simply call it faster. Coupled and Decoupled were present, along with flight assistance, boost and G-forces.

MFDs and cockpit switches were much more pleasant to use. I could select functions precisely and receive an immediate response. Power management focused on weapons, shields and engines, using pips and presets. That meant spending less attention on complicated controls during a fight.

Ship scanning was directly accessible: hold Tab, charge and release to trigger the scan. Charging time influenced its intensity. I did not test atmospheric flight. Extensive temperature or overheating systems did not define these sections either. A judgement on the entire flight simulation would go too far.

Quantum travel without Master Modes, and leaving the carrier

The version I played did not use the familiar Master Modes switch between flight and navigation states. I could use quantum from ordinary flight, and missiles did not require a separate weapon mode. That helped me remain in the situation instead of constantly switching operating states.

Short quantum jumps over a few kilometres and jumps to more distant targets were possible. In my missions, I did not need to plan a route on a map. The process was more direct: look at the target, make quantum boost available, charge and activate it. The powerful entry and exit effects delivered a strong science-fiction feeling.

Launching from the Idris was impressive too. Side elements held the ship, panels rose behind it, and building thrust led to a powerful launch into the mission. The launch boost felt quantum-like to me. That describes my impression; it is not a technically confirmed equivalence with the quantum drive.

Space combat: a clearer HUD, missiles and huge battles

The HUD made friend and foe easy to distinguish. On selected enemies, shields and remaining hit points were visible at the target. Lead indicators remained and could differ with projectile speed. Incoming fire was clearer too: direction indicators, shield responses and sound communicated where attacks came from.

I could select missiles directly and launch them with appropriate range and target lock. Countermeasures responded immediately. Simpler controls did not remove tactical decisions: positioning, asteroid cover and the timing of countermeasures still mattered.

Wingmen flew convincingly in formation and responded to my inputs. I would still be cautious about judging their tactical help after this short test. AI pilots could put me under pressure, but occasionally made mistakes. Large combat areas allowed room to position, and failing to deal with required targets in time could result in a turret or ship being destroyed.

Turrets were among my strongest experiences. Their operation, weapon impact and sound convincingly conveyed that I was aboard a large warship taking part in a fleet battle. The scale of the Vanduul ships and Kingship came across very well. Other familiar ships were visible, but my own flight test was limited to the Gladius. Seeing ships does not establish that I could fly all of them.

Sound, life aboard ship and character progression

Through headphones, sound contributed at least as much as the graphics. Ballistic hits sounded like metal impacts, while weapons and explosions carried weight. It helped me understand combat situations by ear. Dynamic battle music changed with the action and worked alongside voices and environmental sound.

Many crew members looked occupied with terminals, training, conversations and everyday marine activities. Characters reacted to me or began conversations themselves. Doors, lifts and transitions between cockpit and interior generally worked cleanly. Quiet moments offered time to explore.

Smaller side activities were present too. I saw a gym, collectables such as small ships and playing cards, arcade machines and Galactapedia information. The updated mobiGlas connected messages, background knowledge and personal context for my character. Some attributes developed through activities and combat; I did not see a conventional system requiring me to distribute large amounts of skill points after each mission.

Different suits and helmet variants suggested customisation and unlocks. I cannot yet say how they will become available. I do not infer editions or purchasable extras from what I saw.

Bugs: the work CIG still needs to finish

My main reservation is about problems that interrupted play. If I cannot reload in combat, or a mission will not progress, good graphics cannot make up for it. Because the underlying game was convincing, these issues need to be addressed thoroughly before a finished release.

• Blocked reloads: with ammunition available, an animation began, got stuck and left the weapon empty. Another reload animation was missing the magazine.
• Mission progression: some sequences failed to trigger. Once, a landing did not count as the required progress, making a reload necessary.
• Simulator inputs: upward and downward thrust suddenly stopped responding. The same keys worked again after reloading.
• Characters and animation: NPCs sometimes became embedded in the floor or stairs. I also saw standing-up and weapon-animation problems.
• A stuck loading screen: a checkpoint failed to load. A staff member intervened, and ultimately the PC had to restart. My saved progress was still there afterwards.

