RPS Reviews WC2 (January 24, 2014)

[ChrisReid]

James Reeve tipped us off about a new review of Wing Commander 2 by gaming site Rock, Paper, Shotgun. We've seen a few of these retro reviews pop up in the news over the last few months, but this one is fun because it's part of a series on finding old games in second hand stores. It also chronicles the experiences of an author who's playing classic games for the first time rather than going just for nostalgia. It's nice to read these types of reviews when the writer has an open mind, and it sounds like he had a blast! Check out the full review here.

Combat holds up well ? I mean, these are really the core rules of starbound dogfighting, ones still used in those few games that fear to tread the undiscovered country, and while perhaps it feels slower and less dramatic (in terms of sound, vibration and explosion effects) than we might call for noawadays, in the main it hasn?t aged. There?s an appropriate edge of desperation to trying to keep a bead on a target that can move anywhere in what feels like an instant, the cockpit looks/feels fragile and claustrophobic, the right sounds and music play when you score a finishing shot ? it?s all there and it all still works. I?m not particularly far in so haven?t been able to play with too many weapon systems but hell, I?d like to.

It looks great too, it really does. I?m sure it was a high-budget game for its time and it shows, but even so, and even despite all its fart-huffing fascination with its own fiction, it?s got a Saturday morning, Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon serial ethos in both presentation and tone that somehow keeps it appealing low-key no matter how much its cast preen and posture. Perhaps it?s because the dreary browns and greys that were the unfortunate necessity of 3D games old and new hadn?t yet turned up to assert their dreary dominance, or that a mere 256 colours made a brash, comic book palette unavoidable, or that the games? industry idea of escapism and the desires of adolescents were a little more innocent, a little more cartoon-inspired.

Or perhaps, as I prefer to believe, it?s simply deliberate design that this is a game rich in vibrant blues and yellows, space combat as unabashed derring-do rather than posturing towards reality or militarism. The 23-year vintage shows, of course it does, but its gaudy, chunky, space opera tapestry remains immediately appealing and enticing.

GOG is also running a "soft" sale on Wing Commander. Visit a product page for a game like WC2, and the WC games are highlighted in a pane on the right side of the menu. Buying the whole series at once will save about $13 or 25% off the regular prices.









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Original update published on January 24, 2014

 

[centaurianmudpig]

It's interesting how the review expected to be told why we are in a galactic war with the cat's. Wing Commander 1 never told you either, though I suppose the simulator in the bar was closer to being a tutorial what was missed in WC2. The only mention of how the war started was in the booklet you got with the game, then it doesn't really explain much other than the Kilrathi being an aggressive race IIRC. Nice to read from a perspective of someone who never played and that he appeared to like it too.

 

[FredDude32]

There was some background info on the war in the WC1 manual.

 

[centaurianmudpig]

Yeah, that was the booklet I was thing of the "Claw Marks".

 

[Quarto]

It's interesting how the review expected to be told why we are in a galactic war with the cat's. Wing Commander 1 never told you either, though I suppose the simulator in the bar was closer to being a tutorial what was missed in WC2. The only mention of how the war started was in the booklet you got with the game, then it doesn't really explain much other than the Kilrathi being an aggressive race IIRC. Nice to read from a perspective of someone who never played and that he appeared to like it too.

Well, keep in mind that in the early 90s, this was a standard and accepted form of exposition - that's why so many games from this era had big, thick manuals. Wing Commander 1 certainly gave you a lot of exposition on the war, even though none of it was in the game. Wing Commander 2, on the other hand, makes very little effort in this regard - it's very much the kind of sequel that assumes you've played the original. Compare WC2 to WC3, where everything is laid out on a plate for new players to get into the series, and you'll see why someone might criticise WC2 for its approach.

(and honestly, for me it remains one of the great, great inexplicable disappointments of what otherwise is my absolute favourite WC game. Why no Claw Marks-style manual for WC2, or some kind of personal scrapbook or something? It wasn't until the Kilrathi Saga edition came along that any effort - not much, but something - was made to fix this obvious lack in the game)