Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom Retrospective/Review

[@nafnist]

"The price of freedom, is eternal vigilance" As a kid, I had to look up the meaning 😁

[@Enkijamenk]

I still have vivid memories of having a full-blown anxiety attack (seriously) at having to choose between Confed and Eisen (I had played all of the WC games as they had come out up to that point, so, I had a lot of loyalty to the Confederation as a setting, and also to Eisen from his presence in WC3). I did make the right choice, and went with Eisen, but damn if that didn't screw with my 15-year-old head. Then Vagabond's death floored me (damn you for being so charming, François Chau). Later, Eisen and the TCS Mount St. Helens showing up and charging at the TCS Vesuvius made me cheer like I was watching the Super Bowl. Even Tolwyn's suicide at the end disturbed me. As much as he was a stiffass throughout WC2 and WC3, he was OUR stiffass, and seemed to have finally warmed up to Blair in WC4. His heel-turn and death are handled really, really well. And damn if Malcolm McDowell doesn't just act the hell out of every project he's in: whether it's a cultural phenomenon like "A Clockwork Orange," or utter tripe like "Tank Girl," the man is a consummate professional, no matter what. As much as the story of Final Fantasy VI (then III) had affected me the year before, I think this was the first game that made me really feel things the way a movie or a book could. For the first time, I could really see how games were going to become another full-fledged form of art and storytelling in short-order. Fun fact: those superfluous wingmen are there to A, make the ship feel bigger (it was always a bit odd that it's just you and your eight-or-so friends in the fighter wings of all the previous games), and B, to hint at things going on in the background. If you pay attention, on the TCS Lexington, certain pilots start just.... Disappearing. Some of them in very-nefarious circumstances, but a few just go AWOL and vanish. Then new pilots start showing up, especially after Paulson arrives, with weirdly-aggressive handles like "Scar" and "Slash," and very dead-eyed headshots to go with them. If you side with Confed and stay on the Lexington longer, it just gets worse, with more-and-more of the original pilot slate disappearing, and more-and-more scary-looking new faces. Meanwhile, once you defect, you'll run into some of the pilots that went AWOL from the Lexington: in the flight wing of the BWS Intrepid. That's some awesome background world building, right there.

[@RobotsEverywhereVideos]

me too! Also on doing Panther or Hawk's missions

[@kevinbarbour2771]

If you read the books from earlier in the Kilrathi War, there is one that features Tolwyn's bold move that saves Earth. After reading that his heel turn in Price of Freedom hits even harder.

[@subraxas]

It makes me chuckle a bit when you refer to the IP as "WC", because in many countries around the world the acronym is used to universally mark 'toilet rooms'. 😀 It stands for either "wash-down closet" or "water closet". So you like to play 'toilet games', huh? 😀 😛

[@silenceburns1336]

I played all of the Wing Commander games with my dad as they released. Personal favorites are the 4 fmv games. 3, 4, Prophecy, and the always forgotten about Privateer 2.

[@gozh2002]

yeah. really loved wing command IV and privateer 2..

[@bensneb360]

Mark Hamill & Malcolm McDowell, two very underrated and always awesome actors

[@leonkernan]

Not to mention others like John Spencer, before he went on to The West Wing.

[@tpyntavyk5552]

Ah yes, Mark Hamill not being widely known for portrayting a pop culture icon character or voicing one of the most well known super hero villains... Yes, he is very underrated.

[@UniversalChallenge4454]

His joker is a standard

[@-MrFozzy-]

They are both very well regarded actors. They aren’t underrated at all

[@kericmason]

I remember replaying this so we could see the "bad guy" ending, after playing through as a hero.

[@TwoWholeWorms]

I did the same thing with _Mass Effect,_ but WC4 hit harder, for some reason o.o

[@Robocopnik]

8:39 - Look at that lighting! It's like whoever lit this scene thought "y'know, not a lot of people get a chance to light a shot with TWO fantastic actors of this caliber, gotta make the most of the opportunity".

[@Matts_Presentations]

I'm kind of blown away with the actors they were able to get. I kind of miss these games, where it felt like you were playing a movie. Of course, Starfleet Academy was a personal favorite.

[@pilotamurorei]

since you probably havent played wing commander II, you dont realize how deep the relationship between blair and tolwynn really is, and by not playing the first WC game, you didnt even know that Blair and Maniac were on the tigers claw for their very first missions right out of the academy. the fact that blair and maniac were together for large parts of the careers (post-tigers claw destruction and blair demotion and transfer to a space station not withstanding) makes you really want to have maniac out there with you through 4, more than catscratch or vagabond tbh. Vagabond WAS a great character though.

