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Wing Commander
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It’s easy to write off this series if you’ve only seen the craptastic movie, but the original Wing Commander was a remarkable breakthrough in technology and a damn fine game. Designed by Chris Roberts and developed/published by Origin Systems, Wing Commander brought space simulators to the masses. It combined gorgeous graphics and gripping storyline with an innovative gameplay system.
Wing Commander threw us into the middle of a massive galatic war with the Kilrathi, the cat-people players loved to hate and the series' main protagonists. They were vicious, aggressive, and they would insult you during gameplay. We also met a group of fellow crewman who fought along side us. Each crew member had unique personalities and you felt torn when they died because you failed to support them. I still remember replaying one level multiple times just so that I could keep Angel alive. She was nice, helpful, and hot in that pixelated sort of way. And there was also Maniac who was a bit of a competitor, kinda scary, and who would eventually have a mental breakdown. Sounds like a dependable wingman, right?
One of the game’s most endearing aspects was how the storyline was dependent on gameplay success. Each mission would reflect the successes or failures in the previous missions. If you repeatedly failed missions, your crew and mothership would begin retreating and if you didn’t turn things around, you would eventually lose the game. This design might seem obvious in this day and age, but at that time there weren’t many action games that had attempted to implement this, never mind succeeding.
Wing Commander was the unanimous number one pick for all of us. Its legacy not only created and shaped multiple genres but it also birthed one of the greatest series gaming as ever seen. Almost every title that bore the Wing Commander name was excellent, including the amazing Privateer spin-off. The series would be practically perfect if it hadn't ended with the bungled Wing Commander: Prophecy. And while not everyone approved of Mark Hamill (and the live-action shots period), the series' beginnings are some of the finest we’ve ever seen!
Wing Commander threw us into the middle of a massive galatic war with the Kilrathi, the cat-people players loved to hate and the series' main protagonists. They were vicious, aggressive, and they would insult you during gameplay. We also met a group of fellow crewman who fought along side us. Each crew member had unique personalities and you felt torn when they died because you failed to support them. I still remember replaying one level multiple times just so that I could keep Angel alive. She was nice, helpful, and hot in that pixelated sort of way. And there was also Maniac who was a bit of a competitor, kinda scary, and who would eventually have a mental breakdown. Sounds like a dependable wingman, right?
One of the game’s most endearing aspects was how the storyline was dependent on gameplay success. Each mission would reflect the successes or failures in the previous missions. If you repeatedly failed missions, your crew and mothership would begin retreating and if you didn’t turn things around, you would eventually lose the game. This design might seem obvious in this day and age, but at that time there weren’t many action games that had attempted to implement this, never mind succeeding.
Wing Commander was the unanimous number one pick for all of us. Its legacy not only created and shaped multiple genres but it also birthed one of the greatest series gaming as ever seen. Almost every title that bore the Wing Commander name was excellent, including the amazing Privateer spin-off. The series would be practically perfect if it hadn't ended with the bungled Wing Commander: Prophecy. And while not everyone approved of Mark Hamill (and the live-action shots period), the series' beginnings are some of the finest we’ve ever seen!
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