Award-winning games, a feature film, an animated TV series, and books – the franchise created in 1990 by Chris Roberts has expanded beyond imagination. The 30th anniversary of the Wing Commander release is the perfect opportunity to look back at the story behind one of the most famous space simulators of all time.
Above and beyond
Game developer Chris Roberts had already worked at Origin Systems for a few years when he came up with an idea for a game that he described as “World War II in space.” Released in 1990, Wing Commander was a major breakthrough in the space combat genre, as it combined action-packed 3D gameplay with cinematic story elements and lore.
Set in the year 2654, Wing Commander tells the story of a war between the human-led Terran Confederation and Kilrathi, a feline race inspired by Larry Niven’s books. You become a nameless pilot transferred to the TCS Tiger’s Claw space carrier. Along with other pilots, you must commit to a series of ferocious space battles and dogfights that results in an attack on the Kilrathi High Command starbase.
A cinematic story
What helped make Wing Commander stand out from other contemporary space combat games at the time was an engaging story that accompanied the fun gameplay. In between space battles, you could explore the TCS Tiger’s Claw’s board to see what other pilots had to say about ongoing events.
This approach, coupled with dynamic gameplay, made Wing Commander a massive success and Computer Gaming World’s Overall Game of the Year award in 1991.
Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi took all the elements from the original game and refined them. This time, our hero had to make ends meet after the TCS Tiger’s Claw carrier was destroyed by a Kilrathi surprise attack. To …read more
Source:: GOG – Good Old Games
