First of all, I want to thank everybody who voted. I know that LA Noire got the most votes, and while I do still want to play that game, a poster on the Escapist made an excellent point:
I doubt half the voters here even understand what Wing Commander was back in the day.
Before Wing Commander, story was sparse in video gaming outside of, say, role-playing or adventure games. The most story you got out of an action piece like Doom was some scrolling text and maybe a fullscreen splash image. I still remember the Doom marine cradling the head of his beloved bunny while glaring at the flaming pits of Hell.
Wing Commander changed that. Not only does it have a story, but its story has multiple paths to multiple endings. Losing a mission sucked, but was not a failure state; the game carried on, just as it would in a real conflict, with all of the ramifications included in failure. Crew mates died, and never came back. Those things stick with you.
Moreso than anything else, I want to see how the writing holds up. I’m curious if I can get it to work with a game pad, rather than shelling out for a joystick or struggling with mouse and keyboard. And I feel compelled to introduce a new generation of gamers to the joys and frustrations of the space sim, just in case the old warhorse is put out to pasture forever.
So Wing Commander it is. More details to follow. I will post a link to my Extra Life page once it’s ready, and gird my loins for the 20th. It’ll be a long day, but a fun one.
