Re: 2024 c.s.i.p.g.action Holiday Give-Away Day #00000000000C

On Sat, 14 Dec 2024 12:52:33 -0500, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:

On Sat, 14 Dec 2024 17:35:18 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
>

Privateer was alright at first, and then got bored with it. In fact, I
couldn't get into Wing Commander series. I was more of Star Wars like
X-Wing, TIE Fighter, etc.

>
Exact opposite for me. I own both X-Wing and TIE fighter but could not
get into either one. I am not a Star Wars fan so maybe that is why.
But I bought a Joystick just for Wing Commander. That is one of my
favorites.

They were both great!

The X-Wing series were definitely 'deeper' games, both in setting and
in actual gameplay. This was both their strength and their weakness.
It made for a more complex experience, but sometimes all you want is
the power-fantasy of being an ace pilot zapping dozens of of alien
fighters.

Wing Commander was bubblegum action; it was easy to get into and
extremely fast-paced. This unsophisticated gameplay did work against
it at times; the mission structure became extremely repetitive but
made up for it with an extremely cinematic style and flair.

I absolutely loved both series. "TIE Fighter" was always closer to my
heart than the original "X-Wing", however; the latter game suffered
from too-scripted, almost puzzle-like missions that were almost
tedious in the specificity of actions needed to be successful. "TIE
Fighter" smoothed a lot of the rough edges (and whizzing about in an
unshielded fighter whilst being chased by better armed and protected
x-wings and still coming out victorious always made me feel like an
expert pilot too!)

But the Wing Commander games were special too. You really got drawn
into the story and characters, and I always felt a lot more invested
in the story and setting. In terms of gameplay, I think "Wing
Commander II" was the highlight of the series, but the third game also
ranks pretty highly, not least because of the inclusion of Mark
"Wasn't he that guy from Star Wars" Hammil as the protagonist.

But neither series fared that well after '95. "Privateer" and "Wing
Commander IV" were okay; "XWing vs TIE" and "Alliance" on the Star
Wars side had their moments too. But none of them gave me the same
highs as the earlier games of their respective series.

Fortunately, other franchises were there to take up the slack: games
like "Descent Freespace", the excellent "Independence War" and
"Tachyon: The Fringe" kept the genre alive. At least for a while.