What a great week this has been. I played Wing Commander 4 a long time ago. It slowly faded away from my memory. The thing I remembered the most was its punishingly difficult gameplay. I heard Wing Commander 3 was more forgiving on that account. It offered challenge and all the thrills still but it was more accessible. Decided to re- play all the space based video games (the ones I've had already played and also the ones I missed). Reached a conclusion that I should start with Wing Commander 3. What a great experience it was.
The first thing I immediately noticed was its sharp user interface. Even in high end PC games like System Shock 2 from 99, text was blurred throughout the game. There are mods that boost text resolution and vibrance. We don't need those here. Each and everything looks sharp and can be read easily. Cockpits are also highly detailed, and again this is 1994 game we're talking about, the one that was released for MS DOS. Another thing that I noticed was lack of loading screens. This is something that you expect from newer games and not older ones made for extremely weak PCs (by today's standards). Loading takes place in background when cutscenes are being played even during planetary missions.
When you first start your walkthrough, you think cutscenes are going to be cheesy with your typical FMV format from the 90s with odd alien design. But after a few opening moments, you get immersed into it. Actually I'd say there is certain charm to it, especially when you think about so many great new games from smaller studios that target similar art style and visual story telling in their game for "aesthetics" these days. It becomes more relatable as you dig deeper due to modern indie scene. However here you have A list cast from Hollywood who played a role in films like Back to the future, Star Wars, Lords of the rings and so on.
At first I thought it is a bit odd to see space cats as our enemies. But I think it's deeper than that. They are openly called space cats or kitties several times by humans instead of being portrayed as Smaug of computer games from the 90s. In return, Killrathi (space cats / villains) call us Apes. I think it's in the nature of intelligent species to look for patterns when they come across something or someone unfamiliar. They'll either conclude that their enemy is some animal that looks like a cat or an ape or they'll think that their opponent's race is inferior.
Gameplay has aged well too. There are small annoyances in 3 or 4 missions after mission 8 or 9. These are escort missions. One mission doesn't allow you to hit autopilot, so you are forced to travel manually for a long time instead of engaging some sort of jumpoint that allows you to move from point A to B between empty spaces with no activity. Luckily this mission can be skipped without getting a bad ending (yes there are branching paths). In another mission I was supposed to protect a convoy but as soon as I got closed to it, it exploded in my face (every time). Then dozens of enemies appeared out of nowhere and me and my wingman were forced to abandon our ships and eject.
I played this mission many times. I was underestimating importance of narrative in this game. I googled it. Turned out this was a scripted scene. You try to save civilians but the place is rigged with explosives. This is something I was expecting from modern linear shooters but not from a space sim from 94. That was the moment when I knew I was playing something very special. Once these convoy missions were done, others were your usual missions about kicking ass with no strings attached as you take fight back to enemy's doorstep as a response.
The story is dark and mature. The more you play the darker it becomes. The game deals with partial nudity, curse words, alcohol, tobacco, romance, betrayals, slavery, rapes etc. There are so many outcomes of your journey. You might end up losing a great character for not being a good Wing Commander during the mission or by not treating them properly and doing something they didn't expect from you. Towards the end of the game, the briefing room starts looking empty because you lose your friends one by one as the war continues to get dirtier around you.
Your wingmen are actual people. They have a different play style. Some are very weak, especially the ones who were forced to join military for war efforts, others are really good. Some follow your orders and can save you during difficult situations, others are free birds who do their own thing during the battle. You might not like their attitude but they might prove useful against powerful enemies. All of em have their pros and cons. However rest assured they're extremely useful. They're as integral to gameplay as you are. So never underestimate their role during dogfights. Sadly, in the end, you're left with rookies who never wanted to join military because it's possible to lose important characters. Some can die, others swear to never fly with you again for personal reasons. Some characters can give you special bonuses like powerful experimental ships if you've good relations with them, but then it can piss off some higher up in the military.
As you progress you come across new kinds of enemy fighters and new space ships to fight them. So the game keeps things fresh till the end. Other than that, it also gives you dialogue options to choose from which can also alter the story in some shape or form. Some consequences of decisions you made earlier are so unpredictable that you are caught off guard. You think that's how it was supposed to happen since the scene is executed so well. But then you see someone else play the game and realize that he never experienced what you did. His experience will be different. Your actions can even lead to fight between your colleagues.
But the story goes on. However when the game asks you to insert disk 4 and asks you to defend earth, then that's bad ending. There are around 35 missions in the game but even after mission 12 it can jump straight to defending of earth mission. It means you're fucked. The better idea would be to reload last save and replay the last mission to achieve all of your objectives so you can push further in enemy territory instead of being pushed back to earth. The game can be played with Keyboard, Joystick or Mouse. Joystick and Keyboard are find. On Keyboard first 30 minutes are difficult but then you get used to the controls like your second nature. Joystick would be best choice obviously. I played using Keyboard. Never use Mouse. It sucks. Trust me.
The game offers around 6 or 7 difficulty levels. It can become dark souls of video games or an interactive movie. It depends on how you customize the game. And you can customize it on the fly. Pressing Alt + O during the mission gives you a screen. From there you can change the game however you want. It also allows you to trigger god mode. What else can one want from the game. Even if you're afraid that you'll suck at it, there is an option for you if you're in just for the story. If that's not enough then the least you can do is, watch the whole playthrough on Youtube. It'll be worth it. I'll leave suitable review I found a couple of days ago below for you guys to checkout.
Meanwhile, I'm off to play Wing Commander 4.
PS: I played GOG version. The game refused to launch but there are graphics options in start menu containing GOG.com and Wing Commander 3 folder. Changing API from Direct Draw to Open GL and using native resolution solved the issue. There are some tweak guides on youtube. They are easy to follow if you're having trouble to launch the game or facing some issues. I was luckily enough to not encounter any noticeable problems. Remember few tweaks like changing API etc and setting sound card to Soundblaster will do the trick for majority (if facing stuttering cutscenes or lack of sound). The game uses SVGA so select that option if it asks to select graphics card.
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