Some problems felt as though moving ahead quickly had overtaken an expected sequence. That is a hypothesis about the cause. What I directly observed was the interruption and the need to repeat a section, rather than its technical trigger.

There were automatic checkpoints and manual saves. Escape paused the game even during cutscenes, and death returned me to the last checkpoint. Their spacing generally felt fair. It became frustrating when a bug or death meant replaying longer scenes I had already seen but could not skip on the first playthrough. I would like more freedom there.

The improvements I would like to see in Star Citizen

The most interesting connection is the feel of play: direct FPS combat, better interactions, clearer MFDs, simpler scanning, the quantum system and the Navy Multitool. I want to focus more on positioning, exploration and the next encounter.

That does not mean every result can transfer unchanged to the Persistent Universe. A prepared single-player campaign and an online universe with many players have different technical demands. I cannot promise identical performance or a timetable for bringing these features across. This comparison describes the controls and mechanics I preferred in this session.

If you are playing the PU now, our Star Citizen performance and settings guide (German) and Coupled and Decoupled combat guide (German) may help. They cover Star Citizen, rather than the unreleased Squadron 42 campaign.

Release window, offline play and unanswered questions

As of 9 October 2026, the official Squadron 42 website lists Q2 2027 as the planned launch window. That is not a confirmed release day. My hands-on cannot establish that all the bugs I encountered will be fixed by then.

I did not receive explicit confirmation about whether an internet connection would be required. I felt no noticeable network delay and there was a pause menu, but neither proves a guaranteed offline mode. Final system requirements also remain unconfirmed by this test.

There were no boat sequences in my session. I could not deliberately test Maelstrom as a comprehensive destruction system, and I did not experience repairs, loss of pressure or major system failures in these sections. Five hours cannot establish the complete campaign length, all consequences of decisions or special Ace unlocks either.

Choices, collectables and the challenge of Ace may contribute to replay value. How much they add will only become clear with the complete campaign. If you are considering a purchase, our Squadron 42 purchase guide (German) explains game access, the RSI account and referral codes. Always check the provider’s actual offer and included licences.

My verdict after five hours of Squadron 42

I travelled to Manchester with some scepticism. The bugs confirmed part of it. In many other areas, Squadron 42 exceeded my expectations considerably: responsive gunplay, controls, graphics, sound and, above all, personal immersion.

The mechanics I played did not grow stale for me. Time passed quickly, and I wanted to keep going almost throughout the session. Science-fiction fans could have a major single-player experience ahead of them, even without an interest in Star Citizen’s online universe. I personally felt the potential for a worthy successor to Wing Commander.

My verdict: a convincing hands-on with real sci-fi potential and clear bug-fixing work ahead. A score for a finished game, or a recommendation based on the whole campaign, would be premature. What I can say is that I want to discover what happens next and experience it myself.

Which improvement matters most to you? Join the discussion under the English Squadron 42 video or visit our Discord community.

Frequently asked questions about the Squadron 42 hands-on

Go straight to a topic in the English video

• 08:07 – Graphics and progress since 2024
• 10:12 – Native 4K without Frame Generation
• 12:17 – Settings and German text
• 17:41 – Ground combat, weapons and healing
• 22:25 – Scanning, hacking and the Navy Multitool
• 28:03 – Quantum travel and carrier launch
• 37:42 – Bugs and improvements still needed
• 42:51 – Replay value, release and verdict

Sources and transparency: my own hands-on session and video report by Karolinger / Die Loge, published on 9 October 2026. The release window was checked against the official Squadron 42 website. Personal opinions refer to the event build. This article contains no screenshots from the session.