Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes PC Early Access Preview – One With the Force
In case you missed the news, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes has finally made its way onto PC in the form of an early access release! While sure, the game was originally built for mobile devices when it was released back in 2015 and has remained stuck on the platform up until now, the studio behind the game, EA Capital Games, has managed to conjure all kinds of force energy to bring this port to life, breathing an entirely new experience into Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.
Let the Power of the PC Flow Through You!
It should come as no surprise to anyone that when a new platform is released, games typically take advantage of the latest specs offered. In the case of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes on PC, which isn’t at all demanding, Capital Games has ensured that the PC version got a nice visual bump, now supporting up to full 4K resolution and textures, along with an increase in performance over its mobile counterparts.
While by no means is Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes pushing the visual fidelity of gaming to new heights (it is a mobile game, after all), the visual bump and performance certainly make for a very “next-gen” experience for those jumping from mobile to PC. The game runs flawlessly on both my 3080 and 4090 builds and I’m sure even potato builds can run it without any issues, as, once again, the game isn’t at all demanding (CPU and GPU minimum specs are over a decade old). The added antialiasing removes most of those annoying jaggies the mobile versions have, making it an even better-looking game. One thing I noticed instantly was how clear and cleaner the font looked, which, while it isn’t awful on mobile, does at times come off a bit blurry where I’ll need to squint my eyes a bit to see better. Maybe my eyes are getting old, but I don’t run into that issue on the PC version.
Elsewhere, because the game can now be played on a bigger screen, breaking away from the compact size of a phone, the UI in the PC version can display a lot, and I mean a lot more information and content. Inventory, for example, on the character page, goes from displaying 18 items to now displaying 40 items before having to scroll down. All the menus are accessible from a single screen of any given tab. It’s a nice little upgrade that makes all the difference, and it’s enough to want to make the switch alone.
But visuals and performance boosts are always a given whenever a game comes to a platform capable of more. What of the controls, seeing that Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes was built with a touchscreen in mind? Well, I’m happy to say that Capital Games has fully embraced the mouse and keyboard side of the force.
Luke, Use The Mouse
Any PC gamer who loves PC gaming will probably tell you that one of the biggest reasons is because of mouse and keyboard. Don’t get me wrong, I myself am mostly a controller player, even on PC. It’s what I grew up with and will always be my go-to. Unfortunately, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes doesn’t support controllers natively (yet, and the team says they’re looking at more accessibility options), but it has been redesigned to work with mouse and keyboard, and as expected, the controls are far more responsive and snappier than using a touchscreen (at least for me).
Many in-game actions are bindable and allow almost full customization of how you play. No more tapping on the screen; everything is accessible within finger reach. I’m hoping controller support is something the studio manages to figure out, but in the meantime, playing with a mouse and keyboard is definitely leaps ahead of playing on mobile.
Still, the joy of mobile is being able to play on the go, and thankfully, that’s not something you have to sacrifice with the PC version.
May the Force Be With You, Wherever You Go
Like many cross-platform games, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes fully supports crossplay with mobile players, so you’ll never have to worry about not being able to play with friends just because you switched platforms. But one thing I’ve grown over the years with crossplay is cross-progression, being able to play on one platform and pick things up on another without the worry of losing progression.
As long as you’re logged into the same account on mobile and PC for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, your progression will carry over seamlessly between the two platforms. That’s the joy of cross-progression, which isn’t exclusive to Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, but I’m glad that Capital Games was able to get that to work for such an old game. Even though it highlights just how much better the PC version is than the mobile version, most, if not all, PC gamers don’t have the luxury of being able to lug around our builds wherever we want. So, the sacrifice in performance and visuals is one I’m happy to make for the ease of access of being able to play on the go, anywhere, and at any time.
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes on the PC is an impressive mobile port that feels right at home. I know not everyone is into the gacha genre of games, nor am I really trying to sway anyone to get into Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, especially if they didn’t like it before (though the game has come a long way, notably in accessibility) but as far as ports go, Capital Games have really knocked it out of the park with the PC port of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. It looks and feels fantastic, comes with great quality-of-life improvements, and plays great with a mouse and keyboard. Sure, there’s room for improvement that we’re sure players are already voicing about, but as a start to early access, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes PC edition is off to a fantastic start.
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