LogFAQs > #950907601

#17 Wing Commander (MS-DOS, 1990)

Wing Commander is the game that kickstarted the space simulation craze of the early to mid-ninties. Yes, it was not the first in the genre, but it had a depth and level of production that blew away anything else that had come before it.



Wing Commander is fairly direct and simple in its format. As a space fighter pilot stationed on a strike carrier deep in outer space, you play through a series of missions, with opportunities between each mission to chat with the other multicultural pilots and crew. Each mission starts with a briefing that advances the plot and outlines the objectives, and ends with a debriefing outlining your accomplishments, or lack thereof. What was unique for its time is the branching storyas long as you come back from each mission alive, the story will continue whether you accomplish your objectives or not. Throughout the game, occasional cutscenes show the consequences of your successes or failures. Continued failure will make the plight of the carrier more desperate, but until the end of the game, it's never too late to turn things around and find a path to victory. Ultimately, the campaign will end victorious if you play well, or in forced retreat if you do not.



Another dynamic element in the game is the wingmate system. Throughout the game you will be paired with a specific wingmate, who you can communicate with during missions and issue orders to. It's your responsibility to keep them out of trouble; if you leave them hanging, they are likely to die. Like anything else short of your own death, that doesn't stop the game, but it does make the carrier a little emptier and gives you fewer opportunities to get flavor from them between missions. And of course, any mission without a wingmate will be tougher.

My first memories of this game were watching my dad play it when I was very little. He was just awful at the game, and consistently would get the bad ending. I think he gave up after a few playthroughs, but I picked the game up afterward and managed to beat it successfully. I later moved on to other space sims like the X-Wing series, which focused more on space combat than the cinematic and storytelling aspects that the Wing Commander series became known for. Have to give credit to this game though, because it is the reason that all the later games exist, and it still holds up well considering when it came out and how rudimentary it is now. No doubt though that it was completely revolutionary when it was released, and playing through it is one of my favorite video game memories.



The game had two expansions that came out shortly afterward. They both ditch the open-ended structure for more focused, story-driven campaigns, but your save file carries over, including any accomplishments or character deaths. Both were very challenging and added a lot of extra value to the game.

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At least your mother tipped well