[@chrislea1000]

I have strong memories of playing this BUT the original Wing Commander on the Amiga is still the best game in my view

[@TheBeird]

Never played these games but I have a vivid memory of watching a making of back in the day, and specifically a dialogue between Hamil and some villain. "You're gonna wish you never met me!" "I already do" Funny thing memory. These reviews make me wanna look up some playthroughs sometime

[@theonfink6145]

I remember this moment, you should try the games some time!

[@meh27143]

I played this game countless times as a teenager and unfortunately never got good enough to beat the game without cheating. A few years ago tried to play again during some work downtime... and I realized I can barely finish the first missions without pulling my hair out. Made me once again realize that I'm now a middle aged man.

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

Indeed!! And,the pcs are much,MUCH faster now.

[@robwalsh9843]

This was a memorable gaming experience. The plot twists, the tough choices and the feeling of despair at the prospect of a human civil war after fighting the Kilrathi for so long actually affected me. And although Rowan wasn't crazy about the Dragon, I think its one of the best stealth fighters in sci fi. I'd be interested to see Rowan's take on Wing Commander: Prophecy. Although it has some strengths compared to its predecessors, Descent: Freespace gave it a run for its money as far as space combat goes.

[@Legather]

I think I commented something similar over on the other channel but for me Star Trek Klingon Academy holds first place for FMV Space Sim. Special mention for 2nd place space sim Tachyon the Fringe with lead vo by Bruce Campbell.

[@lightspeedbear]

Could you do a video on the sequel/spin-off, Wing Commander Prophecy next please?

[@libman2006]

A copy of this was included with Creative Labs Encore DXR2 DVD hardware card and DVD-ROM drive bundle with the video remastered to DVD quality. I remember playing this and being blown away at home much better the video looked, nothing compared to today obviously but before this it was postage stamp size video blown up to full screen that we were used to.

[@paulpizzlewizzle]

Played this on my dads ibm for 1000s of hours!

[@VoodooV1]

Even if you save Catscratch, he doesn't appear in any further cutscenes, so it's pretty obvious which choice you're supposed to make.

[@wcfan4644]

The explanation in the game is that he was punished and could no longer participate in the missions. And in Wing Commander Arena game he retired as a Major General many years later (appears in the manual).

[@jamesabernethy7896]

Although I have obviously heard of these games I have never played them, i have really enjoyed this series so far. These videos play to your strengths as a content creator because of the narrative structure of the games. I'm not saying that games with traditional animation style can't convey a great narrative, live action like this really is a nice touch and adds depth. Although neither game uses cutscenes on this scale, my first experience with cutscenes like that would have been AVP or C&C. I've watched small 'making of' documentaries on both series. It was interesting how experimental and AVP clips were. They had a lot of fun doing them because they were so basic, so slap-dash but when they were displayed in-game on a monitor within the game environment.

[@scottlewis4906]

Thanks for this. I saved the discs for this game so I could go back and replay it if I wanted. However, in 2010 I took the discs to Star Wars Celebration VI, and got Mark Hamill to sign them. I still have them (of course), but no way to play them.

[@Martin2112]

Played this and WCIII before ever seeing Star Wars as a kid, Hamill will always be Blair rather than Skywalker in my head cannon!

[@karlmueller1980]

I’ve seen and know that there was a PlayStation one version of Wing Commander 4 I’ve never played it or owned it, but I want to own it one of these days.

[@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan]

In several ways the better version

[@darrengaroutte7744]

I'd be curious to see what you think of the Wing Commander movie (1999) after playing the games it was based on. I remember liking the design of the fighters and I liked that in the capital ship combat, they had to drop shields to fire a volley, something that isn't seen in a lot of popular sci-fi.

[@actionvestadventure]

That one is a guilty pleasure. It's bad... but yet i still enjoy it. Freddie was miscast as Blair though...

[@jasonblalock4429]

The movie was such a disappointment, especially given how generally good the direction in WC4 was. From what I understand, there was a ton of studio meddling, and Roberts was given an incredibly short post-production period too. I have to imagine if he'd had more creative freedom, he probably would have turned in a decent flick.

[@captainyossarian388]

The soundtrack by David Arnold was incredible. I recommend looking up the Royal Marines performing the Wing Commander movie theme on here. It's awesome.

[@jasonblalock4429]

@@captainyossarian388 Arnold only wrote the main theme. (Which yes, is awesome.) The bulk of the score was done by Kevin Kiner, who's probably best known for scoring a lot of the Star Wars animated series, including Clone Wars and Rebels.

