Wing Commander™ 3 Heart of the Tiger™

Wing Commander 3 is a major example of the evolution of Computer Gaming. It was one of the first games to utilize full motion video for the narrative portion of the game. The flight engine is a major improvement over Wing Commander 1 and 2. This is a necessity for WC fans and retro gamers who love story and space sims. The space battles are more detailed, but are still limited to just a few ships on the screen at the same time. The technology at the time simply couldn’t handle the epic space battles found in more modern space sims such as Freespace. However, the narrative does a good job at making the battles feel more epic. Planetary missions are added to this addition to the series and provide a variety to the space missions. However, I personally feel that due to the technology of the time this is actually one of the weaker games in the series. Historically it’s without question a breakthrough game. The in game graphics, the FMV, and the production quality were all revolutionary for the time. The acting is by far some of the best you will ever see in a FMV game. However the story feels rushed and anti-climactic for the final game in the Kilrathi war. I feel this was due to the storage constraint of early CD-ROMS and full motion video. This is proved by the infamous deletion of an important cinematic that explains why a certain character does a major action later in the game. Also, the numerous news casts that were deleted from the PC version. Despite the need to trim the game to fit on the original 3 discs, the game is still a decent size for its time and the genre. I think in total there are over forty missions, I average about 35 missions on the winning path. I still highly recommend this version, because it came first and it is the finale of one of the greatest trilogies in computer gaming. When you get to the “Why the hell did that just happen?” watch the deleted scenes GOG added. The deleted scenes help fill out the story and give it more of an epic feeling. Apparently GOG put a lot of extras in this one including one of the novels. They went all out for a $5.99 title. This sets the stage for Wing Commander 4 which refined everything Wing Commander 3 revolutionized and is in my opinion the greatest of the series and a true masterpiece. Three is a flawed gem, but a gem nonetheless.

If you like action shooters, space sims/"sims", or just a good sci fi story, stop reading this review, buy the game and play it, it's that good. You are a well known veteran pilot in a galactic war of basically the human race vs the kilrathi race. An alien species which are basically huge bipedal lions. Tremendous strength in melee, but more importantly, they are a huge military machine with the brain and the muscle ready to kick Earth's backside. You are part of a (space) carrier group, a pilot, going on a variety of missions (with some branching too!), mostly with other AI pilots as your wingmen (or wingwomen if you prefer). A usual variety of missions, though mostly of the kill everything in sight. There is a good backstory told both in game (while you pilot) with voiceovers, and with full motion video. NO! Don't run away! This is the good stuff! It's one of the few games where FMV actually not only works, but is done perfectly. It actually helps to set the mood and progress the story and it is not laughable. It helps that some serious money was thrown into it and has actually good and great actors in there. There is obviously your character, played by Luke Skywalker, I mean Mark Hamill, to the star of the show for me, Malcolm McDowell. And others, like the always great to watch John Rhys Davies (though not a huge part), Ginger Lynn Allen who took a break from her usual type of films, to the amazing looking Yolanda Jilot. Great space shooter/sim game. Get it. Oh, one last thing, the visual effects and costumes for the Kilrathi, still unsurpassed!!

... I say every part in the series is amazing. While WC 1+2 introduced innovative aspects like a branching storyline, depending on a success or failure of a mission, the third installment of the series amazed us with a new feature: FMV cutscenes. It was brilliant to see Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill as the player's character Christopher Blair, ace pilot of the Confed, Tom "Biff Tannen" Wilson as the hilarious Maniac and many other top-notch hollywood actors. The live-action cutscenes made us feel like to be in an awesome Hollywood Sci-Fi movie. Moreover betwen missions you can interact with some of the other pilots or crewmen aboard the ship (not always though). This can even be important, as by deciding which answer to choose, you can raise or either decrease the morale of your wingmen.This affects their behaviour/obedience in the battlefield and at some times it even has an effect on some cutscenes. This game is from 1994! Imagine that! WCIII definitely was ahead of its time! But what about the gameplay? It is fun, fast-paced and always exciting, like you can expect from a great space-shooter. Plus you got control of one wingman, who you can pick out after the briefing. Oh, and you can pick your ship and weapons before a mission. That's also a new thing they introduced in WCIII. But if you're too lazy to do that, well let Rachel do her job, and take the preset configuration. ;) It's a pretty simple game mechanics, but sometimes it can be really challenging though. I admit I'm not the best Wing Commander-player, I really suck at the later levels. You can't save in the middle of a mission, and some of them are relatively long, so it can be frustrating if you have to restart the whole mission. You have to be patient if you want to master this game! But that's no problem at all. If it's too hard you can always set the difficulty, IIRC there are 6(!) difficulty levels. And if it's still too hard to accomplish, there are even preset cheats, e.g. invulnerability, available in the option menu. :D And the best thing is: if you successfully finish a mission, you can look forward to a "rewarding" cutscene and a continuation of the exciting story. ;) And what if you fail? Well you can expect a cutscene too, and mostly you're even "allowed" to continue the game. But that shouldn't become a routine, as at the end you will see the "bad ending". But technically that's an ending too, right? :-P Thanks GOG for releasing this great title! If you never played this game, and you're a fan of this genre: Buy it! I can't recommend it enough. And if you aleady know this game and didn't buy this game on GOG yet: well, you know what to do! ;)

Ok, now is the time to settle things. You are colonel Christopher Blair, best pilot of the TCS Tiger's Claw, the man who blew the mighty fortress of K'titrak Mang all by himself. A legendary pilot, so feared in battle that the wild Kilrathis have come to call you "Heart of the Tiger". But no man, not even you, can win a war all by himself. Now the Kilrathi's fleet is approaching Earth, the TCS Concordia, pride of the fleet, has been destroyed, and Admiral Tolwin, who considered you has a traitor years ago, has decided to send you aboard TCS Victory, a ship considered as nothing more but flying garbage. This war shall end soon, and the battle's outcome depends on YOU. Mark Hamill, Tom Wilson, Malcolm Mc Dowell, John Rhys-Davies, a casting and a game like you'll never see again in your life. For 6$. Man, why are you still reading?