Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (DOS)

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Description

Christopher Blair, "Heart of the Tiger" had retired to a farming planet after the war, content with retirement, so he says... In the depths of space, a new menace has surfaced. Some unknown attackers are killing civilian ships. The tension between the Confederation and the Border Worlds is at an all time high, as both sides accuse the other of staging the attacks. Admiral Tolwyn has recalled Blair back to service, where he will make the most difficult choice of all... And contemplate action he had never dared before, in the name of justice...

Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom is a mix of interactive movie and space sim. The game has a dynamic mission tree, which means the player's behaviour will determine the next mission. The videos feature real actors, like Mark Hamill, Tom Wilson, John Rhys-Davies and Malcolm McDowell. Before the start of each mission, the space craft can be equipped with different weapons. Sometimes the mission objectives change during flight, and the player has to make decisions what he wants to do next, e.g. help out his friend or destroy an enemy fighter.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "银河飞将4：自由的代价" -- Simplified Chinese spelling
• "Wing Commander IV: מחיר החופש" -- Hebrew spelling
• "Wing Commander IV: O Preço da Liberdade" -- Brazilian title
• "Wing Commander IV: Mekhir ha-Khofesh" -- Hebrew title

Part of the Following Groups

• Console Generation Exclusive: PlayStation
• EA Classics releases
• Gameplay feature: Multiple endings
• Games made into books
• Genre: Simulation - Space combat
• Graphics Engine: RealSpace
• Live action cut-scenes
• Wing Commander series
• Wing Commander universe

User Reviews

Better than most are willing to admit.	Zovni (10627)
Urgh	Ashley Pomeroy (233)	unrated
Best in the series	Brent Barker (2)
Great production values, extremely low play value	WizardX (117)	unrated
Is it a movie or a game?	Olivier Masse (449)

Critic Reviews

PC Games (Germany)	Feb, 1996	93 out of 100	93
Joystick (French)	Feb, 1996	92 out of 100	92
Entertainment Weekly	Mar 15, 1996	A-	91
Computer Gaming World (CGW)	Apr, 1996		90
PC Zone	Aug 13, 2001	9 out of 10	90
Electric Playground	Aug 01, 1996	9 out of 10	90
Power Play	Mar, 1996	85 out of 100	85
Pelit	Mar, 1996	83 out of 100	83
GamesFirst!	1996		80
Gamesmania.de	1996	80 out of 100	80

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
How do I run this game in WinME??	7	Darkon Jan 22, 2008

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cast

• Now well-known actor Casper Van Dien ("Sleepy Hollow", "Starship Troopers") got his first non-TV role in a bit part for this game. Officially dubbed "Confed Pilot #3," he can be spotted during one of the early cinematics as Blair and Maniac first board their new carrier.
• The non-speaking pilots on the roster are mostly Origin employees on the WC IV project. For example, Anthony "Yaeger" Sommers (QA Project Lead), Frank "Turbo" Roan (Lead Programmer), and more.

Extras

Creative Labs included a special DVD version of this game with their original DVD drives that included higher quality recompressed video.

Novelization

There is a novelization of the game published by Baen Books.

Production cost

As of June 2000, WC IV held the record for most expensive video game ever made. Dissatisfied with the blue-screened video of #3, Chris Roberts decided he wanted to build full-sized sets for the game. The end result was around $10 million dollars spent. By comparison, that's roughly what the original Star Wars movie cost. As of 2002, WC IV is the second most expensive game after Shenmue.

Removed content

One scene got cut out of the final game. The scene, which shows Wilford telling Blair to board a Black Lance Transport was never released in any official form, but can be found around the net. Be warned that since the scene was cut out at the last minute it is already encoded, meaning you'll need Xanmovie to play it, just like any other WC IV movie file (Xanmovie can be found on Origin's Crusader: No Regret).

Story issue

In a rare "script ignore" for the Wing Commander series, if 2nd Lt. Troy "Catscratch" Carter (played by Mark Dacascos, also of several movies including "Le Pacte des loups" (Brotherhood of the Wolf), survives his final mission, he absolutely disappears from the rest of the game. No mention is made of his fate at all and he is no longer available as a wingman. Lt. Velina Sosa, who is his love interest and is quite upset should he die, never mentions his mysterious disappearance from the ship. Also, his name disappears from the killboard. Normally, when a pilot is killed, "KIA" is written next to their name and their stats remain. But Catscratch, for all intents and purposes, is erased from existence if he actually survives the one mission he doesn't complete properly.

Windows 95 Patch

A Windows 95 patch is available that makes the game run smoother and look better when playing under Windows 95.

Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, Jason Musgrave, John Chaser, Kasey Chang, WizardX, and Zovni

Related Web Sites

• Internet Movie Database entry (WC4 actually has en entry in this site.)
• Wikipedia: Wing Commander IV (Article in the open encyclopedia.)
• Wing Commander Combat Information Center (News, polls, links, files and fan art on Wing Commander.)