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Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger

January 30, 2023

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger is the third main game in Chris Roberts' Wing Commander science fiction space combat simulation video game series, developed and released by Origin Systems in December 1994. It was a departure from previous games in the series in that it uses extensive live action full-motion video to add an interactive movie-style presentation to the space combat gameplay, emphasized by its advertising slogan, "Don't watch the game, play the movie!".[1] The game's more than two hours of video featured a number of prominent movie stars including Mark Hamill as Colonel Christopher "Maverick" Blair, Malcolm McDowell as Admiral Tolwyn, John Rhys-Davies as James "Paladin" Taggart and Thrakhath nar Kiranka, and Tom Wilson as Todd "Maniac" Marshall.

Wing Commander III:
Heart of the Tiger
Developer(s)Origin Systems
Publisher(s)Origin Systems
Electronic Arts Studios (PlayStation)
Director(s)Frank Savage (game)
Chris Roberts (cutscenes)
Producer(s)Chris Roberts (game)
Donna Burkons (cutscenes)
Designer(s)Tim Ray
Ben Potter
Jeff J. Shelton
Programmer(s)Frank Savage
Frank Roan
Artist(s)Chris Douglas
Writer(s)Terry Borst
Frank De Palma
Composer(s)George Oldziey
Platform(s)DOS, Classic Mac OS, 3DO, PlayStation
Release
December 1994[citation needed]
  • DOS and Macintosh
    • NA: December 1994
    • EU: 1994
    3DO
    PlayStation
    • NA: March 28, 1996
    • EU: March 1996
    • JP: September 6, 1996
Genre(s)Space combat simulation
Mode(s)Single player

Gameplay

 
Screenshot of typical first person gameplay while piloting a ship.

Wing Commander is a space combat simulator intercut with live action cutscenes. Gameplay involves completing missions and destroying enemy craft. Wing Commander III dispensed with the issuing of medals after such missions and relied more on cutscenes to drive the story along, making much more use of CD technology. As the man giving the orders, Blair often gets to choose what ship he will fly, what missiles it will carry, and what wingman (wingmen) he will take with him. As in Wing Commander, some wingmen can be killed permanently in combat. Blair's own call sign remained customizable.

Plot

See also: Wing Commander (franchise) § Setting and gameplay

The protagonist of the previous two games is officially assigned a name, Colonel Christopher Blair. Thrakhath nar Kiranka, Crown Prince of the hostile Kilrathi Empire, presides over the execution by disintegration of a group of Terran Confederation prisoners of war. One, however, is left alive: Blair's lover Colonel Jeannette "Angel" Devereaux, due to her status among the Kilrathi as a respected warrior. On the planet Vespus, Blair and Brigadier General James "Paladin" Taggart inspect the downed wreckage of the TCS Concordia. The carrier is a total loss.

It is the year 2669, and the Terran-Kilrathi War has been going for over thirty years, with no signs of stopping. Blair, by orders of Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn, is transferred as Wing Commander to the TCS Victory, a Ranger-class carrier twice as old as Blair. Her captain, William Eisen, has been with her for many years, and is proud of his ship. There are a few old faces—Colonel Ralgha nar "Hobbes" Hhallas, and Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall, but all the other pilots and staff are people Blair has never met. Among those on board, Blair meets Lieutenant Robin "Flint" Peters and Chief Fighter Technician Rachel Coriolis.

The Victory is assigned to the Orsini System, away from the front. Shortly after Blair's arrival, test pilot Major Jace "Flash" Dillon arrives on board the Victory with his prototype warcraft, the F-103A Excalibur heavy fighter. When Flash fails to respond to an attack on the Victory, willfully napping through the crisis, Blair commandeers the Excalibur in defense of the Victory and, in an ensuing argument with Flash, accuses him of being a coward and repeatedly insinuates that he has no flying skills. This angers Flash who challenges Blair to a simulator duel. If Blair wins the duel, he forces Dillon to request reassignment to the Victory's flight wing. Immediately afterward the Victory is rerouted to the Locanda System, where the Kilrathi are deploying a potent pair of new weapons: the "Skipper" cruise missile, equipped with a cloaking device, and a genetically-engineered bioweapon for use against the Locanda colonies, the home of Flint. Blair and his wing are scrambled to defend Locanda against several of these missiles. Even if Blair destroys the missiles, Flint breaks formation and attacks the Kilrathi forces in an act of revenge. The player is given the option to follow her, though she returns safely in either case.