[@Machinu5]

I remember being so disappointed seeing that movie after playing this game. Too bad too. That could have been a franchise if it had been anywhere near as good as the game.

[@baahcusegamer4530]

This was a favorite of mine in college back in the 90s. The book makes for a markedly more mature take on the story while keeping the main plot points. Maniac, for example, is completely badass in the novel to the point he could have easily taken over as MC if the author had chosen. Thanks again for the memories!

[@Covenant-R]

Looking up to my left, I still have the boxed version of Wing Commander III and IV sitting on a shelf in my workroom since they came out many years ago. Love to see these retrospectives and remember playing them.

[@PetersonZF]

This is my favourite game of all time. :D

[@Yonatan_Max]

Warren Keffer we meet again, lol

[@nickmitsialis]

The Shadows will deal with him soon enough.

[@Tapperje16]

I do need to thank you for making these video's love the content, not too long, not too short, great work man!

[@deadeyedmillennialmedia]

I am sick with envy that you got to experience this for a first time. This has my favorite actors doing space camp with a battle system that is addictive. RIPE for a reboot of some kind.

[@RunesLegacy]

Squadron 42?

[@MasterSawdust]

Please do a review on the film, it's a great one too! i feel it was a good stand out film that had real potential

[@imdoobie80]

These games are so fun. I absolutely loved Wing Commander 3 more than 4, but I still really enjoyed both. The Dragon was my favorite fighter too.

[@hobogenesis]

I will die on the hill that this is one of the best sci-fi movies of the 90s.

[@FeeriiEekii]

I love this game, played it often back in the day, I wouldn't mind a remastered version 😊(I had no technical/quality problems way back when)

[@Snowsea-gs4wu]

At 1:19 “The crackly sound” was probably not there when playing with the same era hardware. You are experiencing that way because of modern hardware plus emulation, thanks for the video!

[@DrNoxin]

I remember playing this on the PS1. Amazing game for the time. And I was so surprised seeing the rebels I spared ealier in the game coming to my aid in the final battle.

[@richardcolvin8814]

I’m pretty sure I found three possible endings for Blair.. 4 if you count him failing the debate. The endings were dependent on what missions you chose and when you defected.. I think.

[@Icarusabove]

I think there’s 5-6 endings. 1) Failing missions before the defection. You go to Tolwyn’s office and basically fired. 2) ejecting on a story critical mission after defection you get captured and executed as a defector 3) Black Lance Admiral. I think it had to do with siding with Hawk vs Panther. Picking the aggressive choices like attacking the station instead of running etc. 4) Flight instructor. Choosing to go to the system where you collect fighters that Panther suggests, etc. Maybe more? I read somewhere that the Panther vs Hawk choices made the ending choices but it could be connected to defection timing, feeding the guy at the bar etc.

[@ThiloAdamitz]

I played this game in God-mode. I just wanted to see how the story unfolds.

[@Machinu5]

Thanks Rowan for another great one! I loved loved loved this game as a kid.

[@philliphocker6036]

Could you do one on Wing commander Privateer

[@nanoshed]

Those extra pilots that don't otherwise feature in the game are, I think, all people on the development team. I know George Oldziey/Blade (music composer) was a favourite wingman of mine because he was a childhood hero of mine at the time...and still is! He helped me learn to play the keyboard by dissecting extracted MIDI files from WC3! 😁 I still listen to these soundtracks even now. His work on WC3/4 is incredible and has such a unique voice with such varied influences. Like a psychedelic Wagner!!! 😁

[@OPMDK]

Say what you will but the writing here is still better than any marvel movie! 😊

[@maktheturd6220]

The ending, there 3 of them. 1 you get killed since you can't persuade the court. 2nd one you end up like the narrator said where he end up as a teacher. 3rd, if you do some bad choice during game, you end up as an admiral in the ending. I love this game. Is there Wing Commander 5?

[@TETRINO]

Shame it's not in your usual perview as I'd love your opinion on the first Colony Wars game. An utter classic.

[@fredlandry6170]

I had this game years ago on PS 1.

[@radfordra]

My first and only one of these was prophecy, I miss it

[@iddan1205]

I played 3, but never got to play 4. I feel bad never experiencing this as a child.

[@TwoWholeWorms]

Aww, does this mean Side Adventure (neé Quest) didn't work out? Glad you've re-uploaded the videos here, tho!

[@captainyossarian388]

Loved the soundtrack by George O, who also did WC3. IMHO he should've become as famous as James Horner or David Arnold.

