Star Wars Zero Company gives Order 66 a central role in its story, placing players in control of clone trooper Trick as he is forced to attack members of his own team, including the Jedi Padawan Tel-Rea. Republic intelligence officer Bennic also moves against Zero Company after Emperor Palpatine issues the order.
In an interview with Polygon, actors Jonathan Freeman, Dee Bradley Baker and Vic Michaelis discussed the sequence, alongside creative director Greg Foertsch. Baker, who voices Trick, described Order 66 as “the heartbreak of the clones,” while Foertsch called the scene a distinctive part of Zero Company’s identity.
The developers wanted to show the event from a perspective different from the Jedi- and clone-focused portrayals seen in other Star Wars stories. Rather than presenting the fall of the Republic through major figures, Zero Company follows a group of outcasts experiencing the sudden political transformation from the sidelines.
Foertsch said Bit Reactor designed Trick’s betrayal to have greater emotional weight by establishing his relationship with the player character Hawks before the game begins. Trick is also one of the squad’s most dependable companions, making the player’s forced control of his actions particularly uncomfortable. Tel-Rea’s fate can add another personal dimension to the mission if she is still alive.
Freeman said the sequence captures Zero Company’s approach by narrowing the wider Star Wars saga down to a specific moment affecting ordinary people. His character, Hawks, must also deal with a break in his relationship with Bennic: Hawks remains loyal to Zero Company, while Bennic continues to serve the emerging Galactic Empire.
Michaelis’s character, Runa, is not present in the hangar when Order 66 begins. Instead, she learns about the event from the holotable alongside other characters. Michaelis said that seeing the game come together with Star Wars music made the experience feel surreal, particularly during the Order 66 sequence.
Baker has voiced clones for nearly two decades and has encountered the event in several Star Wars productions, including The Bad Batch. Even so, he said fans are more likely than he is to remember every occasion on which he has participated in a portrayal of Order 66.
Star Wars Zero Company is available on PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X.
Sources: Polygon.