Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
Follow in Han Solo's footsteps in the sequel to
X-Wing and TIE Fighter
Han Solo loves her, and Lando Calrissian wants her back. We've flown TIE fighters and X-Wings before, but if you ask any Star Wars fan what ship they'd most like to pilot, the answer would probably be the most famous piece of mismatched junk in the universe: the Millennium Falcon. She's the fastest ship in the galaxy, and finally you'll get to fly her. But before we mislead you into thinking LucasArts' next PC game is a Millennium Falcon sim, we must add that the Falcon is only the prize at the end of Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance, Larry Holland and Totally Games' upcoming sequel to X-Wing and Tie Fighter. From what we've seen of this third installment in the X-Wing series, however, the journey will be as amazing as the prize itself.
OLD WAR, NEW BLOOD
Two-thirds of the X-Wing Alliance is classic X-Wing, as you fly various ships against the Imperials. This is a new type of ship - the planetary fighter. |
Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: Totally Games
Target Release Date: Q1 '99 |
Holland, the primary creator of the X-Wing series, as well as the WWII sims Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe and Their Finest Hour, says that Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance (the name is tentative, awaiting approval by Lucas Licensing) is closer to X-Wing and TIE Fighter than to the multiplayer X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. Where X-Wing told the Star Wars story from the Rebel side, and TIE Fighter did the same from the Imperial side, X-Wing Alliance should bring a third perspective into the classic struggle: that of smuggler.
The galaxy's seedy underbelly has always been a component of the Star Wars mythology. Consider Mos Eisley, the bounty hunters, Jabba the Hutt, and Han Solo's smuggling runs. Says Holland, "We wanted to get a third perspective [on the war]. There's the Empire and the Rebels, and then there are the smugglers." Holland and Totally Games thus complete the X-Wing series with X-Wing Alliance, a game that breathes life into that facet of Star Wars.
X-Wing Alliance is a space-combat sim, similar in style to its predecessors but with a story and missions that are distinctly different. You play a smuggler, deeply involved in a trading war with a rival family but also caught up in the middle of the larger Imperial/Rebel civil war. The action in the game takes place after The Empire Strikes Back and ends with events from Return of the Jedi.
Next: The seeds of a story