Thrakhath appears with a squadron of Pakthan bombers and taunts the Victory over subspace radio, calling Blair "the heart of the tiger"; the Confed pilots gather the Kilrathi have bestowed this name on him as a sign of respect. Admiral Tolwyn rendezvouses with the Victory, escorted by several destroyers. Tolwyn is responsible for the escort and defense of the TCS Behemoth, an extremely large vessel (essentially a titanic particle accelerator with engines) capable of destroying a planet. Following a successful field test of the Behemoth in the Loki system, the Victory jumps to Kilrah and Tolwyn prepares to use the Behemoth on the Kilrathi home world. Thrakhath's forces attack the Behemoth. A traitor aboard the Victory has transmitted targeting data to the Kilrathi revealing the Behemoth's weakpoints, and the Behemoth is destroyed. Thrakhath then challenges Blair in single combat. He taunts Blair with a recording showing how he personally disemboweled Angel after her colleagues were disintegrated. Blair's instinct is to accept, but Lt. Ted "Radio" Rollins warns him that the Victory is leaving the system. When he returns to the Victory, the player chooses between getting drunk or talking to Rachel about his loss. If Blair gets drunk, he must then fly an emergency scramble drunk, with the game controls not responding reliably, making combat virtually impossible.

After a retreat to the Alcor System, Paladin arrives. He reveals that before Angel was captured, she transmitted data indicating that the Kilrathi home world is seismically unstable. Paladin suggests a weapon called the Temblor Bomb which, if dropped in the right place, will cause the planet to shake itself to pieces. Before they can complete the bomb, Hobbes kills one of the Victory's pilots, Lt. Laurel "Cobra" Buckley, steals her fighter and makes for Kilrathi space with news of the planned T-Bomb attack. Blair has the choice of chasing him or letting him go. If he gives chase, he kills Hobbes, the carrier is attacked, and Lt. Mitchell "Vaquero" Lopez is killed in the fight. Either way, afterwards Blair finds Hobbes left a message locker, explaining that he was brainwashed long before he met Blair, and this brainwashing led him to defect to the Confederation. His original personality was reactivated by the code phrase "heart of the tiger", the Kilrathi name for Blair.

Blair has the option to choose to initiate a romance with Flint or Rachel. Flint refuses to fly with him if he chooses Rachel, Rachel refuses to help him with his missile loadouts if he chooses Flint, and both are bitter with him if he chooses neither. Blair launches against Kilrah, with up to three wingmen of the player's choice. This attack comes just as the Kilrathi prepare for a massive and devastating strike against Earth, intending to finally force humanity into submission with the loss of their home planet. After successfully downing Prince Thrakhath above Kilrah (and Hobbes, if he was not killed earlier), Blair descends to the surface and delivers the bomb. The resulting explosion destroys Kilrah and wipes out nearly the entire Kilrathi armada assembled in orbit, but damages Blair's fighter as well; a surviving Kilrathi capital ship tractors him in. Morally devastated by the destruction of their home planet, the Kilrathi, commanded now by Thrakhath's retainer Melek nar Kiranka, surrender to Tolwyn. The surviving Kilrathi begin to colonize a new homeworld and now want to live in peace and harmony with humans while Blair and his romantic interest make plans to start their new lives together.

Cast

Development

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger was developed and released by Origin Systems. Released in 1994 for DOS and Mac OS, in 1995 for 3DO and in 1996 for PlayStation (a Sega Saturn version was also announced[2] and advertised,[3] but it was never released), Wing Commander III made the move from the sprite-based graphics used in previous titles to software-driven texture-mapped polygonal 3D, and used FMV for cutscenes. Wing Commander III featured an entirely new line of ships and fighters, abandoning the technology of Wing Commander and Wing Commander II. Terran Confederation craft were redesigned from "airplanes in space", while Kilrathi craft were totally redesigned into asymmetrical ships with prongs, barbs and fang-like surfaces. The new, blockier forms were made necessary by the then-primitive state of polygon graphics, as WCIII was released a few years before the first true 3D video cards and all 3D effects had to be calculated by the CPU.

Wing Commander III ultimately cost between $4 million and $5 million to develop.[4][5] Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to between $7.3–9.1 million today.

A number of branching ("interactive") conversations allow the player to choose what response his character will give; the choice may affect the other person's attitude towards the character, or even the morale of the entire crew. As such movie content consumes a large amount of data storage, the game was packaged on four CD-ROMs instead of floppy disks, another emerging technology at that point.

A Pentium (then a very high-end processor) was required to get optimum performance out of Wing Commander III. Roberts said, "We're not afraid to lead hardware sales a little, and we believe that Pentium will soon be the standard."[6]

In June 1995, Atari Corporation realized a deal with EA to bring select titles to the Atari Jaguar CD,[7] with Wing Commander III among the selected games.[8][9] This port was never released due to the commercial and critical failure of the Atari Jaguar platform.[citation needed]

A novelization by William R. Forstchen and Andrew Keith was published in 1995. A collectible card game adaptation was published in the same year by Mag Force 7 Productions, under the helm of noted science-fiction authors Margaret Weis and Don Perrin. The sequel, Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom, was released in 1996.

