Ah, the memories...
For a while, I didn't have a computer, but went over to a friend and watched him play WC1 and 2. It may sound boring, but I assure you I found it extremely exciting at the time. To find out the story together with him, help him out on a mission, shout at him "there's a kilrathi on your tail!" - it really was quite some fun. But not nearly as much fun as playing those games myself
Which I did as soon as I got my own PC. It was 1993, and we had to decide between a 386 and 486. That dumb jerk at the store told us to get the cheaper one; he probably knew that if we bought that, we'd have to get another one in about a year. Which of course we did a couple of weeks after Wing Commander III came out
. In the weeks and months before that, I played WC1 and 2 for the first time on my own, and spend some time with Wing Commander Academy and Armada. I gut WC3 on the first day it was out, I remember calling the store after school and driving there to get it - even if I didn't have my new PC to play it yet! I read the Victory Streak, read some articles in magazines, looked at the poster and everything, and I got more excited by the day. And then, finally, it was my birthday and I got my Pentium. Guess what was the first thing installed on there?
After reading some articles in magazines I already knew about the actors - and the desctruction of the concordia (which was spoilered in a screenshot the PC Games posted), so it didn't bother me. To this day I think that Mark Hamill is a much underrated actor, who did a tremendous job as Blair. Tom Wilson was a different Maniac, but I fell in love with this character almost right from the start. Even if Paladin's look changed considerably, I thought John Rhys-Davies was an excellent choise for the role. But I have to agree, the most memorable performance came from Malcolm McDowell. Yes, his Tolwyn is different, but at least in WC3 he's not really a bad guy either. He just is an arrogant, overconfident SOAB. And McDowell portrayed him perfectly.
But it wasn't just the main cast, the supporting roles were great too. I especially liked Cobra and Flash, who seemed like a younger version of Maniac (and could later be seen in "Hulk"). Flint and Rachel had some nice scenes too. I also liked Vagabond (remember seeing him a couple of years back on an episode of Stargate SG-1), and of course how could I forget Eisen? Only Vaquero... dunno, the character never really did anything for me.
The cast of WC4 was superb too. I escpecially liked Paulsen (there's a great scene with him if you stay on the carrier and don't leave with Eisen and Maniac) and Seether (I already knew Robert Russler from Babylon 5, but thought that he did a much better job on "The Price of Freedom". Of course, the role was much better, too). There were some great actors on the borderworld-side too, especially Sosa (?) and Hawk.
All in all, I think the cast of WC3 and 4 were great. I loved Hamill as Blair, Wilson as Maniac, Rhys-Davies as Paladin, and McDowell as Tolwyn. To this day, I consider Wing Commander III to be the best game of all times. True, 4 had the better story, but 3 was the best overall game, in my opinion. It had exciting missions, great graphics, phantastic performances and a thrilling plot. What's the saying... "They don't make them like that any more". Indeed...