| Wing Commander | ORIGIN Systems, Inc. | 1990 | |
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This is a flight combat game interwoven with a cinematic storyline set in the 27th century. Rather than modeling real-world physics with a completely accurate simulation of space flight, the game is designed to provide a fun, intense, first-person space dogfighting experience. Several things distinguish this title from other games upon its initial release: the graphics, music and sound are state of the art, surpassing most (if not all) other competing products in the industry at the time. The storyline, of which a short segment unravels after each mission, has many plot devices rarely used before in a computer game of its type: character development, interpersonal conflict, ethics and more. In the first scenario, the player takes the role of a young Lieutenant who has just been assigned to the carrier ship Tiger's Claw, the pride of the Confederate Navy. As the primary goal of the game unfolds, you learn of the Confederation's campaign to take Vega Sector from the Kilrathi, an alien race bent on ruling the galaxy. Unique for its time, it used a hybrid 3D system that took place in true 3D space, but used bitmaps drawn from different angles for sprites. The end result was a 3D system that was fast without the speed penalty of rendering polygons in realtime (bitmap scaling and rotation was employed instead). A similar method was used in Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, but not until several years later. A successful synergism between space action simulations and an adventure, it was one of the first games to play like a movie, with it's cinematic cutscenes. It's impact remains apparent through the countless sequels and other games which utilize it's concepts. It made use of a fully-orchestrated (if MIDI) Variable Mix, helping to make Sound Blaster a household name in computers. It spun off 8 novels and a feature film.
In 1996, Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga was released which contained remastered versions of games 1-3, with a high-quality soundtrack and perfect execution under Windows without speed or stability problems. It added drop-away cockpit support for 1 & 2 and rudder/pedal support for 3. See also: #Chartbusters 16, #Wing Commander: The Secret Missions, #Wing Commander: The Secret Missions 2 - Crusade |
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