UGO has set out to establish the best explosions in the history of video games. The options available are vast, and the top ten includes some heavy hitters such as the Normandy's destruction in Mass Effect 2, the finale of Knights of the Old Republic and the Pillar of Autumn's self destruction in Halo. The article's author also weights some explosions based on their profound impact to the player, which results in some surprising nods to Metroid, Jet Force Gemini and even Space Invaders. The reason we're looking at this today isn't just because Wing Commander was mentioned though, but because it got the top spot! Destroying that first Dralthi in your Hornet was deemed the best explosion in video games. There's certainly some fiery fireballs in WC2, white hot flashpaking in WC4 and even WC3's historic Temblor strike, but it's hard to argue against a classic like this:
Wing Commander: Opening Fight With Spirit
Let's Scramble!
All space combat lovers remember Wing Commander. What they remember more is trying to fly for the first time. You take out your fighter with Spirit, a fellow pilot whose honor is apparently "to obey".
Once you get the hang of Wing Commander flying is a breeze, but that first time out in space against enemy ships sure was a pain. That is, until you finally destroyed a ship, which resulted in an unbridled amount of happiness.
Wing Commander games are well known for their cockpits. The tiny little viewport on the Tarsus gives the ship quite a bit of character. The bright colors of the Hornet or Sabre in the earlier games are classic, and the 'photorealistic' dashboards in Armada or Wing 3 added to the immersion. Lots of Wingnuts were also happy that these games added dropaway invisible cockpits, and the wide open struts with HUDS model became the prevailing perspective by Wing 4, Prophecy and Secret Ops. Which game has your favorite cockpits?
The last poll asked about the best bonus items available in Wing Commander retail boxes. Blueprints such as those included with WC1 won out, and a large map such as what came with Prophecy were a strong second. Soundtracks were also somewhat popular.
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