Farbourne
Rear Admiral
Pun intended?
Wing Commander- Least Favorite game.
- Thread starter frostytheplebe
- Start date
Pun intended?
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
Noooooo! Privateer with the WC3 engine might be nice today, but in 1994 WC3 meant 3-5 minute load times to start a mission on even a nice 486. That wouldn't have worked for a freeform game.
Jason_Ryock
Vice Admiral
That's where I got my first copy of WC4, for the PS! With....four discs, no box, no manual!
Voted WCP or SO, but it's just SO for me. I just never got far into it, because I always got bored of being shot down by Cerberus' main gun again and again... Typically I got shot like 5-6 times during 2-3 missions and then starting next one and again - just Arrrgh .........(pushing reset button deleting WCSO,,,)
I didn't vote, because I haven't played the games outside of the main series enough to judge them fairly. I might have picked Prophecy/SO because of SO, except that I really love Prophecy, so that isn't really fair. Those should have been two separate choices. As it is, I would probably pick Wing Commander 2. The gameplay had some neat new elements, but overall I found it less satisfying than WC1. It's probably my least favorite Wing Commander game, gameplay-wise, from the main series.
Prometheus
Spaceman
It wasn't me.
In fact I didn't vote for anything, as I've not played all of them. The only ones I've played enough to warrant such a judgement would be WC1, WC2 and WCP, while I've never ever once played Privateer 2, Armada, Academy or Arena. I know the plots of WC3 and WC4, but I haven't really played through them myself (not even close), and as for Privateer, I've actually installed Gemini Gold on my PC, but never gotten around to really play it beyond just "checking if the game is working".
If you would force me to select between the three I feel confident about, (WC1/WC2/WCP) I'd have to say my least favourite game shockingly would be WC2. But at the same time, if asked to vote for my "favourite story" of those three, WC2 would be it.
frostytheplebe
Seventh Part of the Seal
Which is probably why it didn't get all the votes. Theres probably a bunch of people who turn the game on and were like, "Oh wow, it's Clive Owen and Christopher Walken!" or something like that.
criticalmass
Vice Admiral
That would have been me 
Seriously, I liked Privateer 2 - even though from the first minute it shows you that it's not a Wing Commander game, and after half an hour you know that flying and trading in this one is rather boring. But the acting and the storyline had me amused all the way - sure it's linear, ham-fisted, overdone and every step's foreseeable, but that's just the fun compared to a lot of WC3 & 4 "serious" acting.
But this is about the least favorite, so I'd have to say Armada. I bought that game with great anticipation - 2 players, tactical mode, great! And what I got was a story-less hack with an AI whose strategic ineptitude was only surpassed by weak flying. And the 2-player mode in split screen was godawful on my pretty high-spec machine for the time. Maybe today I'd play it for nostalgia value and even would like it, but it still was the lowest point in the Wing Commander experience..
Seriously, I liked Privateer 2 - even though from the first minute it shows you that it's not a Wing Commander game, and after half an hour you know that flying and trading in this one is rather boring. But the acting and the storyline had me amused all the way - sure it's linear, ham-fisted, overdone and every step's foreseeable, but that's just the fun compared to a lot of WC3 & 4 "serious" acting.
But this is about the least favorite, so I'd have to say Armada. I bought that game with great anticipation - 2 players, tactical mode, great! And what I got was a story-less hack with an AI whose strategic ineptitude was only surpassed by weak flying. And the 2-player mode in split screen was godawful on my pretty high-spec machine for the time. Maybe today I'd play it for nostalgia value and even would like it, but it still was the lowest point in the Wing Commander experience..
NinjaLA
Alex Von T.
I am also very fond of Privateer 2. despite all it's bugs, it has the most fluid flight engine pre prophecy. it had a wonderful aesthetic and Clive Owen before he was a famous hollywood superstar. it was also just wing commander enough to remind me of the rest of the series but detached enough to make it something entirely different.
I've spent more time playing P2 than probably any other game in the franchise.
I've spent more time playing P2 than probably any other game in the franchise.
I don't know if this is fair (haven't actually voted yet) but Wing Commander 2. Simply because by the time I got in 2001 and having already played WC3, 4, Privateer 2 and Prophecy it seemed so outdated with it's 2D pixellly graphics. It was awkward getting it to run on my computer because of the speed/compatibility differences (and I think I was even using my old Pentium 150 with Windows 95), I played the main game through but I can't remember if I bothered finishing Special Operation 1 and 2, I think I used a level selector (which seemed to be part of the game) to watch the story cutscenes anyway.
Not saying it's a bad game, I'm sure in 1991 it was very good, but in 2001 it was very old and a bit cheesy. Wing Commander 3 was where I think the franchise evolved a lot.
For this reason I can't ever see myself playing Wing Commander 1 (which I imagine has very similar graphics and gameplay) or the old spin-off games (Armada, Academy and Privateer).
By the way I like Privateer 2, I just replayed it and still enjoyed it a lot, yes it has it's flaws (although I think it's quite playable) but I like the non-linear gameplay and all the little details (the booth entries etc.).
