Wing Commander ®: Privateer ™

Okay, first, you have to realize that this isn't "Elite", "Frontier" or "First Encounters", even though the basic premise might sound the same. And that's a good thing. While "Privateer" essentially takes the idea of the "Elite"-series, it greatly reduces that series complexity to a more manageable level. For example, instead of dozens of ships there are only four you can buy BUT these four ships are very different to each other. What's more, these ships are very well designed - not only from the outside but from you cockpit view as well, giving you the feeling as if you really are sitting in these ships and piloting them. This extends to the planets you can visit and "explore" (it's just a view screens and they repeat but still). And getting mission from a guy in a space-bar you can actually talk to is so much cooler than than a text-message! Combine this with a great story that you can start at any time and you have a game that gives you the feeling of "you are there" as few games manage to do. Highly recommended!

The day in June 1994 that me and the wife picked up my first computer she took me to the mall and got me 2 games. Master of Orion and THIS, Privateer. To this day they both tie as my all time favorites. Explore,trade,fight. This game let you do what you wanted. become a trader, go fight Kilrathi, or become a pirate and run drugs and slaves. Whatever you do do NOT pass this up. It is still fun today.

I said it. And I stand by it too. Privateer has been a love in my life since i played it the first time back in 94. Its immersive, simple yet elegant with a phenomenal mission system that is often emulated but never quite done as well. If you don't know if you want to play this or not, but have played freespace, or Galaxy on fire (for ios4) then this is the game for you. those two games try oh so hard to be privateer and fail. well not fail so much as fall short. I can't play one without thinking, "man, i wish when i upgrade my ship that it shows me the engine getting bigger or the new gun i just installed" or the CLANG of hitting metal with a laser, or fleeing from a horde of Retro's in your rickety old Tarsus. I LOVE THIS GAME. each time i am able to play it on my computer (this GOG.com is a godsend) I bust out my Nirvana and STP and just zone into the game. 5/5 stars.

This game got me to love PC gaming when I was in high school.. I could play this game for hours on end.. My most memorable memory playing this was when popped into a sector piloting a Galaxy (for cargo space) where a Kilrathi capital ship with fighter escorts were engaged with a Confed capital ship also with fighter escorts.. It was the first time see something like this, so kept at a distance watching to see who would win.. Then after some time I get a comlink from a Confed ship ordering me to stand down and prepare to be scanned for contraband, which my entire hold was full of Weapons, Brilliance, and Slaves.. I knew I has to act be they scanned so I attacked.. and somehow after killing enough Confed fighters the Kilrathi became neutral with me in that sector.. I then I brought the fight the Confed capital ship to help my 'new' friends and got the cherry pick kill on it, which made the Kilrathi turn to allied with me for the rest of the game.., Only thing that really sucked was the Confed has bases to land on, the Kilrathi didn't.. Was never able to repeat getting the Kilrathi to be allied with me after that time..

I was gifted an original copy of this game way back in the early 1990's. I didn't even have a computer to play it on. When I got my copy it was Christmas and I had to go to my dads, a long journey. I spent hours on the bus perusing the manual. I was at my dads for 2 weeks and I held the game, looked at the manual, memorized the attack strategies. I got home and still had no computer. It wasn't for about 6 months that I had this game sitting on my shelf that my cousin finally got a computer and I was able to play it. But it's a BIG game and there was never enough time to play it. I got to play it in 1 or 2 hour increments. Definitely not enough. So I abandoned all hope that I would ever play this game and moved on. Fast forward 27 years and wouldn't you know it! Here it is, on GOG, and with an expansion to boot! Yes, even now, in this year we find ourselves with games sporting high end graphics, and many space shooters with mouse controls for maneuvering (freelancer style). But somehow, I have managed to clock in nearly 60 hours of gameplay! This game is just TOO MUCH FUN! Yeah, I have clocked 60 hours on a game that's 30 years old! There's just something about the simplicity of it. The upgrade options are a little limited (by todays standards) but boy do you ever work for those upgrades. I mean they're expensive!! Each upgrade made to your ship really makes a difference, and even the ships themselves move and behave on such different levels from the next. It's totally worth getting into. At first the controls feel a little clunky. I have yet to try it with a joystick but I don't have one to use. Using the mouse for flight control is completely out to lunch. Don't even bother. So you are stuck with keyboard controls. And the keyboard forces your ship to move in increments. Don't despair! Just keep at it, and learn how to dogfight. Find opportunities to attack your enemies. This game is just AWESOME and totally worth the buy!