Wing Commander 4 [IV] - PC, 26/2/96
Wing Commander 4 - PC
When a sequel to a heavily-puffed game comes out, and it isn't very different, some reviewers wash away the stench lingering from their collusion with the original hype by slapping the infant.
Well, it happened with Magic Carpet 2 a bit, anyway.
So you can expect to hear the crack of a backlash snapping away at your bare behinds over WC4, which is generally indistinguishable from PT27 (WC3).
Wing Commader 4 improves the film-plus-fights formula by tiny, buzzing increments.
The movie bits look slightly sharper. The enemy AI in combat is slightly better. The range of missions is slightly wider: look, you can sometimes fly down to a planet's surface.
And, of course, the minimum spec is slightly higher. DX2 owners are banned from the bed, and to appreciate SVGA without glitches, you'll need a P100.
Wing Commander 4 is the finest (pttth) interactive movie out. The quality of acting (if not the cliche-sodden script) and sheer scale of production values put it out on its own.
But though it succeeds in pulling you through the atmosphere curtains and onto the bed-show of plot involvement, where the title really has to prove itself is in the space combat.
And here, it still doesn't get close to TIE Fighter.
Slightly unsettlingly, even the SVGA combat graphics in Wing Commander 4 are some way behind TIE Fighter. You know: muddy. Old-looking. Can't read dials.
And the mechanics seem strangely wooden and unsatisfying. There's little to match even the mild euphoria of blowing up another poxy Y-Wing.
So WC4 is rather a disappointment. The huge budget sems to have sucked away any imagination or novelty, see.
Wing Commander 4 - PC CD-ROM - by EA
Req: DX4 8Mb RAM
Graphix: 85%
Sonix: 90%
Gameplay: 70%
Lifespan: 72%
Originality: 45%
Uppers: Epic
Downers: Just like WC3, man. And £60
Overall: 75% - Wing Commander Bore joke
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