Wing Commander ®: Privateer ™

A favourite of mine in the 90s, and a game that I often return to, WC: Privateer has the balance just right - kill a few hours on the spacelanes, or chase that next story mission, whichever I do it works for me. While there's an extensive list of things I wish it did differently, it's still a comfortable place to go home to, and exactly what I want in a Good Old Game.

Privateer has always been one of my all-time favorites. It shares a lot of commonalities of the genre: You start out in a wide universe with a broken down ship that you must slowly upgrade and then replace. You get to choose between three ships, specializing in defense, combat, and trade, and you can run goods running from foodstuffs to drugs and slaves between worlds. Eventually you get sucked into a plot that involves (what else?) ancient alien technology. What Privateer has that so many of its competitors lack, though, is atmosphere. Privateer exists in the Wing Commander Universe, so the war with the Kilrathi has already been established, but Privateer does so much more. Landing at a station or planet actually allows you to explore a bit (yes you can actually land on planets they aren't just eye candy). Many of the worlds have their own unique flavor, from the well tended quads of Oxford, to the seedy back alleys of a pleasure planet. Worlds and stations aren't simply docking points that then speed you into space again. Privateer also adds numerous factions, including pirates, traders, the military and a religious fanatic group known as the Retros, each will remember your actions and react accordingly to what you do. Privateer gives you the feeling that you're actually interacting with a real place. Seriously, give this game a shot. It's a fantastic space sim, and a great game.

This was a great way to waste my youth. I'm glad to see it on sale again. There are improved 3D graphics versions legally available for elsewhere, (google "Vega strike Privateer") but they lack the character animations of the original.

I say the game is good. But I also say the game is not that great. I didn't buy it with high expectations. It was a solid game to be fair. I enjoyed it. But the problem I have with the entire game. Is that it feels like you play the entire way through feeling as though the main story/goal is coming next. Well, it never does. It is the entire game. I like being free to go where ever I feel like doing what I like. That is not a problem. What IS the problem is when you get all the very best you can and have all the money you could want. You feel let down by the fact that you didn't do anything in the entire game. By the time you get everything. I felt as though the main story was going to open up. New ships, new equipment. New plot lines and missions. Free gear and the whole gamut of things from joining different factions and controlling sectors of space etc etc. Sadly you don't get any of this at all and on top of that disappointing moment of realization. It is not even a feeling of wanting more. You beat the game and feel like like...wtf...was that the whole game?? It didn't even start =( Try it, play it. But be aware the scope is VERY tiny. Solid game though despite being tiny. So expect that. Just enjoy it casually. =D

No other game has gripped me like Privateer. The open world, the freedom to do just about anything, I have yet to find a modern game that has come close to replicating the universe of Privateer. Run cargo ships and risk it against pirates, or be one of those pirates praying on merchants. Run into underworld outposts, or stick it to the bad guys. Every facet of this game is exciting, and you'll never have the same experience each time you load the game. I spent countless hours with this game when I was younger, and strongly recommend it to anyone.