Wing Commander: Secret Ops

The Good
How about an add-on mission pack to expand on the kickass Wing Commander Prophecy? Pretty cool, isn't it? Already a kickass action game, WC:Secret Ops set out to give gamers a healthy dose of more of the same while also improving and balancing out some features. You are still that Casey dummy and you and your wing mates have been transferred to the new end-all-be-all carrier (as per WC sequels standard rules) things seem pretty peaceful after Luke Skywalker went awol on the last game and closed the alien portal, but as you start picking off more and more stray fighters you find out that it's not over with those pesky Babylon 5-like aliens, and in fact they are even more closer to home than the last time. Quickly the "cleaning up" feeling will be replaced with some major all-out battlefests and you'll be in the midst of veritable war as you try to protect your carrier and it's crew on it's merry voyage to sol system.

The changes to the game are few, there are some new weapons like the guided rocket pods, and new cluster missiles and some ships have been modified a little particularly the Wasp interceptor/fighter which now sports a more extensive loadout and increased defenses. But otherwise the game still uses the same engine and control scheme so it still plays out like a dream and it still looks pretty nice for it's time.

There are also some new ship models like the cerberus itself, the civilian cruisers, destroyers and there are also some nice additions to old time WC veterans like the inclusion of some Excalibur fighters in a mission, a Vesuvius super-carrier and other extras like 3 different endings... oh yeah, and the fact that it's FUCKING FREE!!!! That's right!! Save for the phone bill for downloading that friggin' 100 megs of ones and zeroes I paid zilch to get this baby and that alone lifts this thing to the skies. Quite frankly I can't believe EA ever could make a thing like this, I mean give us the customers some value??? This is the company that took one of the best developing houses and trashed it into the ground, not to mention the one that rips you off each year with the same game you bought last year with some crappy pop songs added to it in their "EA-Trax" marketing deals... shyeahh!

The Bad
Engine cutscenes are nice and all, but that means we don't get no Stiletto!! Man, that babe was the hottest thing on the original game, and it's still one of the hottest babes ever placed on any computer game... hmmm... Stiletto.... hmmm!! Wonder if Ginger Lynn Allen ever gave her any "acting" classes.... hehehe... er what? Oh, no nothing wrong with this. Move along.

The Bottom Line
Free and good, and FREE and... and... FUCKING FREE MAN!!!

Er...ok, ok. It's a fantastic value for what's essentially still a fantastic action experience with a lot of cool missions and superb gameplay. How's that?