Think Back to the First Full 3D WC Game

In expectation of Wing Commander III, where Star Wars-star Mark Hamill will have a lead part in, let’s go into space once more whit the CD version of Wing Commander Armada.

Fight or be conquered. What was going on in the Wing Commander Universe again? Somewhere in the 27th century an earth scout ship stumbles upon a few Kilrathi warships. These Kilrathi are beings who have been conquering worlds ever since they made the discovery of space travel. The same goes for the humans, but they use treaties and diplomacy. Anyway, soon after the humans are at war with the Kilrathi, the stakes; the ruler of the universe.

Stand together to fight a war on your own isn’t usually much fun. The people at origin got understood that. Every possible Multyplayer option has been put on this CD including, split-screen, null-modem, modem and network. Together against the enemy, or against a friend. The only minor is that when playing split screen the screen shows space only and leaves the cockpit out of the view. This may seen dull, until the enemy comes into your sighs. From there on you’ll hardly miss the cockpit, because the panels look nice and all, but actually only block your view.

Build to fight instead of just fighting in space, Armada offers you the option to conquer planets as well, to use for mining. You can use the resources to build spaceships whit which you can fight your opponents. This offers a welcome change of pace in the game instead of the non-stop blasting. Still, The only purpose to this is to expand your fleet. It’s would have been fun to have some sort of colonisation option here, the goal in the game isn’t to win as mush planets as you can, it is destroy your opponents mother ship, and this is, unless you have another human opponent, only fun for a few times.

Graphics 8
Sound 7
Originality 6.5
Gameplay 7.5
Overall 7.3

Good graphics, nice sound affects and simple controls. But it’s noting more then a shoot 'em up, a nice shoot 'em up, let’s not deny that. Definitely worth the effort if you can play over modem or network. If you have to play this alone it won’t be as satisfying as the rest of the series.

Floods, Suds and Mud

Zachari Monty reports. Climactic changes have wrought havoc on Crius, as ice caps have melted following global warming. 65% of the planet's land mass has been bathed in warm water, and the problem has been compounded by the deluge over-running the Gleamco detergent factory, resulting in the largest bubble bath the galaxy has ever seen. Young children are said to be particularly upset with the state of affairs. Purification planets are working triple shifts in an attempt to avert ecological disaster, and a huge surplus of Fresh Water has resulted, good news for any traders in the stuff.