Wing Commander™ 1+2

I have mixed feelings about this release - on the one hand any Wing Commander to legally own again is great, on the other, this release could have been so much better. These are the DOS versions and the games do show their age after all this time. Saddest thing is that the epic soundtrack - revolutionary in its day - still sounded better on my Amiga than the version available here.The frustrating thing is that both games (and the music/sound effects) were significantly tweaked to run on newer machines for the later Window compilation release, The Kilrathi Saga. Hopefully GOG & EA can do a deal & upgrade to that version at a later date to really do this classic game the justice it deserves? I'm holding back a star until then despite my huge affection for this game & the memories it brings back.

The Wing Commander series used to be the benchmark for upgrading my PC. Computers fell in 2 categories, the ones that could run the latest WC title and the ones that couldn't. If you have never played these games, be aware, this is not Freespace. Graphics, while phenomenal at the time, are pre-3D revolution. Still you should play it no matter what, because these titles are undeniably big part of gaming history and more importantly a lot of fun. Thank you GOG for releasing this title. Now, if you can also release WC3 and Strike Commander. Fingers crossed!

Was Wing Commander the best game of its time? No, it wasn't. Did it invent anything new? No, it didn't. Has it aged well? No, not at all. Do i still love it? Hell yeah, break and attack! Wing Commander was never meant to be a deep game. All it ever set out to offer was a rock-solid game play formula with easy controls, and a strong emphasis on dramatic presentation. I resonated with me right away back then, and it has influenced my perception of games ever since: While game play will always be the single most important element, an intense in game-narrative can greatly enhance the overall experience. Wing Commander may not have attempted it first, but Chris Roberts gave it a very distinct personality with its memorable characters, talking heads, branching mission structure, and its gritty atmosphere. The mission disks also introduced coherent story lines to the game - a concept refined in Wing Commander II (although i was never particularly fond of "Whodunit"-story lines). The sheer immersion always out-shined the limitations of the game play for me - i just wanted to push forward and see how the story unfolds. In its best moments, Wing Commander would make you feel like the greatest hero of the galaxy; truly a boy's dream coming true. There's always that one special game for everyone, and Wing Commander was mine. I just wonder if the game is to blame for my dislike of cats...

Back when games were action interspersed with cutscenes instead of cutscenes interspersed with action.

Well this is honestly a pretty good deal, both games for 6 $. I got this recently, and found WC1 to be pretty fun for the most part. It has a pretty solid story, a branching campaign, 2 endings... the gameplay is the ancestor of more recent space shooter and it handles pretty well with the joystick. My main criticism against WC1 is the somewhat uneven difficulty setting. Some missions are just cakewalk and some other are frustrating, there is apparently a mission that is almost unbeatable in the winning branch of the campaign, and failing this mission means you fail the set of the campaign, then you have to win the next set or its fubar. Also, wingmen usefulness isn't always what you'd expect. According to logic, the higher ranked ones should be better, but it doesn't seem to be always the case. Spirit seems better than Paladin, Bossman seemed way better than iceman etc. Also, expect quite some lag if engagements get bigger then 4 fighters at once. WC2 is pretty similar, but i thought it became more frustrating. There is apparently a dynamic AI system, which basically gives you harder odds if you fight well. But this system is forced on you, and the fights aren't really easy to begin with imo. So I get a bit mad when my reward for blasting some killrathi effectively is to have more tougher killrathi to beat, especially considering they have new fighters that are sometimes infuriating... like those heavy fighters with BFG on front and on the rear turret. If i do good in fights, let me have my victory. Also, your teammates won't hesitate to shoot through you...frustrating.