X-Wing was a good game. Really revolutionary for it's time. Yet it was difficult in the worst kind of way: it's difficulty frequently made no sense. Some missions weren't difficult, they were downright cruel where it was luck more than anything else that had you beat it. The story was also pretty paper-thin. TIE Fighter changed all that. On hard difficulty, it could still be a very brutal game. Yet the difficulty made sense. More often than not you could control the engagement, and when you failed the mission, there was always a reason why. Most importantly, they created a storyline. that storyline is still more Starwarsy then anything of the prequels, and I would say rivals the original canon itself. They accomplished this by doing something pretty revolutionary at the time. It wasn't so much "shades of gray" as being an adult in storytelling. The Empire wasn't some comically evil organization. They were ruthless in efficiency. You saw things from their eyes. They intervened in civil wars because from an Imperial standpoint, systems embroiled in war disrupted business, and could set a precedent as it spread elsewhere. They didn't care who was "right" or "good", they craved stability above all else. As a TIE Fighter pilot, you were an agent of that stability. You weren't joining a dark side death cult, you were acting as the Emperor's eyes and ears. While that might seem paranoid, you rapidly realize that such extra TLC is needed, as even in an autocratic empire human greed still runs unchecked. Most importantly, the story is mainly told in the action. Little actions you take in combat end up having profound implications in later missions. Everyone knows how the controls (especially with a flight stick) are very responive, and the combat is exhilarating. This is still one of the greatest pc games ever made, and now you can find out why.
In terms of sheer value alone, you need to get this if you've never played it. You will get over 100 hours of content without mods easily. More likely 120 hours plus, for 15 dollars, in a game with relatively good graphics (spells are awesome!) for 2006. Sadly this game was near unplayable at launch, but numerous patches have made it worth it. As cliche as the original campaign is, it's a cliche story done damn well with very memorable characters. (My personal favorite being Ammon Jerro, the posterboy for "neutral evil") Mask of the Betrayer took everything you loved about the OC and made it epic. It took everything you hated about the OC and made it better. While the game engine provided some limitations (primarily the camera) MOTB was one of the pinnacles of RPG's for the PC. No storyline since has come close to matching it. The guys at Obsidian are master storytellers, and they really shine here. The difficulty is really ramped up, and you'll find it obscenely cheap at the start of MOTB, but you simply have to adjust. Storm of Zehir is the sleeper of this product. It isn't an epic story, but it is probably the one with the most charm. Very folksy style where you grab an adventure party and see where the world takes you. Mysteries of Westgate obtained a bit of a cult following, but it really wasn't for me. Not much polish and too many holes. Maybe I'll play it again and see if 5 years have been kind to it. But really, get this game.
