GOG's last big summer sale, I catch that Privateer is going for peanuts and say why not for a couple of bucks. Being I was a big fan of WC 3 / WC4 back in the day and enjoy simple space sims with a degree of freedom a la 'Escape Velocity' or 'Endless Sky'. This is what I get for listening to five star reviews. If you ever wondered what a Wing Commander game would feel like if the grandiose story, characters were stripped away ... this is it. You have the choice to be a galactic trader, pirate or bounty hunter, but that's fun for about five minutes and it took grinding to get into a decent ship with fighting capabilities for the latter. You can eventually pursue the one story arch found in-game, but it's hardly satisfying or all that deep. As a WC game the in-cockpit space portion of the game is both familiar and graphics sufficient, but as there isn't any depth or substance to be found beneath it, I started to get bored and then wondered what all the nostalgic fuss was about. If you want a trip down WC memory lane before FMV took over it's a flashback, but "elite classic" it is not.
As a fan of the film and having played the original Xbox release of 'The Thing', I was both surprised and interested when I heard a remake was happening. Reviews after release were largely positive and I was most happy to hear they "fixed" the broken scripted nature of squadmates turning. Now I pick it up, start playing and find the latter is only a half truth and the core issues that kept it firmly planted as a mildly decent budget title still remain all these years later. Bottom line? This isn't worth $30+ and a revisit for those who've already played it. Graphics get a bump, but we're talking more of a clean-up job than visual revolution. The sound design remains the same as I remember it. Decent voicework, sound effects, but nothing stellar. Gameplay is still the simple mix of staying alive and light inventory management. Rather flat characters in a story that somehow manages to be predictable and go off the rails near the end. If you've read this far and didn't play this title the first time around and/or are a big fan of the 1982 pic then don't let me stop you from picking this up. Might I recommend waiting until it's on sale though. For those who've already given it a playthrough know the squadmate "fix" means some still turn in the same spots due to plot and the others are forced to panic and kill you or themselves instead. Hardly a real fix. Take the high review scores with a grain of salt and know it's nostalgia or FOMO because of the movie. Not because this is a world class remake.
