Wing commander privateer is an AMAZING game, and another masterpiece from Chris Roberts.
Privateer shakes that very belief to its core. Everything from the graphics (obviously dated, but near the very best of their time) to the soundtrack are absolutely breath taking. Everything fuses immersion and fun with surgical precision. From the functional but great looking hud, to the great and varied options when you land in one of the many landing zones.
Set in the Gemini sector of the wing commander universe, Privateer is a game all about immersion. Every little detail pushes the very limits of immersion, and puts you in the pilot seat. From the amazing fights, to traveling the universe, prepare to experience the universe!
But how does Privateer play? The dog fights follow wing commander's formula of ww2 style dog fights. Slowly hitting enemies with lasers while avoiding getting missile locked. In addition, tension is applied during combat splendidly. The soundtrack causes your heart to speed up when damaged, and the fear of your shields being down and being a laser from death is an adrenaline pump. Traveling on the other hand is fun and simple. It's not extremely advanced, but it does the job while feeling fun.
The gameplay (like pretty much everything in the game) adds to the immersion and feel of the game. Getting shot at means you'll get damage to your cockpit. As well as systems in game actually failing or not working at optimal pace when damaged. The difference while upgrading factors in quite a bit as well. Using either 2 of one type of laser, or 1 of 2 different types can be the difference between life and death. choosing ecms or ff missiles can be an important choice that will decide weather you live or die.
The level of detail in privateer is what's probably the MOST immersive part of it! From going to bars in one of the many landing stations to hear rumors, to the different feel of each system. Each ship has a different cockpit, complete with functioning scanners and displays. Upgrades actually affect how your ship looks, and each part can be seen before buying it.
Different characters in the story and universe actually feel distinct. With the main character being the crown jewel. Given a distinctive personality, and a practical anti hero, he's a unique character. (especially for the space sim genre, where most characters have about as much personality as a bag of yeast.)
This brings me to the next big part of this game, the fact that you aren't limited in what you can do, unlike most space sims. You can act as an illegal mercenary who spends most of their time in illegal space, or as a merchant trading to the troy system. Killing police or innocents is not restricted by the game, and you can even side with the evil kil'rathi. You can spend as much time wandering the mysterious depths of space as you dog fighting....
One more important part of the gameplay, is the sense of progression. You start off with a base ship and very basic equipment. In the beginning, you don't even have a jump drive to travel to other systems! slowly but surely you work your way up the ladder slowly earning better lasers and ships. The sensation of buying a new ship and upgrading with to tachyon laers is near unrivaled in the game industry.
Another thing to note is the fact that you can join GUILDS! There are only 2 (mercenary and merchant) but both pay high, and encourage variety in gameplay.
There is not much to say about the graphics. At the time of launch they where absolutely amazing, sadly by now they are a tad outdated. Thankfully , they are livable, and are not near as bad as some games of the time. Still, they're more than enough to live with.
The soundtrack, while basic, does a great job of causing sweat to drip of your face. Lasers and the like are all represented by distinct sounds, and each char (with the speech pack) can talk. The music is great, and each of the tunes fits the situation wonderfully. I just wish there was more of it, each track is done so wonderfully, and if there where a few more, I feel I could have put this as a major pro.
Let me touch on the cons now. Now then, let me be CLEAR. There are near NO cons, and those that exist are extremely minor. Here are the ONLY (IMO of course) two cons.
1st, the map system is very clunky, and involves moving manually through sectors. It actually is a good map system, and in most games wouldn't even be a con. However it's a good thing in an AMAZING game.
2nd is the plot. The plot is quite basic and a bit lack luster. There are no branching paths, nor is it very deep. However it compels the player to explore the universe, and uses gameplay mechanics to add to the story. Using things such as an enemy having exclusive weapons as a plot point and a sign of advancement. Sadly, the plot is short, and simplistic. Though while basic, it does do a good job of telling a story in an open world game, and does so with more power and heartfelt moments than say, Skyrim. But still, I feel with a bit more polish, and a slight increase in length, the plot could have been much more solid. It is important to note however, that the game is open world and based more on it's immersive. world, than it's plot.
Pros: Graphics are amazing for the time
Very immersive
Great gameplay
Amazing worlds and attention to detail with in them
Unrestricted Morales
Cons: Iffy map system
A somewhat lackluster plot
Lack of accomplishment in the main story
Somewhat simplistic flight.
In conclusion, Wing Commander: Privateer is one of the VERY best games ever made. With varied gameplay, and an attention to detail that blows many modern games out of the water. The immersion factor of the game rivals metro 2033 and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series. Every single detail is done masterfully, and each one complements the next. In short, we're looking at a masterpiece by the man, the legend, Chris Roberts.