After the end of the official support by Origin the fan community began to provide support for the game themselves. For instance, the community developed several unofficial patches to enhance the compatibility with newer versions of Windows and newer PC hardware.[10][11]

In September 2011, the source code of Wing Commander III was handed to the fan community by a former developer for the purpose of digital long-time preservation.[12]

On September 13, 2011 WC III was re-released on gog.com via digital distribution.[13]

Version differences

A number of major changes were made in porting the game to the 3DO. These include:

  • Difficulty select was removed; the game can only be played at one difficulty, which roughly corresponds to "Veteran" in the PC version.
  • All stages set on planetary surfaces are cut, and replaced with Full Motion Video cutscenes. Staple mission audio clips (e.g. "Attack my target") are used for the dialogue in these scenes.
  • Manual takeoffs are similarly replaced by FMVs. The player starts each mission in open space.
  • The left VDU cannot be made invisible.
  • Several enemy types were removed, including all land-based enemies.
  • A new enemy was added, the gun platform. This enemy is stationary.
  • The ejection animation was cut, as was the option to retry the mission after ejecting.
  • The player must select a ship as a target in order to communicate with it.
  • The bug which prevents the player from accessing the cutscene explaining Hobbes' betrayal in the PC version is absent.
  • There is a new bug in the first Hyperion mission. Unless all enemies in the mission are destroyed, this mission will register as failed, regardless of whether or not the player successfully used the bomb prototype.
  • Only two of the three possible endings of the PC version are accessible. This is because the removal of the planetary sequence makes it impossible to fail the mission in which the Temblor Bomb is planted.
  • The scripted deaths of the pilots in the Temblor Bomb mission were cut. Thus, it is possible to complete the mission with all four wingmen remaining.
  • The cloaking device works on Hobbes and Thrakhath, and thus the Temblor Bomb mission may be completed without fighting either of them.

The PlayStation version is much more similar to the PC version, though like the 3DO version it does not carry the bug which blocks off the Hobbes cutscene. Also, unlike either the PC or 3DO versions, it includes considerable load times when navigating the Victory.

Novelization

While mostly following the plot outlined above, authors Keith and Forstchen made a number of decisions and changes to increase the tension of the novel:

  • Blair's Gold Squadron flies Thunderbolts exclusively before transferring over to the new Excaliburs. Green Squadron runs the Longbows, Red Squadron has Hellcats (misprinted as Arrow Interceptors in the book) and Blue Squadron flies Arrows.
  • Flash arrives, not as a test pilot for the Excalibur, but from the Locanda system as a replacement contributed from a Home Defense squadron. He retains his "hotshot" mindset and rank of major, however.
  • Blair fails to save Locanda.
  • Forstchen-created character Kevin "Lone Wolf" Tolwyn makes an appearance as a courier, preparing the Victory for the admiral's arrival. Lone Wolf, now a major, declines to join Blair's wing only because it would pain his uncle.
  • Thrakhath's declaration that Blair is the "Heart of the Tiger" occurs while the pilots are in their cockpits, scrambling to defend the Behemoth, instead of standing on the Victory's bridge. Flash, flying on Hobbes' wing, is killed in the ensuing fight.
  • Since Hobbes knows about the Temblor bomb project, there is no question of allowing him to escape. Hobbes uses voice recordings to impersonate Buckley, but when Vaquero (Cobra's wingman) hears what has happened, he engages Hobbes, as per Blair's orders, and is killed just as Maverick arrives.
  • Blair chooses Rachel.
  • Flint, Winston "Vagabond" Chang and Maniac, the only living Gold Squadron pilots at this point in the novel, fly with him to Kilrah. Vagabond is shot down on the second leg of the journey (though he survives through unspecified means to return in Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom), Flint is killed in space above Kilrah, and Maniac is shot down in the planet's atmosphere. Maniac would also return in Wing Commander IV.

Reception

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger was another major hit for the Wing Commander series, the PC versions alone selling over 500,000 copies.[25] It sold over 700,000 copies in total.[4] PC Data, which tracked computer game sales in the United States, reported that Wing Commander III's computer version earned $15.9 million and sold roughly 400,000 copies by October 1999.[26]

A critic for Next Generation gave the 3DO version five out of five stars, chiefly praising the usage of big-name actors in the video cutscenes, which he argued makes the game more realistic and suspenseful and gives a sense that the FMV is enhancing gameplay rather than substituting for a lack thereof. While he noted that the 3DO version lacks the graphical sharpness of the PC version and is less challenging, he concluded that it "makes a more than acceptable alternative" for players who cannot afford the expensive hardware required to run the PC version at optimal settings.[19] The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly focused their praise on the high quality of the FMV, which both Al Manuel and Sushi-X said was the cleanest FMV yet seen on either the 3DO or the PC. Ed Semrad and Sushi-X criticized that the control scheme is difficult to master.[15]

Reviewing the PlayStation version, a reviewer for Maximum praised the "intricate" plot but criticized that the combat is simplistic and dull and that the FMV sequences lack any interaction beyond the occasional multiple choice response.[18]

Entertainment Weekly gave the game an A.[27]

Accolades

The editors of PC Gamer US nominated Wing Commander III for their 1994 "Best Action Game" award, although it lost to TIE Fighter.[28] In 1995, the game was awarded the 3DO Interactive Movie of the Year.[29] In 1996, Computer Gaming World ranked it as the 54th best game of all time for its "thrilling space action in the first successful interactive movie",[30] and the ninth most innovative computer game.[31] In 2011, PC Gamer ranked it 72nd on the list of the 100 best PC games of all time.[32]