[@Zirbip]

I'm still waiting for Wing Commander V

[@josephraffurty9293]

Interested in doing a retrospective of Star Trek Starfleet Academy and Klingon Academy games? Or maybe the Star Wars Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games?

[@TwoWholeWorms]

One of those things you only realise on seeing something like this: That's Leo McGarry from _The West Wing._ O.o

[@Kasey_Barkle]

This is my early adolescence right here

[@shmee123ful]

I wonder if you'd ever consider dping a retrospective of the comand and conquer games both red alert and the Tiberian series touch on sf themes. Though red alert quickly becomes a parody after RA 1

[@wulfbak]

I loved this game, though a few downsides. Why would Tolwyn reactivate Blair, knowning that he's knows nothing about the Black Lance? Then, assign him to a key Black Lance ship and proceed to do things that would make Blair, being a good guy, more likely to go rogue? Wouldn't he at least try to indoctrinate Blair first? It felt a bit jarring to have Blair shooting down Confed pilots, who just a day ago would be his allies. I felt there should've been more plot buildup to that. For all Blair knew, they were not all villains. Perhaps some of them were assigned to the Lexington and not "true believers" or whatever. This definitely had the best plot of all the Wing Commanders. It could've been a good movie in its own right. It makes the 1999 Wing Commander movie, directed by Chris Roberts, all the more baffling. We knew Chris Roberts could forge a compelling story and get good performances out of actors. Why was the official theatrical release so terrible? As a game, I did prefer Wing Commander 3 to 4, however. Yes, Wing Commander 3's plot totally rips off A New Hope at the end (what do you expect with Luke Skywalker at the helm!), but I just felt you got so much more gameplay in 3. I remember 4 took me only around a day to finish, whereas I was playing 3 for much longer. I really wish that the next game, Prophesy, had not brought Mark Hamill back to reprise his role as Christopher Blair. Blair had a well-earned retirement at the end of 4. Let him be happy. But no, they had to bring him back into a role that Hamill clearly phoned in, and worse, left Blair to an uncertain fate at the end of the game. Worse still, there would be no future Wing Commander games in the series. So, for those with a vested interest in the story, it's best to consider Wing Commander Prophesy to be non-canon.

[@ryanmcmahon3555]

Have you played Descent: Freespace? I'd love to see you do a review on it it's one of my fav games.

[@estoguy]

Will you be doing one for WC Prophecy as well?

[@kaiser7525]

There was a wing commander motion picture in 2000 but it bombed pretty bad and I think was what helped kill the whole franchise, personally I would love for it to come back and imagine the huge pvp space battles they could have online , piloting star fighters, capital ships or manning turrets.

[@joeldayrit101]

If you choose the Flash Pack to destroy the Vesuvius, Blair ends up as an Admiral and not a flight instructor.

[@michaelgillman2505]

It has to be more than that as I remember using the FP on the Vesuvius and still getting the instructor ending. My feeling is that the choice of endings has more to do with your choices during your time in charge of the Intrepid. If you go more with Hawk - the big picture military strategy, you end up as an Admiral. If you go by the more 'try to save everyone and keep your morals as intact as you can' you get to be a smaller player - an instructor.

[@jasonkitching7161]

Primate was my favorite wingman

[@HalFischer]

Well, after Wing Commander 3 and 4, the next logical step would be to ignore WC 5 and go directly to 'Descent (or Conflict in Europe) Freespace 1 & 2. If you liked WC 3 and really enjoyed WC 4 - Freespace is going to be a blast...

[@CantankerousDave]

re: the blocky video quality. You're young, so you didn't live through the first days of CD-ROM video and the accompanying compressed-to-hell audio. Getting full motion video onto/off of a CD was a minor miracle at the time. Cinepak was as good as you could expect. And forget mpeg1, most CPUs weren't powerful to handle decoding it. Yes, you needed a hardware decoder add-in board for mpeg1. And later, for mpeg2 (the Creative Labs DXR2, I still have mine in a retro gaming build). We made do with extra chunky 320x240 video, and we liked it.

[@StuartKerrigan]

If you backed Hawk's choices more than Panther's you get a far less optimistic ending than the instructor ending. Blair becomes Tolwyn's successor.

[@jamesrepass442]

Hope you get to Freespace and Freespace 2 at some point

[@eqquilibrium]

Don't suppose you could one for Wing Commander Prohecy? Please???? xD

[@mrnobody2683]

Now all thats left is prophecy

[@solidbeard8324]

One thing that I disliked about this one is how difficult it was. I remember a couple of missions that were hard even on medium difficulty. I hope the fan made remake rebalanced the difficulty to be more enjoyable with a fair challenge.

