After working on Wing Commander in 1990 with Chris Roberts, Mark Hamill didn't expect to star in a video game again. It's not that he didn't enjoy it—he did, immensely.

"I had such a great time the first time around," Hamill told PC Gamer. When he asked to join the cast of Squadron 42, Hamill said he didn’t need to see the script. "I said ‘count me in!’ Of course my agent said, ‘you didn’t tell him that, did you? Play hard to get for God’s sake!"


The Star Wars actor plays Lt. Commander Steve 'Old Man' Colton, the player's mentor and a seasoned pilot. "He’s a blunt guy, a lifer," Hamill said. "They say he doesn’t teach people as much as hammer them into shape, but he’s a true believer in the cause."

Filming with such extensive motion-capture is different for Hamill—a challenge. "You spend a lifetime on movie sets, doing television and what-not, and you think you know something. Here you’re going back and learning it all over again." Motion-capture is equalizing, he says. Everyone's wearing the same thing—a body suit with little balls all over—regardless of whether you're the star or an extra. And you've got to be comfortable with playing pretend.

"There we are, with our suits full of these little pimples, and these planks of wood, going ‘RIGHT! THEY’RE COMING! KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN! QUICK SHOTS!'" Co-star John Rhys-Davies added.

"It’s like being a child again," Mark Hamill agreed, "playing Robin Hood in your backyard. It’s all pretending."

Hamill and Rhys-Davies are joined by Gary Oldman and Gillian Anderson in Star Citizen's single player campaign. Squadron 42 doesn't have a release date just yet, but Star Citizen's alpha 2.0 launched in early December.