Not saying it's a bad game, I'm sure in 1991 it was very good, but in 2001 it was very old and a bit cheesy. Wing Commander 3 was where I think the franchise evolved a lot.
For this reason I can't ever see myself playing Wing Commander 1 (which I imagine has very similar graphics and gameplay) or the old spin-off games (Armada, Academy and Privateer).
By the way I like Privateer 2, I just replayed it and still enjoyed it a lot, yes it has it's flaws (although I think it's quite playable) but I like the non-linear gameplay and all the little details (the booth entries etc.).
ExcalPilot1
1st Lieutenant
Academy was a letdown for me. What WC really got my attention about WC was the story. And completely removing that from a game just ruined it for me.
I'm going to say WC2. Don't get me wrong, the plot was possibly the best in the series, and I loved some of the new Terran fighters but:
- First and foremost: Clunky spaceflight engine. Somehow felt different to WC1, which by contrast actually feels quite smooth. Why is this? It just doesn't flow smoothly on any machine I've played it on.
- Lack of familiar enemy ships: We kept the Rapier which was awesome, and the Sabre/Broadsword/Epee etc seem to fit in nicely, but not a single Kilrathi ship from WC1 made a cameo and that didn't sit well for continuity.
- Cheese. That's right, big chunks of stinky cheese. Slathered all over the dialogue.
- Cartoon Kilrathi in cutscenes: Reminded me too much of the Kellogg's Tiger. After WC1 I'd learned to fear this usually faceless enemy, but the cats here were too cartoony to take seriously and too feline-like for my liking. WC3 Kilrathi vastly improved IMHO.
Now don't get me wrong, I adore the whole series including WC2 and I spent hours of my early teens loving this game, and doubtless sometime I'll pick it up again and love it just as much. The above are merely niggles.
- First and foremost: Clunky spaceflight engine. Somehow felt different to WC1, which by contrast actually feels quite smooth. Why is this? It just doesn't flow smoothly on any machine I've played it on.
- Lack of familiar enemy ships: We kept the Rapier which was awesome, and the Sabre/Broadsword/Epee etc seem to fit in nicely, but not a single Kilrathi ship from WC1 made a cameo and that didn't sit well for continuity.
- Cheese. That's right, big chunks of stinky cheese. Slathered all over the dialogue.
- Cartoon Kilrathi in cutscenes: Reminded me too much of the Kellogg's Tiger. After WC1 I'd learned to fear this usually faceless enemy, but the cats here were too cartoony to take seriously and too feline-like for my liking. WC3 Kilrathi vastly improved IMHO.
Now don't get me wrong, I adore the whole series including WC2 and I spent hours of my early teens loving this game, and doubtless sometime I'll pick it up again and love it just as much. The above are merely niggles.
elend
Rear Admiral
I think I can't vote, since I only played WC1 and WC2. I have only seen WC3 and WC4 at my mate's computer, who also stopped playing Wing Commander after that. Thus I haven't seen WC Prophecy at all.
Damn, I should really play WC3 and 4 for myself finally. Then prophecy as well. I think my PC can finally run them.
Damn, I should really play WC3 and 4 for myself finally. Then prophecy as well. I think my PC can finally run them.
@elend - if you want an idea of what Prophecy feels like, I'd reccomend downloading Secret Ops, Origin released it free of charge. You can still download it from a few places.
It's a package of about 20 extra Prophecy missions, but you don't need the Prophecy disks to play it. It's set shortly after the end of Prophecy and so you'll miss out on some storyline.
To be honest though it quite straight forward:
Mysterious insectoid alien raiders vs Confed.
Obviously there's a lot more to it than that, but I think you'll pick it up if you play SOPS.
It's a package of about 20 extra Prophecy missions, but you don't need the Prophecy disks to play it. It's set shortly after the end of Prophecy and so you'll miss out on some storyline.
To be honest though it quite straight forward:
Mysterious insectoid alien raiders vs Confed.
Obviously there's a lot more to it than that, but I think you'll pick it up if you play SOPS.You definitely should If you have a bit of free cash, consider buying an old PC from around 2001 - just before the XP switchovers, Windows 98SE machines are best for WC1-WC4 as they offer DOS booting for the first two games. That, or trawl through the CIC for advice on how to run the old games on your modern machine. And remember, you can only get Secret Ops online.
If you have a bit of free cash, consider buying an old PC from around 2001 - just before the XP switchovers, Windows 98SE machines are best for WC1-WC4 as they offer DOS booting for the first two games. That, or trawl through the CIC for advice on how to run the old games on your modern machine. And remember, you can only get Secret Ops online.
AD
Finder of things, Doer of stuff
I'm hoping this becomes less of an issue in the future.
Wedge009
Rogue Leader
Strangely, the reverse is true for me, and this was playing on an old 386 with DOS 6.22. Maybe you need to override the frame-skip settings? (From memory, play around with Alt-+/- and Ctrl-+/-.)