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| PC/Win95 Review | |
| Category | Action/Combat Sim |
| Players | 1 |
| Difficulty | Easy/Medium |
| Review Date | 12/97 |
| Publisher | Origin |
| Minimum System Requirements |
| Pentium 133, 32MB RAM |
| 4X CD, 150MB hard disk space |
| Recommended: Pentium 200 |
| 3Dfx, 450 MB hard disk |
To be honest, I was never too impressed with the Wing Commander series. First off, I don't like to hear Luke Skywalker called sissy names like Blair. Second, actors in video games suck. Has there ever been a company to do it right? Third, and finally, flying the spaceships in Wing Commander has always been something of a bore. Now I realize that the last few sentences are just this side of heresy, but there are others that agree with me. Really, I'm serious. The only reason you've never heard from them is a) they're afraid to speak up and b) they're all busy playing X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter.
Now we all know that every Wing Commander
fanatic worth his rank bought Prophecy three minutes after it was released,
so this review is for the rest of us: the casual, yet-to-be-brainwashed gamers
who know that X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter is the coolest thing going
in space combat sims. We normal gamers just spent this month's pocket
cash on the Balance of Power add-on and we are still smarting from the
money we wasted trying to broaden our horizons last October with the truly lame
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. So what's a regular
(read: Star Wars-loving) guy or gal like you or me to do in the face of Wing
Commander: Prophecy?
Well, there's no definitive answer folks. According to the Church of Wing Commander (i.e., the congregation of magazine reviewers who slipped their all-powerful editors Superbowl tickets for a chance to get their hands on the game) [Editor's Note: You mean I could have gone to the Superbowl?] the graphics are stellar, the gameplay intense, the new characters likable, and the new enemies (courtesy of Syd Mead) better laser-fodder than any previous targets in the Wing Commander universe. According to Ace X-Wing pilot, Tom 'Dak' Wilso (my Star Wars alter-ego on The Zone), Wing Commander: Prophecy is a very fun ride, but also little short on depth.
First off, there's no IPX, no internet, and no multiplayer: Prophecy is an entirely single-player experience. Now this in itself is not entirely damning. But this does mean that you're practically forced to immerse yourself in the corny full-motion video story that advances the single-player campaign in Wing Commander: Prophecy. And believe me, it is corny! Though filmed on decent looking sets, the bad script and cliched character types -- the joker, the bully, the wise battle vet, the "hard" female (3 of those!), the wimp, the naive hero -- almost make you embarrassed to play the game without headphones. That's not to say you won't love every minute of it. Much like Melrose Place or 90210 (replete with sex, drugs and fist fights), the story and characters in Wing Commander: Prophecy are things that you should appreciate in private and never admit to in public.
Continuing with the TV analogies, the
combat visuals are much more exciting than space battles in any Deep Space
Nine or Bablyon 5 episode. Judging the graphics alone, this game
rocks. In fact, Prophecy's visuals are so striking that you can't help
but feel a bit empty when returning to other games (yes, even X-Wing
vs. Tie Fighter). With the proper 3D hardware accelerator (the game looks
the best on a 3Dfx, the worst on a Riva 128) you'll be treated to all the latest
tricks -- lens flares, haze and fog, ambient and colored lighting, translucent
explosions, glorious missile trails, you name it. Even better, these stunning
graphics are smoothly rendered on older setups; I tested the game on a Pentium
90, a 200 MMX and Pentium II-300 each equipped with a 3D accelerator and there
was no noticeable difference between any of them. Chalk one up for Origin; the
game's graphics are so good that it actually enhances the fun.
Though the look of Prophecy's fight sequences are sure to please everyone, the fast-paced exciting gameplay may be a little too arcadish for some. At times the shooting can become so mindless that Wing Commander makes the Star Wars titles feel like a Jane's flight sim! Of course you can adjust throttle, shield, and weapon settings, but you're likely to find one combination that works well without modification, and despite the fact that each mission is preceded with a lot of mumbo jumbo about what is going on and what you have to do, you almost never have to pay attention to succeed. In the few frustrating missions where battle tactics are needed, it is painfully difficult to make wise choices because of a crummy nav map, an inability to assign targets to hotkeys, vague instructions and the frequent tendency of your superiors to refer to enemies by names that don't appear in your HUD. "Take out the bombers," they tell you. Well how are you supposed to know which enemy is a bomber and which isn't? No matter how many times you fail, you won't get any extra info on what you should be doing. And if you should get stuck, don't think the training missions or game documentation will help. You won't learn anything but reflexes in the simulator and instead of filling the manual with battle tactics and clear information about your ship's capabilities and weapons, Origin decided to include a huge backstory and an even more huge map that looks pretty but has nothing to do with winning the game.
Exciting action and beautiful presentation
often translates to flash over substance, and unfortunately, that is the case
here. Replay value is average to low for Prophecy, and that is perhaps
its biggest weakness. Once you've completed the game (which I did in one eighteen
hour marathon session) playing again can get a little boring. First, you can
almost never choose which ship to fly, nor can you select your ship's ordnance.
Second, the commands you can give to wingmen are very limited, so there is almost
no way to alter the outcome of an engagement except by being a great dogfighter.
Third, the enemy AI is just too easy; it even seems scripted at points and the
only way the aliens win is by severely outnumbering you. Fourth, there isn't
enough variation in your own ships, the enemy's ships, or objects in space.
Even the first time you play, it all begins to look the same, and this contributes
to the feeling that every mission is just a huge fragfest rather than a specific
event in an unfolding story. Finally, simple things like detailed game stats,
which would help chart your progress and give you a reason to keep playing,
are missing. There's a killboard, but no one seems to notice when you pass all
the other pilots and the percentage system which evaluates each mission doesn't
tell you what is needed to improve your scores. Does accidentally shooting friendlies
count against you, for example? Who knows!
So what's an X-Wing pilot to do? Despite its shortcomings (and all my complaining), if you own a 3D accelerator, I'd say this game is definitely worth your time and money. Unlike Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Wing Commander: Prophecy is actually tons of fun. Though you won't find as much depth and replayability as you will with a game like X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter, not one of the Star Wars titles comes anywhere close to generating the fast-paced and visually compelling action that Wing Commander provides. Rumor has it that a multiplayer add-on is planned for this summer, so you might want to get a head start on all those internet pilots and buy your single-player Wing Commander: Prophecy today.
Revolution Report Card |
B+ |
| + Strong arcade game + Top-notch visuals + Low sys requirements - Little replay value - No strategic help - Repetitive music |