References

  1. ^ "Advertisement". GamePro. No. 87. IDG. December 1995. pp. 54–55.
  2. ^ "ELECTRONIC ARTS PREVIEWS NEW SEGA SATURN TITLES AT ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO". from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  3. ^ "The Universe keeps expanding". from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  4. ^ a b Coleman, Terry Lee (December 1995). "Is The Price of Freedom Worth $12 Million?". Computer Gaming World. No. 137. pp. 46–7, 50, 52, 54.
  5. ^ Harmon, Amy (7 December 1994). "Redux of Atari Crash of '83? Video Game Machine Sales Are Expected to Be Off 15%". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Landmark Games". Next Generation. Imagine Media (3): 67. March 1995.
  7. ^ "CVG News - Atari's Cat Gets The CD Cream - Big Cat Claws EA Deal". Computer and Video Games. No. 163. Future Publishing. June 1995. p. 13.
  8. ^ François, Tommy; Msika, David (June 1995). "Reportage - E3 - Atari: Le Virtuel, Ça Marche". CD Consoles (in French). No. 8. Pressimage. p. 43. from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  9. ^ Nepožitek, Marek (July 1995). "Konzole - Jaguar+CD - CD a virtuální realita již tento rok?". LeveL (in Czech). No. 6. Naked Dog, s.r.o. p. 44. from the original on 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  10. ^ "Movie Crashing Patch Patched Up to 1.2". wcnews.com. 2011-06-20. from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-11-27. Mash has updated his Kilrathi Saga WC3 movie crashing patch to be even more compatible with modern systems. The program works to prevent a bug that disrupts KS WC3 during movie playback, and it also incorporates various speed fixes.
  11. ^ Komppa, Jari (2011-01-24). "The DirectDraw Hack". sol.gfxile.net. from the original on 2013-12-06. Retrieved 2013-11-27.
  12. ^ "Wing Commander III - The Source Code". wcnews.com. 2011-09-13. from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-01-14. As we celebrate Wing Commander III's first widespread retail availability since the late 1990s, we would like to mention for anyone that we have the game's source code in our offline archive. We know it's frustrating for fans, who could do amazing things with this, to read these updates... but it's also in everyone's best interests to remind EA that we have the raw material from which they could port Wing Commander III to a modern computer or console. Just let us know!
  13. ^ Walker, John (2011-09-13). "Meow! GOG Release Wing Commander III". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  14. ^ Cirulis, Martin E. (February 1995). "A New Star Is Born" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 127. pp. 106–110. (PDF) from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved August 5, 2015. Origin's Wing Commander III Fathers A New Gaming Form
  15. ^ a b "Review Crew: Wing Commander III". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 73. Sendai Publishing. August 1995. p. 40.
  16. ^ . PC Gamer. 2000-02-26. Archived from the original on February 26, 2000. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  17. ^ . Game Informer. 1997-11-20. Archived from the original on November 20, 1997. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  18. ^ a b "Wing Commander III Review". Maximum. No. 5. April 1996. p. 157.
  19. ^ a b "Great". Next Generation. No. 10. Imagine Media. October 1995. p. 114.
  20. ^ LeVitus, Bob (April 1996). . MacUser. Archived from the original on 2001-02-21. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  21. ^ Lisa Karen Savignano. . Allgame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  22. ^ Sackenheim, Shawn. . Allgame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  23. ^ "Wing Commander 3 (3DO) Review". CD Player (in German). January 1996. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  24. ^ "Wing Commander 3 (PC) Review". CD Player (in German). January 1996. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  25. ^ "75 Power Players: Mr. Big Shot". Next Generation. No. 11. Imagine Media. November 1995. p. 53.
  26. ^ Asher, Mark (October 29, 1999). . CNET Gamecenter. Archived from the original on 2000-10-15. Retrieved 2019-01-05.
  27. ^ "Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger". EW.com. Retrieved 2018-11-04.
  28. ^ Staff (March 1995). "The First Annual PC Gamer Awards". PC Gamer. 2 (3): 44, 45, 47, 48, 51.
  29. ^ . Business Wire. December 19, 1995. Archived from the original on February 4, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via The Free Dictionary.
  30. ^ "150 Best Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World. November 1996. pp. 64–80. from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  31. ^ "The 15 Most Innovative Computer Games". Computer Gaming World. November 1996. p. 102. from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  32. ^ "The 100 best PC games of all time". PC Gamer. 2011-02-16. from the original on 2013-09-06. Retrieved 2013-09-02.

