Wing Commander: Privateer

The Good
Despite some people writing this game off as an elite clone, Privateer is groundbreaking for its atmosphere and pace alone. The storyline is good enough (I finished and was amply satisfied), but it is the open-ended nature that is so perfectly scaled. The game is initially difficult for the novice, but once it is mastered it proves the perfect fusion of rewardingly tough enemies and player-favouring odds.

The Wing Commander universe isn't exactly the same in this game as in the rest of the series, but rather you occupy the newly chartered "Gemini sector". However, the presence of Confederate and Kilrathi forces, actively opposing one another, is reassuring enough for the WC veteran. There are also hundreds of planets and stations throughout the sector, varying from the agricultural farm worlds to asteroid-occupying mining bases, luxury pleasure planets to hidden (really, they aren't identified on the nav map) pirate installations, and even a few unique, especially cool places like the sector capital, New Constantinople.

Visually and audio-wise, the game is amazing for its time. The musical score holds a particularly special place in my heart, and it suits the grim Gemini sector to a tee.

The Bad
The game isn't perfect. Considering its age and quality, most of the little problems are forgivable in my opinion. These include the generic nature of planets and bases, the pointlessness of some features (like barmen, although they're great for atmosphere) and the unbalanced weaponry (go for Tachyon cannons every time).

However, one area that I guess is seriously skewed are the different lines of employment you can pursue, and the pilotable ships that reflect them. The game boasts your ability to be either a merc, merchant or pirate, and that's fair enough. But profitability is balanced, and for a merchant to achieve a fortune equivalent to what a merc might, it could take five times as long. Some might think that's fair - choose a quiet life, make a small buck, but the fact is a merchant is still having to fight off masses of pirates, retros and (if you're foolish enough to trade within the frontier systems) Kilrathi. A pirate on the other hand, has far more chance of making dough if they decide to pursue a life of smuggling, but there are far more militia and Confed in settled Gemini space than pirates, plus you'll still be facing the retros (and possibly Kilrathi depending on how many 'good guys' you've wasted).

Reflecting the merc/merchant problem are the available ships. The games offered four pilotable ships - three that can be bought and the one you begin with. Yet there is no competition between them... you will want the Centurion if you're to have any chance of success. Sure, if you're a merchant you can go for the Galaxy (don't even think about sticking with the starter Tarsus ship), but it's weak and relatively unarmed and just not dog-fighting material (which you'll have to do whatever you are). And the Orion's fun, but certainly not a serious choice. You'll probably own it at one point, but only because it's cheap.

Finally, the games is a bit difficult for the uninitiated. However, after getting to grips with it (I'd hazard a guess at anything from half an hour to two hours), you'll be exploring the Gemini sector in eager anticipation of your next mission or encountered. A word of warning though - the story steps up the difficulty quite significantly and I wouldn't approach the first "fixer" in Detroit until you own at least a heavily outfitted Orion.

The Bottom Line
Basically, despite the negatives, Privateer's great. Don't be put off by the lack of ships, the amount of freedom available is still staggering and simply cannot be countered. The storyline is fun, if not a little linear, but be warned that it is tough and that you should be prepared for some massive battles. But if you like the genre, or simply fancy something a little less object-orientated, then this game is one that I can recommended whole-heartedly. It's definitely up there in my top five all time favourite PC games.

The Good
The gameplay is immersive. This is one of the few games where it's more fun to avoid the main plot and just concentrate on exploring, trading, and upgrading your ship. Getting to play blockade runner with a hold full of illegal drugs by dive-bombing a planet on full-afterburner with a half-dozen confed ships on your tail is still possibly the most fun ever offered up in a WC game. Plus the idea of being able to switch "sides" at will between several competing groups is nice - it's theoretically possible to be allied to the pirates, the Kilrathi, and Confed all at once. And the music was some of the best MIDI work they had.

The Bad
The gameplay is blatantly ripped from Elite. I'm still amazed David Brabden didn't sue Origin - every aspect of the game EXCEPT the plotline is straight out of that classic, even down to most of the specific items you can trade in. Also, it got mind-bogglingly difficult towards the end of the plotline, with missions that took more than an hour to complete and far more bad guys than was really necessary. (and the add-on mission pack took that difficulty and upped it further. I know VERY few people who managed to complete it.)

The Bottom Line
Want to play Elite 3.0? Here ya go. Skip the plotline and just explore.

The Good
The first thing that snatched me is the complete customizability of your ship. The ship that you chose to fly with towards the end of the game really managed to demonstrate to the rest of the galaxy what kind of privateer you were. And, the accessories you purchased determined how much money you were making and how good you were at making it... The second is the availability of missions. Although, the plot-advancing missions were some of the best in the game, the fact that there was always something to do in every starbase (from cargo running to bounty hunting) really enhanced the lasting appeal of this game.

The Bad
The limiting number of ships you could fly. It would have been great to fly a military surplus Broadsword, or even the Militia/Retro/Pirate craft, the talon (even if they seemed to be made of paper). If they had made all of the ships that you encountered playable, that would have given this game even more permanent value.

The Bottom Line
Think of this as a version of Wing Commander 2 - only sleeker and a lot more fun. Also, it's a lot less rigid in terms of gameplay since you do everything on your own terms. My favorite Space Combat games (for instance, Star Control 2) are always games that offer customizability and variety, and Privateer is no exception. From what I've heard of Privateer 2 (I haven't actually played it), I'm rather disappointed that not only does it have nothing to do with the original Privateer, but it also took a step backward in gameplay.