What is your favorite WING COMMANDER game?

HurriKane

Spaceman
This is a tough question for me because I love all of them! Although thinking of just the main games I'd have to say I like the variety of missions and the story of Price of Freedom. My favorite cockpit view is Prophecy because of the moving cockpit struts. I also like the game engine of Prophecy. I really love the way the Kilrathi look in Heart of the Tiger, I thought Melek looked funny in Price of Freedom, but thats just me, I loved 3's version of the Kats though. As far as ships go, it's a toss up between Price of Freedom and Prophecy. I love the Border Worlds Banshee, Confeds Bearcat, The Black Lance Dragon, New Confeds Pirahna and Vampire.

I guess I'd have to say Price of Freedom is my absolute favorite WC game.

What is yours?
 
I'd say Heart of the Tiger. It's the first game that I ever got in the WC Universe, and the story happens to be my fav. Plus the ensemble cast is so bright and colorful, much unlike Price of Freedoms.
 
As I get older I find the title I'm most fond of, both in memory and in replay, is Privateer.

It's just got a load of cargo in the hold, and a load of bills to pay at home.
 
yeh WCIII, Strike Commander and Privateer were some of the first things I ever played on my Pentium 90 - I would say though that just about WCIV is my favourite just because of the incredible change sides bit, the amazing part where that huge ship flies by when you're on that secret base (yes I havent played it in a long time (Windows 7 is hopefully going to rectify this :p )) - having said that though the Excalibur is my favourite fighter - aww I dunno cause also the 'Hobbes bit' in Wing Commander III was probably the most genuinely emotional scene I've ever played in a game - nah maybe still overall WCIV is my favourite eheh

I've never properly played Privateer 2 though so maybe that will be up there too (I'm able to get it running well enough in Windows 7) -

basically I love all Wing Commander games (a cop out I know but I do love something about all of them (maybe Prophecy least though))
 
I have to say my favorite is the original. Mostly because of the good times I had with my best friend when he first introduced the game to me. (And his personal computer was a DOS one...even back when the 98s and 2000s were introduced.)

As a joke, he left on the afterburners in the first mission, and I was navigating through the asteroid field and fighting some Kilrathi. My comment, "This game is pretty fast isn it?"

He was surprised that I was flying surviving the asteroids with afterburners on hahaa.

I miss that guy.
 
The Reckoning :D

I'm actually kind of split between Priv 1 & 2. I like them both because of the open gameplay, which I haven't been able to get back to until Freelancer. Privateer 1 edges out 2 because the ship designs have clear ties to the rest of the WC universe, whereas P2 always came off a little more alien to me.
 
I like P2 the *best* but since it's not exactly in line with the rest of the series.. I'll say WC2 and Prophecy are in a dead heat for me.
 
Much as I love those awesome moments in the FMV games (St Helens vs Vesuvius :D) I think the best balance is WC2, great gameplay, fantastic storyline and a great WC1 feel while being it's own game.
I've never much liked the "floppy" feel of prophecy's game engine and the feel of the victory, lexington and intrepid just felt wrong to me (perhaps because you were the boss, rather than being the rookie getting sent on missions you were in wc1.
 
I liked WC2, except for one thing, the faces. Somehow, i didn't like the conversion from the wc1 faces to the wc2 ones (just my personal opinion). I'd say WC3, WC4, and Privateer fight for the first place in my ranking.
 
I loved P2 because it was the first "open world" game I've ever played. I absolutely loved all of the WC series as well, but P2 offered me a different experience within the same universe. Granted, I don't remember if P2 ever held any minute references to Confed or the Kilrathi war, but it offered me a perspective of what travel, commerce, and independent life could be like in the future. Plus, I Clive Owen kicks ass.

Now, I haven't played the original Privateer yet, and my answer may change once I get through with it.

:)
 
This is an easy question, WC2, hands down.

Loved the story, the cinematic feel and the aging of all the characters.

Everything in this game felt incredibly epic back when it was released, and it was the first game to really make me feel sad about the death of a character (Spirit, who was my absolute favourite from WC1)
 
Privateer, no doubts. I kept a Win98 machine just to play it until I discovered DOSBOX. I wore out 4 joysticks on it: CH Flightstick, CH Flightstick Pro, Some unknown joystick I bought in Korea when I wore out the pro, and a Saitek 90. I am currently using a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Too bad the throttle and twist axis don't work with it.

Best. Game. Evah!
 
Wing Commander 1, without a shadow of a doubt.

A lot of it is to do with nostalgia, remembering how amazing it was when I discovered it on my Amiga, but I could play that game forever.
 
Difficult question, because I liked them all. I think I'd have to say WC4.

For me it breaks down like this... I tend to like storytelling first, gameplay second, and pretty flashies (graphics, etc) last.

WC1 was of course the game that started it all...but like many "origination games" it was surpassed by it's sequels (if a sequel isn't better than the original, or at least as good, it's essentially a failure as a sequel=).

I liked WC2 because of the epic-ness of its storytelling, and it's attempt to go beyond the "fly mission, get debriefing, fly next mission" cycle. But I thought the gameplay was actually poor...It was essentially the WC1 engine, with some slightly prettier and smoother graphics...but somehow the smoother graphics made it feel more like a toy. I could forgive the pixelated WC1 graphics as "outdated", but WC2 still had the same outdated non-polygon engine, but actually looking better. Add to that the fact that I think they missed the boat on the capship combat mechanic, and I didn't enjoy the gameplay all that much. I essentially liked it only for the story.