External links

  • Original Origin WC3 webpage from 1997
  • Official website EA product page of their re-released digital download version
  • Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger at MobyGames

January 30, 2023
wing, commander, heart, tiger, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jst. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger is the third main game in Chris Roberts Wing Commander science fiction space combat simulation video game series developed and released by Origin Systems in December 1994 It was a departure from previous games in the series in that it uses extensive live action full motion video to add an interactive movie style presentation to the space combat gameplay emphasized by its advertising slogan Don t watch the game play the movie 1 The game s more than two hours of video featured a number of prominent movie stars including Mark Hamill as Colonel Christopher Maverick Blair Malcolm McDowell as Admiral Tolwyn John Rhys Davies as James Paladin Taggart and Thrakhath nar Kiranka and Tom Wilson as Todd Maniac Marshall Wing Commander III Heart of the TigerDeveloper s Origin SystemsPublisher s Origin Systems Electronic Arts Studios PlayStation Director s Frank Savage game Chris Roberts cutscenes Producer s Chris Roberts game Donna Burkons cutscenes Designer s Tim RayBen PotterJeff J SheltonProgrammer s Frank SavageFrank RoanArtist s Chris DouglasWriter s Terry BorstFrank De PalmaComposer s George OldzieyPlatform s DOS Classic Mac OS 3DO PlayStationReleaseDecember 1994 citation needed DOS and MacintoshNA December 1994EU 19943DONA 1995PlayStationNA March 28 1996EU March 1996JP September 6 1996Genre s Space combat simulationMode s Single player Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Plot 3 Cast 4 Development 5 Version differences 6 Novelization 7 Reception 7 1 Accolades 8 References 9 External linksGameplay Edit Screenshot of typical first person gameplay while piloting a ship Wing Commander is a space combat simulator intercut with live action cutscenes Gameplay involves completing missions and destroying enemy craft Wing Commander III dispensed with the issuing of medals after such missions and relied more on cutscenes to drive the story along making much more use of CD technology As the man giving the orders Blair often gets to choose what ship he will fly what missiles it will carry and what wingman wingmen he will take with him As in Wing Commander some wingmen can be killed permanently in combat Blair s own call sign remained customizable Plot EditSee also Wing Commander franchise Setting and gameplay The protagonist of the previous two games is officially assigned a name Colonel Christopher Blair Thrakhath nar Kiranka Crown Prince of the hostile Kilrathi Empire presides over the execution by disintegration of a group of Terran Confederation prisoners of war One however is left alive Blair s lover Colonel Jeannette Angel Devereaux due to her status among the Kilrathi as a respected warrior On the planet Vespus Blair and Brigadier General James Paladin Taggart inspect the downed wreckage of the TCS Concordia The carrier is a total loss It is the year 2669 and the Terran Kilrathi War has been going for over thirty years with no signs of stopping Blair by orders of Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn is transferred as Wing Commander to the TCS Victory a Ranger class carrier twice as old as Blair Her captain William Eisen has been with her for many years and is proud of his ship There are a few old faces Colonel Ralgha nar Hobbes Hhallas and Major Todd Maniac Marshall but all the other pilots and staff are people Blair has never met Among those on board Blair meets Lieutenant Robin Flint Peters and Chief Fighter Technician Rachel Coriolis The Victory is assigned to the Orsini System away from the front Shortly after Blair s arrival test pilot Major Jace Flash Dillon arrives on board the Victory with his prototype warcraft the F 103A Excalibur heavy fighter When Flash fails to respond to an attack on the Victory willfully napping through the crisis Blair commandeers the Excalibur in defense of the Victory and in an ensuing argument with Flash accuses him of being a coward and repeatedly insinuates that he has no flying skills This angers Flash who challenges Blair to a simulator duel If Blair wins the duel he forces Dillon to request reassignment to the Victory s flight wing Immediately afterward the Victory is rerouted to the Locanda System where the Kilrathi are deploying a potent pair of new weapons the Skipper cruise missile equipped with a cloaking device and a genetically engineered bioweapon for use against the Locanda colonies the home of Flint Blair and his wing are scrambled to defend Locanda against several of these missiles Even if Blair destroys the missiles Flint breaks formation and attacks the Kilrathi forces in an act of revenge The player is given the option to follow her though she returns safely in either case Thrakhath appears with a squadron of Pakthan bombers and taunts the Victory over subspace radio calling Blair the heart of the tiger the Confed pilots gather the Kilrathi have bestowed this name on him as a sign of respect Admiral Tolwyn rendezvouses with the Victory escorted by several destroyers Tolwyn is responsible for the escort and defense of the TCS Behemoth an extremely large vessel essentially a titanic particle accelerator with engines capable of destroying a planet Following a successful field test of the Behemoth in the Loki system the Victory jumps to Kilrah and Tolwyn prepares to use the Behemoth on the Kilrathi home world Thrakhath s forces attack the Behemoth A traitor aboard the Victory has transmitted targeting data to the Kilrathi revealing the Behemoth s weakpoints and the Behemoth