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Comment by civilized | Hacker News Reader

I like the Wing Commander series better than Star Wars, and Blair in WC4 was Mark Hamill's greatest role as far as I'm concerned.

Wing Commander is space without the opera. It's humanistic and free of woo. There are no supernaturally gifted gurus wielding magic. The good guys do not seem predestined to win. Everyone in this big cosmic drama is just an ordinary person (or other sentient being) muddling through familiar problems.

Seems like this reviewer wanted the movie parts to be more wacky and fun. Given that the premise is essentially (spoilers) space Nazis attempting a coup, I'm not sure how this would have made sense. If you want wacky fun, there are plenty of other space movies that will oblige you.

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I distinctly remember that Wing Commander had "good guys" not winning paths. My second most frustrating experience in that game was intentionally choosing that path and managing to succeed on the final mission after umpteen tries (you have a crappy ship and overwhelming odds), only to have the landing autopilot fly me into the side of the Tiger's Claw. RIP.

The most frustrating part was getting halfway through the campaign, only to discover that disk 10 was corrupt. I had to send away for a new one, which was a bit of a process because companies at the time were loathe to give additional physical media to avoid piracy. It took about 3 months to finally get the new disk.

Lol. I had the corrupt CD problem during my play through of "The Longest Journey". I appreciated the irony, as it added several months to the experience.

Also, I believe in the original Wing Commander, if you lost a mission, the next branch of the mission tree would be harder.

I played through original WC in the early 2000's, trying to win all missions. I got stuck on one that you really were meant to lose(escort, large numbers of attackers meant you had to execute with speedrun precision to have a chance) and stopped there. Later I looked more carefully at the walkthroughs and learned that the campaign progresses along the win path if you win most of the missions in the sector - you don't have to get 100% of them.

I always admired the series for its world-building sensibilities. It's simple stuff - Star Raiders had the essence of the gameplay in 1979 - but injected with a lot of atmosphere.

Even if you "win" that mission, you get the losing cutscene and the commander chews you out for not meeting your objectives even when you did and are put on the losing path - at least that's what happened in my copy of the game, so it wouldn't have been worth the effort.

I distinctly remember this in wc3 (the first one I played), because for a long time I thought the game was broken. I found out losing a mission didn't make you lose completely (a rare concept at the time) but didn't realize the next one would be harder. So I just got stuck there for months. Note that I was probably 9 years old at the time.

Mark Hamill was fantastic in both WC3 and 4. Both games had other stellar actors as well—John Rhys-Jones, Malcolm Dowell, etc. At times, the acting rivaled that found in a mainstream move.

On an aside: Star Wars: Jedi Knight (first game) also had acting that rivaled that of the original Star Wars movies. In comparison, Jedi Knight 2 (released in the early 2000s) had blocky 3D cutscenes, similar to other games of the time. What a bummer.

It really made for a head scratcher for how bad the movie was.

Acting in JK was hit and miss IMO, or maybe it was writing or directing. Either way, I don't recall it being well received.

Still, I'm glad they tried and yet also glad they went back to CG.

BTW, OpenJKDF2 is a nice way to play today, with some modern enhancements.

Don't forget Tom Wilson!

Too bad he couldn't have at least a Golden Globe for that role or something.

My immediate impression of all Malcom McDowell characters is “they must be evil” until we learn more about them through the plot of a movie.

All because he was evil in WC3. And that’s my touchstone for him.

Don't forget about Ginger Lynn. She was great in WC and all of her other films.

"All her other films" wink wink

> On an aside: Star Wars: Jedi Knight (first game)

Second game! It was Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight. The first one (Dark Forces) had charming 2d animated cutscenes. The second (Jedi Knight) had live-action video cutscenes.

> also had acting that rivaled that of the original Star Wars movies.

I remembered really liking them, but on revisiting the game a couple years back... well, if you haven't seen them in a while, give them another look.

> In comparison, Jedi Knight 2 (released in the early 2000s) had blocky 3D cutscenes, similar to other games of the time. What a bummer.

But much, MUCH better lightsaber fighting.

I agree. I enjoyed WC4 even though it went a bit overboard with fmv but the story held up and both Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell were amazing. The senate scene at the end when Tolwyn breaks is just great.

Gameplay and story wise I really think WC2 is by far the best in the series. The camaraderie between characters is just beautifully portrayed, and so many moments of betrayal, death, and tragedy were very emotional.

I will wait for you in heaven…

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