I discovered the series a long time ago in an unlikely way: A mod called Beyond the Red Line (now discontinued) had three action packed BSG levels I played quite a bit. A few months later, I found The Babylon Project, and soon discovered that the two mods were based on the same engine. I looked into the game and finally on August 28, 2009, I gave in. Now, at that point, I was a rather good player, but I had developed a knack for finishing whole campaigns in one sitting. Having a good joystick at my side, and a level head in combat, I dove into the first game. Truly amazing stuff. Sure, the resolution was low (640 x 480) but it was still a blast to play. I moved on to Freespace 2, before I decided to get FS Open, and play the games AGAIN with updated graphics. I don't think I've found a game I play more frequently than this. The only drawback is that the multiplayer service is rarely, if ever used. I have yet to play a single online game, but the concept intrigues me. Buy. This. Game. With FS_Open, the replay value is almost limitless with great mods like Blue Planet, FSPort, Just Another Day, and others. PLAY THE FREAKING GAME! DOO IIIT!
First off, I can't really say that the story is anything new, but the way that it is told makes up for this. Is the story standard sci-fi action? Yes. Is it chock full of cliche? Yes. But more than the graphics were three dimensional this time around. Every character had their own believable personality, and I related to all of them very easily. After a while of just ejecting, these guys really will start to die. You will feel terrible about this. You might even shed a tear or two before reloading your last save to try to save them. The gameplay is, in my opinion, better than WC IV, but only because it is easier. WC IV is much more difficult than this game. Maybe a bad reason, but it is my reason. The story is well told through your choices and dialogue, but it's nothing too new. The actors more than make up for this. Even the names I didn't know played their parts like pros. For only $6, this is a bargain. Go get it.
I never actually played Wing Commander as a kid. I was an X-Wing person myself. Having played WC IV after X-Wing and Freespace 2, I have to start with the bad. The actual game part of the game is a bit lacking. Joystick calibration wasn't perfect for me, and the button to recalibrate wasn't working. As a result, I had an especially hard time with aiming at a distance of more than about 500 klicks, which is a problem, as the game makes it very clear that you have to do this by killing/severely damaging you if you ram a target. Rookie mode is too easy, and Veteran (The next level up) is quite hard. Thankfully, the story more than carries this game through to the very end. I was very happy that that invulnerability option was right there, because I wanted to see this story thru no matter how bad I was at the game. I did not regret this decision. Even being invincible, the game still has an air of challenge to it. (I compare it to Lego Star Wars and having infinite lives. It helps) The story is plausible, intriguing, has quite a few plot twists, and the ending is one of the greatest I've ever seen in any game. One of the things we learned from the '90s was that FMV games suck as both movies and games. This game makes a better movie than some movies I've watched, and a better game than most for its time. The main characters are all easy to relate to, and have memorable actors portraying them. Even the actors who I've never heard of do a pretty good job convincing me that I'm on board those ships. The cutscenes are a bit quiet, but that's not a problem most of the time. Just turn up the speakers for them. The game being kind of difficult and bland doesn't take much away from a game with a story this excellent. For only $6, you can get this. It's well worth your money.
What a game. Just... Wow. Many games claim to allow for mutliple play styles, but this game managed to do it. I saw it on the best of list in PC Gamer, and decided to give it a go. After being frustrated for half an hour or so, dying over and over again, I discovered the somehow underpowered and overpowered at the same time tranq gun, and how to use it right. Shoot, hide until the guy falls down. I played through the game in that style for quite a bit. I loved every second. The moment that defined the game for me was one level where I had to get into a gas station. The bad guys were holding someone hostage (for the sake of the great story, I won't specify things). I kept being discovered and the hostage kept dying. The game lets you keep going if you want, but I was going to save that hostage, darn it! I kept trying, using every weapon at my disposal. My heavily upgraded pistol? Died. Shotgun? Nope. Etc. Finally, I noticed a ladder in the back of the station. I climbed up and found a skylight. I broke it, and threw a gas grenade down there. It bounced up back onto the roof (HOW?!) and killed me. Second try, I was successful. I went in, gassed everyone there, and saved the hostage. Could I have used brute force? Probably. I could have done almost anything. The freedom in this game is unmatched to this day, and I love the heck out of this game.
Yes. If you purchase this game, you will have fun. However, the free open-source remake, "The Ur-Quan Masters" is superior to the PC version of Star Control II in most respects. Voice acting, high quality sound, scaling, and many bug fixes, the game is definetely superior. Oh, except that it doesn't mention the Death March time limit because it's based on the 3DO version of the game. So, yes, its a good game, but save your $6 and get the Ur-Quan Masters instead. Just as good, and its free.
This takes me way back. I remember playing this game on my Macintosh LC III. No idea what I was doing. I always exploited a certain bug (something about the Bond rate and cheats gave me ungodly amounts of cash) but I kept trying to play. Eventually, I created a city that spanned the whole map. I must have destroyed that city at least a dozen times before I lost the file somehow. Just a few months ago I bought Sim City 4, and I remember Sim City 2000 being much more difficult and fun. The disasters had the potential to be far more devastating in 2000 (Rioters could start fires, and fires would rarely go out, but instead usually burn the city to cinders) I recently picked up this game via DOSBox only to learn that the version I had grown up with was SE, and that the music for the DOS version was far, far worse. I could barely stand it. I also could not find a working version of SE, until now. This is an excellent addition to the GOG catalog.