is destroyed Thrakhath then challenges Blair in single combat He taunts Blair with a recording showing how he personally disemboweled Angel after her colleagues were disintegrated Blair s instinct is to accept but Lt Ted Radio Rollins warns him that the Victory is leaving the system When he returns to the Victory the player chooses between getting drunk or talking to Rachel about his loss If Blair gets drunk he must then fly an emergency scramble drunk with the game controls not responding reliably making combat virtually impossible After a retreat to the Alcor System Paladin arrives He reveals that before Angel was captured she transmitted data indicating that the Kilrathi home world is seismically unstable Paladin suggests a weapon called the Temblor Bomb which if dropped in the right place will cause the planet to shake itself to pieces Before they can complete the bomb Hobbes kills one of the Victory s pilots Lt Laurel Cobra Buckley steals her fighter and makes for Kilrathi space with news of the planned T Bomb attack Blair has the choice of chasing him or letting him go If he gives chase he kills Hobbes the carrier is attacked and Lt Mitchell Vaquero Lopez is killed in the fight Either way afterwards Blair finds Hobbes left a message locker explaining that he was brainwashed long before he met Blair and this brainwashing led him to defect to the Confederation His original personality was reactivated by the code phrase heart of the tiger the Kilrathi name for Blair Blair has the option to choose to initiate a romance with Flint or Rachel Flint refuses to fly with him if he chooses Rachel Rachel refuses to help him with his missile loadouts if he chooses Flint and both are bitter with him if he chooses neither Blair launches against Kilrah with up to three wingmen of the player s choice This attack comes just as the Kilrathi prepare for a massive and devastating strike against Earth intending to finally force humanity into submission with the loss of their home planet After successfully downing Prince Thrakhath above Kilrah and Hobbes if he was not killed earlier Blair descends to the surface and delivers the bomb The resulting explosion destroys Kilrah and wipes out nearly the entire Kilrathi armada assembled in orbit but damages Blair s fighter as well a surviving Kilrathi capital ship tractors him in Morally devastated by the destruction of their home planet the Kilrathi commanded now by Thrakhath s retainer Melek nar Kiranka surrender to Tolwyn The surviving Kilrathi begin to colonize a new homeworld and now want to live in peace and harmony with humans while Blair and his romantic interest make plans to start their new lives together Cast EditMark Hamill as Colonel Christopher Maverick Blair Malcolm McDowell as Admiral Tolwyn John Rhys Davies as Thrakhath Nar Kiranka voice James Paladin Taggart Jason Bernard as Captain William Eisen Tom Wilson as Major Todd Maniac Marshall Ginger Lynn Allen as Rachel Coriolis Jennifer MacDonald as Lieutenant Robin Flint Peters Courtney Gains as Lieutenant Ted Radio Rollins Francois Chau as Lieutenant Winston Vagabond Chang B J Jefferson as Lieutenant Laurel Cobra Buckley Josh Lucas as Major Jace Flash Dillon Julian Reyes as Lieutenant Mitchell Vaquero Lopez Yolanda Jilot as Colonel Jeannette Angel Devereaux Barbara Niven as Barbara Miles Tim Curry as Melek Nar Kiranka voice Alan Mandell as Emperor voice John Schuck as Ralgha Nar Hobbes Hhallas voice Development EditWing Commander III Heart of the Tiger was developed and released by Origin Systems Released in 1994 for DOS and Mac OS in 1995 for 3DO and in 1996 for PlayStation a Sega Saturn version was also announced 2 and advertised 3 but it was never released Wing Commander III made the move from the sprite based graphics used in previous titles to software driven texture mapped polygonal 3D and used FMV for cutscenes Wing Commander III featured an entirely new line of ships and fighters abandoning the technology of Wing Commander and Wing Commander II Terran Confederation craft were redesigned from airplanes in space while Kilrathi craft were totally redesigned into asymmetrical ships with prongs barbs and fang like surfaces The new blockier forms were made necessary by the then primitive state of polygon graphics as WCIII was released a few years before the first true 3D video cards and all 3D effects had to be calculated by the CPU Wing Commander III ultimately cost between 4 million and 5 million to develop 4 5 Adjusted for inflation this is equivalent to between 7 3 9 1 million today A number of branching interactive conversations allow the player to choose what response his character will give the choice may affect the other person s attitude towards the character or even the morale of the entire crew As such movie content consumes a large amount of data storage the game was packaged on four CD ROMs instead of floppy disks another emerging technology at that point A Pentium then a very high end processor was required to get optimum performance out of Wing Commander III Roberts said We re not afraid to lead hardware sales a little and we believe that Pentium will soon be the standard 6 In June 1995 Atari Corporation realized a deal with EA to bring select titles to the Atari Jaguar CD 7 with Wing Commander III among the selected games 8 9 This port was never released due to the commercial and critical failure of the Atari Jaguar platform citation needed A novelization by William R Forstchen and Andrew Keith was published in 1995 A collectible card game adaptation was published in the same year by Mag Force 7 Productions under the helm of noted science fiction authors Margaret Weis and Don Perrin The sequel Wing Commander IV The Price of Freedom was released in 1996 After the end of the official support by Origin