Wing Commander™: Academy

I really enjoy this one so far, I never had a chance to play it when it was originally released. I think it is wrong to think of it separated from the other Wing Commander games. It was a one-off like Armada (another that I hope to see on here soon). I do not think it was ever really meant to stand on its own. I think of it as the combat simulator that should have been part of Wing Commander II. Most of the other games in the series had simulators in the lounge on the carrier, I think it was just II and IV that did not have one.

Even when it came out many years ago, WC Academy couldn't hold our attention for more than a few games before it all became identical. The combat system is nothing new if you've played other games in the series, and without any storyline - a major part of the WC games - the novelty wears off quickly. Stick to the other games in the series, as while this is by no means *bad*, there's just not a lot to it at all.

Wing Commander: Academy (WC:A) is fun for what it is. It was released as a stop gap game while Strike Commander, and later Wing Commander III were worked on to keep some 'product' in the market. If you love the combat in Wing Commander II, you will love this. It's the same engine, and the much the same game. However, with no story it's really just an expanded version of the simulator that you find in the earlier Wing Commander games. There is a 15 level endurance marathon as mentioned in the product description. WC:A has a fun little editor that let's you create your own missions. The editor is a great feature, and it's fun creating missions for a while. It's a shame that's about it, as the Academy setting was later developed into a great cartoon series. My advise is to get the game when it's cheap if you want to complete your Wing Commander collection. It's a curio, not much more.

This is basically the simulator from the lounge in Wing Commanders 1 and 2 made into a full game. The big draw, I believe at the time, was the new ability to fly Kilrathi ships, which was indeed interesting, but other than that there is little here to recommend unless you're a completest who has to have EVERYTHING in the WC franchise. Now bring on Armada, dangit. ;)

Those of you who have played Wing Commander 1 or 3 will recall the training simulator that you could run within the game. Interestingly, WC2 didn't have such a feature but basically that's what WC Academy is: a training simulator. There's no story or campaign so you don't have that sense of wanting to complete missions so you can see what happens next. Academy is a little more involved than the "gauntlet" style simulators from the other titles. You have up to four nap points which you can fill with enemies and hazards, including minefields which function similarly to asteroid fields but with more destructing power when you run into one. You can select the placement, number, and type of opposing starcraft. This allows you to create some interesting scenarios where you might have a capital ship on one flank and starfighters on another, leaving you to decide which to focus your early attention on first. You also get to choose your wingman, each with a different AI and set of priorities, though for overall ability Hobbes is the clear choice. Unfortunately the game doesn't allow you to set special mission objectives. Each navpoint you're expected to clear the map of enemies and everybody is an enemy. Even if you add Confed fighters, they'll be hostile to you. There's also no opportunity to set up escort missions. I would only recommend the game to people who love WC2 and want to test their piloting mettle in a variety of custom scenarios.