WC3 was all about the graphics...the FMV and full sound was amazing...and the gameplay (finally a polygon engine!) was much improved. The fighters had distinct personality, and the characters were very real. This would be may favorite game except for one thing...the story was rather trite. They rehashed the whole "Earth is doomed unless we save it" thing, re-gurgitated the whole traitor sideplot that had been thoroughly explored (and better done) in WC2 and Special Operations, stripped out what little content in the game had been put in to make the traitor thing actually make sense, and finished up with you flying down a trench to blow up the enemy's Death Star (excuse me, home planet orbited by big fleet) before they could take out Earth...and your avatar was Mark Hamil. It's like they got afraid of trying anything new with the story.

But WC4--Graphics were the same tried and true engine from WC3, but improved (although I wish they'd left cockpits in). Gameplay was even better...improvements to the AI and deadlier missiles made this probably the most challenging and funnest gameplay Wing Commander this side of Standoff. But where the game really shone was story. The themes it wove were complex and interesting, the villians not black and white like the Kilrathi had been, and some of the dramatic moments were unsurpassed. The moment when Tolwyn orders the Vesuvius around to attack the Intrepid mere seconds from the jump point, and you see the beginnings of panic entering Blair's eyes as he frantically orders a scramble is one of my all-time favorite epic moments in a video game.

WC Prophecy had a thoroughly enjoyable gameplay, and a decent story, but the characters were a little empty (barring Hawk and Zero), and the gameplay was way too easy.

Secret Ops had little soul.

Privateer was too hard when you first started off, and then too easy once you figured out that all you had to do was buy a Centurion and out run everrything on delivery missions.

Never had the chance to play Privateer 2 (though I want to), Academy, or Armada.

If we were to inlcude mods and fan games in the discussion, Standoff would rank just below WC4 in the list of my favorite WC games...
 
Though I seem to answer this question every time I have one of my rare visits to the CIC I'll give it another go.

Wing Commander 2 no contest for me.

Not only was it the first game in the series that I played but in my opinion it has the best writing, character development, graphical style, and gameplay of all of the Wing Commander games. Maybe it's just nostalgia but WC2 and its expansions remains one of the most epic and memorable gaming experiences of my life.

The original Wing Commander comes in a close second. I prefer the gameplay style of the original games and the original Wing Commander has a unique feel since you're put into the shoes of your pilot more-so than the following games that are more plot driven.

I love the cinematics of WC3 and 4 but I never cared as much for their gameplay and I'm not a fan of early polygon graphics. I still love them, don't get me wrong, just not as much as the first two games. WC3's plot was fairly generic but is still a heck of a lot of fun to watch. I still feel WC4 has some of the best writing of any video game.

Prophecy was fun but ultimately my most forgettable of the bunch and Secret Ops is just a pointless feeling string of missions (with a cool carrier design though).

I never really got into Privateer for the same reason as Farbourne. Too hard to get started then too easy once you've built yourself up. It's cool and I usually like the mercenary concept, Mechwarrior 2 Mercenaries is my favorite of that franchise, but for some reason Privateer never clicked with me. Never played Privateer 2 and I don't really have any drive to.

I haven't played Standoff yet (!) I've been away from Wing Commander for too long and had no idea it even finished. It's something for me to look forward too later this week.
 
WC2, easily. Everytime I see that Ralari fly through the screen and Khasra and Thrakhath speak... then the audience at Ghorah Khar... humanity at stake... there isn't a lot of things I can remember from being 9,10 years old but playing WC2 is one of them. My computer wasn't powerful enough and I bought WC1 but WC2 still sticks to my mind as the epic saga in space. I probably didn't understand much back then (though it certainly helped me learn english) but the pictures and sequences were worth it alone.

Played WC3,4,5 of course, all nice stories (especially liked WC4) but nothing comes close!

Tried to play WC1 in a stint of nostalgia some months ago... got bored with the combat after the first few systems... would rather just watch the sequences like a movie! Still remember that one day when I saved the rogue Ralari against those Jalthis and Grathas (if my memory serves me right)... managed it once and never again!
 
I too only managed to save the Ralari once. It was out of a stroke of dumb luck really. I got one of the Jalthis to ram into to Ralari, severely damaging itself and giving me the break I needed to beat the mission.
 
I wouldn't trust my mind about things that happened ten years ago but I believe it was two Grathas ramming each other that gave me the break. Poured my DFs into the third then killed the fourth while my wingman (maybe the only time I let him do some kills) served off the former two.

Maybe it's just nostalgia but WC2 and its expansions remains one of the most epic and memorable gaming experiences of my life.

I second you about that.
 
WC2's touchiness of flight control really bugged me. Seems like you hit your afterburners just a little too heavy and BAM! Collision with wingman/asteroid/enemy. Dead. Just about every mission that got heated this would happen - towards the end that was every mission. I very rarely had the same problem in WC1 - even though the flight engine is very similar. Something about the speeds of the craft maybe? Am I just remembering Ferrets? I also don't remember dying after every collision in WC1...

I'm going to buck the trend and say Prophecy was my favorite... Strange I know but I enjoyed the pace of combat, the visuals, the craft (esp. Wasp) and the storyline. The scale of the capital ships, and the way their 'corpses' stayed around exploding was nice. Was really sad that the promised 'trilogy' never appeared (unless you want to count secret ops).
 
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