the fan community began to provide support for the game themselves For instance the community developed several unofficial patches to enhance the compatibility with newer versions of Windows and newer PC hardware 10 11 In September 2011 the source code of Wing Commander III was handed to the fan community by a former developer for the purpose of digital long time preservation 12 On September 13 2011 WC III was re released on gog com via digital distribution 13 Version differences EditA number of major changes were made in porting the game to the 3DO These include Difficulty select was removed the game can only be played at one difficulty which roughly corresponds to Veteran in the PC version All stages set on planetary surfaces are cut and replaced with Full Motion Video cutscenes Staple mission audio clips e g Attack my target are used for the dialogue in these scenes Manual takeoffs are similarly replaced by FMVs The player starts each mission in open space The left VDU cannot be made invisible Several enemy types were removed including all land based enemies A new enemy was added the gun platform This enemy is stationary The ejection animation was cut as was the option to retry the mission after ejecting The player must select a ship as a target in order to communicate with it The bug which prevents the player from accessing the cutscene explaining Hobbes betrayal in the PC version is absent There is a new bug in the first Hyperion mission Unless all enemies in the mission are destroyed this mission will register as failed regardless of whether or not the player successfully used the bomb prototype Only two of the three possible endings of the PC version are accessible This is because the removal of the planetary sequence makes it impossible to fail the mission in which the Temblor Bomb is planted The scripted deaths of the pilots in the Temblor Bomb mission were cut Thus it is possible to complete the mission with all four wingmen remaining The cloaking device works on Hobbes and Thrakhath and thus the Temblor Bomb mission may be completed without fighting either of them The PlayStation version is much more similar to the PC version though like the 3DO version it does not carry the bug which blocks off the Hobbes cutscene Also unlike either the PC or 3DO versions it includes considerable load times when navigating the Victory Novelization EditWhile mostly following the plot outlined above authors Keith and Forstchen made a number of decisions and changes to increase the tension of the novel Blair s Gold Squadron flies Thunderbolts exclusively before transferring over to the new Excaliburs Green Squadron runs the Longbows Red Squadron has Hellcats misprinted as Arrow Interceptors in the book and Blue Squadron flies Arrows Flash arrives not as a test pilot for the Excalibur but from the Locanda system as a replacement contributed from a Home Defense squadron He retains his hotshot mindset and rank of major however Blair fails to save Locanda Forstchen created character Kevin Lone Wolf Tolwyn makes an appearance as a courier preparing the Victory for the admiral s arrival Lone Wolf now a major declines to join Blair s wing only because it would pain his uncle Thrakhath s declaration that Blair is the Heart of the Tiger occurs while the pilots are in their cockpits scrambling to defend the Behemoth instead of standing on the Victory s bridge Flash flying on Hobbes wing is killed in the ensuing fight Since Hobbes knows about the Temblor bomb project there is no question of allowing him to escape Hobbes uses voice recordings to impersonate Buckley but when Vaquero Cobra s wingman hears what has happened he engages Hobbes as per Blair s orders and is killed just as Maverick arrives Blair chooses Rachel Flint Winston Vagabond Chang and Maniac the only living Gold Squadron pilots at this point in the novel fly with him to Kilrah Vagabond is shot down on the second leg of the journey though he survives through unspecified means to return in Wing Commander IV The Price of Freedom Flint is killed in space above Kilrah and Maniac is shot down in the planet s atmosphere Maniac would also return in Wing Commander IV Reception EditReceptionReview scoresPublicationScoreAllGameMacintosh 21 3DO 22 Computer Gaming WorldPC 14 Electronic Gaming Monthly3DO 7 5 10 15 Game InformerPlayStation 8 5 10 17 Next Generation3DO 19 PC Gamer US PC 96 16 MaximumPlayStation 18 MacUser 20 CD Player3DO 8 10 23 PC 8 10 24 Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger was another major hit for the Wing Commander series the PC versions alone selling over 500 000 copies 25 It sold over 700 000 copies in total 4 PC Data which tracked computer game sales in the United States reported that Wing Commander III s computer version earned 15 9 million and sold roughly 400 000 copies by October 1999 26 A critic for Next Generation gave the 3DO version five out of five stars chiefly praising the usage of big name actors in the video cutscenes which he argued makes the game more realistic and suspenseful and gives a sense that the FMV is enhancing gameplay rather than substituting for a lack thereof While he noted that the 3DO version lacks the graphical sharpness of the PC version and is less challenging he concluded that it makes a more than acceptable alternative for players who cannot afford the expensive hardware required to run the PC version at optimal settings 19 The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly focused their praise on the high quality of the FMV which both Al Manuel and Sushi X said was the cleanest FMV yet seen on either the 3DO or the PC Ed Semrad and Sushi X criticized that the control scheme is difficult to master 15 Reviewing the PlayStation version a reviewer for Maximum praised the intricate plot but criticized