What is Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom?

The year is 2673, four years after the Treaty of Torgo and the end of the Kilrathi War. As hostilities died out, more trivial concerns like rebuilding what was lost or dealing with space piracy, became the biggest concerns of the Terran Confederation. Even Christopher "Maverick" Blair, the famous Confed pilot responsible for ending the war, settled down and became a farmer. In these times of peace, humans grew fat and complacent. All good things must end, though. Soon enough, heinous incidents erupted on the outskirts of the Confederation, and humanity was forced to the brink of civil war. Confed HQ needed the best and decided to recall Colonel Blair to active duty. This is where you come in.Wing Commander^™ 4 is one of the greatest space sims of all time, and some even consider it the greatest one of all. It is one of those games that did everything right. This is one of the few games that actually successfully manages to integrate a lot of FMV into the action, mostly because it uses trained film actors and directors. The combat is straightforward, fluid, and entertaining. The characters are as believable and memorable as they come. The orchestrated music -- just perfect. Finally, its enthralling story is both deep and plausible -- a combination that is often lost in modern games. There is simply no reason not to play this game and, once you do start playing, you will find it hard to think of a reason why you should stop. 

• Arguably the best installment of the Wing Commander^™ series and one of the best space sims of all time.
• Enthralling and believable story, accompanied by great gameplay and fantastic orchestrated music.
• Hours of masterfully directed full-motion video with actors such as Mark Hamill and Malcolm McDowell.

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In Wing Commander IV you — as your on-screen persona of Christopher Blair — spend a good deal of time out of the cockpit. After single-handedly winning the last war for the Confederation, you (Blair) are called into duty again to deal with a new and ambiguous threat. Some of your old comrades are back, as is your nemesis, Admiral Tolwyn (Malcom McDowell) . However, “all is not as it seems,” and your clear-headedness and loyalties are tested to the limit. Full-motion scenes are more than gimmicks to pad out the game; at crucial points you have to decide what to say, and depending upon your choice of words, the story takes on a new tack. The production values are darn good, and the actors come off much better against the real sets than against Wing Commander III’s blue-screened ones. For over $10 million in production costs, they should.

There are gaps in the plot, however, and things do eventually boil down to getting back into the cockpit and shootin’ down bogies. Gameplay is an evolution of Wing Commander III’s, so followers of Blair’s career should be comfortable right away. Refinements have been made to the flight engine: there’s a better heads-up display; the ships’ graphic detail is smoother; and the land missions no longer take place on uniformly white surfaces. This is not real spaceflight, however — not even close. Ships bank, slow when not under power, and scream by at close range. Oh well, it’s consistent, and the real thing would likely be slow and frustrating. The Dolby Surround Sound is incredible, and I found myself leaning as I turned my ship, and flinching at a missile hit.

With six CDs and a several game tracks, the game provides decent replayability, despite missions becoming uncomfortably similar, and a little wearisome, after say, six hours of play. Still, it’s great to blast a hole in the ether and zoom through the stars.

Turner, D. D. (October 1996). Wing Commander IV. MacAddict. (pg. 55).

Download Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom for Mac

Architecture

68K + PPC (FAT)

System Requirements

From Mac OS 7.1

Compatibility notes

Minimum Requirements

• PowerPC processor
• 8 MB RAM available
• 46 MB hard disk available
• 2X CD-ROM drive
• System 7.1

Emulating this? It could probably run under: SheepShaver