Wing Commander - DOS
by Mauro CorbettaNovember 12, 2024
“In a distant future, mankind is locked in a
deadly war…”
Thus begins Chris Roberts’ sci-fi saga: a new Lucas or
simply a child of his time?
Non all video games are the same; there are those you simply “play,” and then there are games you fall in love with. Every gamer has one, whether because that title struck the right emotional chord or simply came at the right time in life, the fact is that they remain forever in memory. I am no different; I could load Wing Commader right now and quickly find myself lost in another world.
Tornando to the question from the introduction, I don’t think Chris
Roberts, as is often said, wanted to create his Star Wars: it is
more a science-fiction version of the Second World War, with the
Terran Confederation (basically the Allied countries, something that is emphasized
by the vast diversity of ethnicities present on the mothership) against the Kilrathi
(the Axis counterparts, here in the form of an alien “feline” race led by a
fierce and bloodthirsty leader).
However, even if Wing Commander does not develop a particularly original theme – after all, space invasions began many years ago, with Space Invaders – it makes up for it with a splendid interactive world where the story, non-linear, is never boring. After this long preamble, I’ll tell you what I saw in this space saga.
Intro: we play as a young ace of space aviation –
to whom we give a name and a nickname ourselves – enlisted on the flagship of the fleet,
the famous Tiger Claw. We do not know the reason for the war, only that we must
drive the Kilrathi out of the Venice sector.
Wing Commander is a sumptuous interactive film,
dubbed by someone as “Space Sim,” but labels are only worth so much. The events of the war unfold on two levels: the first, where in some respects we will spend more time than in the missions themselves, is on the decks of the mother ship. The game interface blends pleasantly with the game rooms:
so to practice the spaceship controls, we just need to go to the bar and
try the “Trainsim” simulator, in effect a video game within another
video game.
Since we’re in the bar, why not listen to the dockside chatter, or jot down some good advice from the experienced pilots? Before setting off on a mission, it’s a good idea to take a nap by climbing into the “load & save” bunk; once we’re up, we’re ready to begin the briefing: we then head to the main hangar, where our mentor, Colonel Halcyon, will brief us on the mission.
This is the first “floor” of the game: the part where you can interact with NPCs (non-player characters) who, thanks to the high-quality graphics, the distinctive interface, and the good range of responses we will get, which change not only from mission to mission but also based on the progress of the story, is never the same or trivial.
When, on the other hand, we are in the heart of the space simulation, and once again I find this label excessive, since the whole thing is very simple and makes the videogame seem more like a very intense and refined shooter. At first glance, even today, one is still astonished by the beautiful graphics, a blend of vector and bitmap graphics.
Every
spaceship we will pilot – baptized with us in masculine virility – has its
own strengths and weaknesses, each with its own custom cockpit. Once the
hurdle of some strange perspectives has been overcome, and bolstered by the first
gunfights, the flaws come out. Flaws that, incidentally, are not really flaws. The
first, obviously, is due to the technical limitations of the time.
This means that our missions will mostly be solo or accompanied by only one other pilot – so no furious battles with dozens of ships on screen.
So, like our opponents, who individually are quite challenging, with a pretty decent AI (artificial intelligence) that tries to catch us off guard or carries out sudden hit-and-run attacks to distract us, but in missions that should be more structured, the whole thing is actually very basic and doesn’t require major strategies, so we simply follow the mission objectives to the letter.
So, why aren’t they flaws? I don’t know whether it was a stroke
of luck or Chris Roberts’s idea, but these “shortcomings” bring out
a different soul from the usual space sim: a sense of deep melancholy combined with
a sense of despair.
And it is then that everything that seemed like a framework of
beautiful graphics and music for its own sake begins to work, and allows
the author to catch us off guard, as that fake patina in which
we had been immersed so far is torn open and the game enters our real world, inverting in
essence the user-game relationship.
All the story at this point evolves, the touches of class begin to be seen of which the background is full, we begin to feel empathy toward our companions: we will rejoice with them for their successes and we will mourn the fallen, we will feel a sense of duty for the cause we fight for: a desperate struggle against an enemy too powerful, ruthless, unstoppable.
As mentioned earlier, the game is not linear, and it does not feature a Game Over for missions that go badly (unless, of course, you die), just as your companions, who if they perish in battle (with the resulting space funeral, very moving), will simply leave you on your own to withstand an unequal struggle in deep space. It is precisely this course of missions that will tip the scales toward the two possible endings of the story.
Outro: there are only two endings to the story, as heroes at the head
of the squadron that will deliver the decisive blow to the Kilrathi army, or as
losers, if the failures are too many, and the Tiger Claw withdraws from the
contested sector.
Wing Commander is not a perfect game, there are many valid ideas, but they sometimes come across as superficial or underdeveloped. But to remedy this we would have to wait for the arrival of Wing Commander 2 and its subsequent sequels.
Or perhaps the secret lies in its imperfection
that made it a cult video game, and for my part, it is still loved
even decades later.
Interesting is the SNES version released much later as a port, it is not the original but it is very interesting...
8
Pro
Innovative and visually appealing.
The SNES version is a nice port, perfect for having some good matches.
It gets into your heart, that’s why it became a cult
Contro
Imperfect in the controls.
Complete
33,59 €New
87,00 €Graded
95,70 €
Mauro Corbetta
Mauro Corbetta, per gli amici Corby, classe ’77, ha nel sangue i videogiochi e l’informatica, il suo primo home computer è stato un glorioso C64, avuto in regalo a 8 anni. Negli anni ha accumulato una quantità impressionante di riviste del settore vantando una delle collezioni più imponenti, e ricercate, per quanto riguarda i videogiochi. Appassionato ed esperto di arcade e il cosiddetto "retrogame" in ogni sua forma, si propone, anche grazie all'associazione Retroedicola Videoludica Club da lui fondata in quel di Bergamo, di divulgare la cultura del videogioco, perché come dice sempre "imparando a giocare insieme lo si potrà fare per sempre".
Mauro Corbetta
Mauro Corbetta, per gli amici Corby, classe ’77, ha nel sangue i videogiochi e l’informatica, il suo primo home computer è stato un glorioso C64, avuto in regalo a 8 anni. Negli anni ha accumulato una quantità impressionante di riviste del settore vantando una delle collezioni più imponenti, e ricercate, per quanto riguarda i videogiochi. Appassionato ed esperto di arcade e il cosiddetto "retrogame" in ogni sua forma, si propone, anche grazie all'associazione Retroedicola Videoludica Club da lui fondata in quel di Bergamo, di divulgare la cultura del videogioco, perché come dice sempre "imparando a giocare insieme lo si potrà fare per sempre".