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ScAvenger001
February 24th, 2007, 09:02 AM
So, the Wing Commander franchise has been on the shelf for about a decade (Prophecy first came out in 97), not counting remakes and fan projects. That changed today: EA announced a new game called Wing Commander: Arena.

Here's the thing: it's xbox exclusive, has only two axes of movement, and is third-person. From the promo video (http://download.wcnews.com/files/arena/gv.com.WingCommanderMultiBattlesGameplay_640x360.w mv), my impression was that it's what Asteroids would be if it were on a modern engine and made multiplayer. Well, that's not inherently bad, Asteroids was fun and sometimes a very accessible beer-and-pretzels game is what you need.

My worry is that it'll turn out like MechAssault, where it seems like the new dumbed-down game completely subsumes its deeper predecesssors. If it doesn't do well, the franchise goes back on the shelf. If it does do well, the next game will be WC: Arena II. For people like me who want something more like the old-school Wing Commander games (or even something like Freespace 3), that's not very helpful.

I dunno, maybe I'm just ranting meaninglessly. What do you guys think?
GrosPoisson
February 24th, 2007, 10:23 AM
Bastardizing a well-known franchise is more like it. I don't even understand how they can sell that as being any part of Wing Commander. I think this would have made a decent XBox Arcade or whatever they call it game to be sold at a budget price, but this is just weak.

Is there going to be any semblance of a story included, or is it just Asteroids/2-D Deathmatch?
Enders
February 24th, 2007, 04:14 PM
I believe I cried when I saw Rainbow Six...lockdown was it? Whatever the first R6 console port was

I just may cry again
Captain Colon
February 24th, 2007, 05:51 PM
All I know is swapping CDs in Wing Commander 3 sucked, but man was it a fun game.
Splitlip
February 24th, 2007, 06:36 PM
Heresy.
ScAvenger001
February 25th, 2007, 01:09 AM
Is there going to be any semblance of a story included, or is it just Asteroids/2-D Deathmatch?
Nope. It'll have some single player modes, but no story to speak of afaik.
Mirsky
February 25th, 2007, 01:13 AM
Sounds a bit like Xwing vs Tie Fighter... the concept sounds like it could be fun until you actually try and play the game.
ScAvenger001
February 25th, 2007, 03:11 AM
I think the concept might well be fun regardless. It's just that it'll be an arcade game, and very definitely not Wing Commander (except for the logo and the ships)
Discobird
February 25th, 2007, 05:20 AM
This doesn't sound like Wing Commander at all =/
StandingCow
February 26th, 2007, 02:42 PM
Looks terrible :(

I enjoyed Tie Fighter a lot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_X-Wing_computer_game_series
proudinfidel117
February 26th, 2007, 07:37 PM
I believe I cried when I saw Rainbow Six...lockdown was it? Whatever the first R6 console port was

I just may cry again

the original Rainbow six...for N64 :D
vecdran
February 26th, 2007, 10:02 PM
My...God...

What have they done to Wing Commander.