[@michaelgj23]

Have you ever played the home world series?

[@Shadowdrag00n]

You should try Freespace and Freespace 2

[@chichiboypumpi]

Odd that Storytelling like is a rarity nowadays when graphics tech had advanced since.

[@jpasan]

You have a possible different ending, based on some of your choices. Time for another playthrough

[@BlackPawGaming]

very very good game...

[@skystalker9776]

10:47 It should be noted that there are multiple endings. If you do more morally questionable things, you can get this cutscene instead: kzbin.info/www/bejne/apnNk2ufa52DmKs Another alt ending is that you overstep so much that Paladin will refuse to hear you on the assembly. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zpi0ipyfYqiEgqc

[@kcottone]

I LOVED this game. It's such a shame that the entire space shooter genre died shortly after this. I guess the world wanted 48 versions of Call of Duty instead. People are morons.

[@chichiboypumpi]

What if they keep the cinematics, enhancing it, and redo the gameplay graphics for the current gen, no darn remake.

[@crasor5780]

You should do the X-Files FMV game!!

[@MrAndersonDuane]

Wing Commander Prophecy next?

[@ethosflux]

You missed there's a darker "evil"ending if you make only the "bigger picture" type choices and disregard human lives.

[@William-the-Guy]

I loved the real star wars, hated seeing Luke Skywalker turned into a bitter pathetic loser in the Disney Star Wars, but I never played Wing Commander. Now I am wondering if I actually missed mark Hamill's best work.

[@nickmitsialis]

See the demoralized demobilized pilots at the end of the war with the "Kats"...it din't make sense to me. The Kilrathi 'gassed, glassed' and otherwise massacred a huge portion of the Terran populated planets and colonies. It should have been like the USSR after WW2: all hands on deck to repair the damage, even if meant 'demobbed' pilots and conscripted civvies were used as labor with only "3 hots and a cot" for their reward.

[@DuneRunnerEnterprises]

You missing the point. It's not a USSR,but a capitalist society.

[@nickmitsialis]

@@DuneRunnerEnterprises The closest analogue would be postwar Britain: lotsa shortages and rationing but lotsa wreckage to clean up==I just think Confed had it as bad as the USSR but it's still Britain style of government.

[@beepboop204]

[@ThirdCydonian]

The novelization of WC3 is better than how it’s told in the game, in my opinion.

[@wcfan4644]

Yes, that's true as far as I remember. The narrative, characterization, and even so many lines in the novel version are much stronger than the game script. However, the limitations of the story framework caused the novel to remain difficult to excel.

[@SlammDunkProductions]

and now we have STAR CITIZEN....

[@salnlevi58]

Fans are remastering this game , just google wing commander 4 remaster. Last i checked they thought they would be finished by 2026

[@TVforyourCats]

So an older game plays like an older game…stunning observations as usual. I think criticizing old game design is shooting fish in a barrel and doesn’t make for an interesting or fresh take.

[@CathrineMacNiel]

... is eternal vigilance.

[@RonHarrisMe]

This of must of been a niche game. While I remember the name, I just can't place it. So I had no point of reference. I still enjoyed the video, as always. RJC always puts in 100%.

[@TVforyourCats]

This was a huge and well known series.

[@krzysztofpaweczyk1515]

And again. I will just paste this comment from WC3 here. Great video. I really liked what and how you were talking about this gem of a game. Too bad you ruined it by stretching the view to 16:9. Every circle in HUD is now an oval. Why did you do that? Why did you butcher the original art of the game, destroy the craft that people put into creating these graphics? Just why? You didn't want to have 'ugly black bars' at the sides of your video? So therefore, instead of preserving the original look of the game you opt to destroy the original art of the creators? I just don't get it. Especially that in the beginning of this video you showed us footage from behind the scenes. In glorious original 4:3. And yet you couldn't help yourself and just have to destroy the game footage.

[@jeffsmith4835]

Would have been a better movie than that silly one they made lol

[@Josep_Hernandez_Lujan]

and then Prophecy killed the franchise :(

[@wcfan4644]

It was not a problem of Prophecy. While that game did have some story problems (3 and 4 also came with story problems) and was overall low-budget, it is after all a modern 3D game. It supports Voodoo! The point is that 3D cosmic flight simulation games quickly faded out of mainstream during that era. With that in mind, the quality of the game itself had to be particularly strong, otherwise it could easily be abandoned by the market.