that the combat is simplistic and dull and that the FMV sequences lack any interaction beyond the occasional multiple choice response 18 Entertainment Weekly gave the game an A 27 Accolades Edit The editors of PC Gamer US nominated Wing Commander III for their 1994 Best Action Game award although it lost to TIE Fighter 28 In 1995 the game was awarded the 3DO Interactive Movie of the Year 29 In 1996 Computer Gaming World ranked it as the 54th best game of all time for its thrilling space action in the first successful interactive movie 30 and the ninth most innovative computer game 31 In 2011 PC Gamer ranked it 72nd on the list of the 100 best PC games of all time 32 References Edit Advertisement GamePro No 87 IDG December 1995 pp 54 55 ELECTRONIC ARTS PREVIEWS NEW SEGA SATURN TITLES AT ELECTRONIC ENTERTAINMENT EXPO Archived from the original on 2016 03 03 Retrieved 2012 08 18 The Universe keeps expanding Archived from the original on 2012 09 08 Retrieved 2012 08 18 a b Coleman Terry Lee December 1995 Is The Price of Freedom Worth 12 Million Computer Gaming World No 137 pp 46 7 50 52 54 Harmon Amy 7 December 1994 Redux of Atari Crash of 83 Video Game Machine Sales Are Expected to Be Off 15 Los Angeles Times Retrieved 23 February 2021 Landmark Games Next Generation Imagine Media 3 67 March 1995 CVG News Atari s Cat Gets The CD Cream Big Cat Claws EA Deal Computer and Video Games No 163 Future Publishing June 1995 p 13 Francois Tommy Msika David June 1995 Reportage E3 Atari Le Virtuel Ca Marche CD Consoles in French No 8 Pressimage p 43 Archived from the original on 2018 09 17 Retrieved 2018 09 28 Nepozitek Marek July 1995 Konzole Jaguar CD CD a virtualni realita jiz tento rok LeveL in Czech No 6 Naked Dog s r o p 44 Archived from the original on 2018 09 20 Retrieved 2018 09 28 Movie Crashing Patch Patched Up to 1 2 wcnews com 2011 06 20 Archived from the original on 2013 12 02 Retrieved 2013 11 27 Mash has updated his Kilrathi Saga WC3 movie crashing patch to be even more compatible with modern systems The program works to prevent a bug that disrupts KS WC3 during movie playback and it also incorporates various speed fixes Komppa Jari 2011 01 24 The DirectDraw Hack sol gfxile net Archived from the original on 2013 12 06 Retrieved 2013 11 27 Wing Commander III The Source Code wcnews com 2011 09 13 Archived from the original on 2013 12 03 Retrieved 2013 01 14 As we celebrate Wing Commander III s first widespread retail availability since the late 1990s we would like to mention for anyone that we have the game s source code in our offline archive We know it s frustrating for fans who could do amazing things with this to read these updates but it s also in everyone s best interests to remind EA that we have the raw material from which they could port Wing Commander III to a modern computer or console Just let us know Walker John 2011 09 13 Meow GOG Release Wing Commander III Rock Paper Shotgun Archived from the original on 2013 11 13 Retrieved 2013 11 29 Cirulis Martin E February 1995 A New Star Is Born PDF Computer Gaming World No 127 pp 106 110 Archived PDF from the original on 2015 09 23 Retrieved August 5 2015 Origin s Wing Commander III Fathers A New Gaming Form a b Review Crew Wing Commander III Electronic Gaming Monthly No 73 Sendai Publishing August 1995 p 40 PC Gamer Online Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger PC Gamer 2000 02 26 Archived from the original on February 26 2000 Retrieved 2013 09 02 GameInformer com Wing Commander 3 Game Informer 1997 11 20 Archived from the original on November 20 1997 Retrieved 2013 09 02 a b Wing Commander III Review Maximum No 5 April 1996 p 157 a b Great Next Generation No 10 Imagine Media October 1995 p 114 LeVitus Bob April 1996 The Game Room MacUser Archived from the original on 2001 02 21 Retrieved 2019 01 05 Lisa Karen Savignano Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger Macintosh Review Allgame Archived from the original on November 14 2014 Retrieved April 7 2022 Sackenheim Shawn Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger 3DO Review Allgame Archived from the original on November 15 2014 Retrieved April 7 2022 Wing Commander 3 3DO Review CD Player in German January 1996 Retrieved April 12 2022 Wing Commander 3 PC Review CD Player in German January 1996 Retrieved April 12 2022 75 Power Players Mr Big Shot Next Generation No 11 Imagine Media November 1995 p 53 Asher Mark October 29 1999 Game Spin Crunching Numbers CNET Gamecenter Archived from the original on 2000 10 15 Retrieved 2019 01 05 Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger EW com Retrieved 2018 11 04 Staff March 1995 The First Annual PC Gamer Awards PC Gamer 2 3 44 45 47 48 51 And The Winner Is 3DO Awards Honor Best of the Best for 1995 Electronic Arts Road Ripping Need for Speed Named Game of the Year Business Wire December 19 1995 Archived from the original on February 4 2014 Retrieved August 13 2021 via The Free Dictionary 150 Best Games of All Time Computer Gaming World November 1996 pp 64 80 Archived from the original on 2016 04 08 Retrieved 25 March 2016 The 15 Most Innovative Computer Games Computer Gaming World November 1996 p 102 Archived from the original on 2016 04 08 Retrieved 25 March 2016 The 100 best PC games of all time PC Gamer 2011 02 16 Archived from the original on 2013 09 06 Retrieved 2013 09 02 External links EditOfficial website Original Origin WC3 webpage from 1997 Official website EA product page of their re released digital download version Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger at MobyGames Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wing Commander III Heart of the Tiger amp oldid 1134766454, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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