The Final Word game review

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger -- Origin/Electronic Arts

You play the part of Colonel Blair (acted by Mark Hamill) in this futuristic, multi-storyline, action title. The Kilrathi are at war with humanity and you along the crew of your ship are the last hope for the human race, and your girlfriend who has been captured as a prisoner of war. Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, by Origin is available now for the Sony PlayStation.

????
This awesome spaceship simulator has made its way to the PlayStation. After a long and bitter war the Kilrathi have almost crushed the Confederation. However, the Confederation has an ace up their sleeve, Colonel Blair, played by Mark Hamill. WC3 has a very involving story with a whole cast of interesting characters. The cinemas in this game are excellent. WC3 for the PlayStation has undergone a few minor changes from PC and 3DO counterparts. The game's graphics are very detailed, some people may be annoyed by the lack of a cockpit but it is easy to adjust to. All your instruments are on the screen, its just that there is no cockpit art. The music, voices, and soundeffects are straight from the PC and are very well done. Gameplay is a difficult category because I have not had the opportunity to play it with a joystick. The control pad responds well and all the controls and commands from the PC are easily executed. This version has all of the missions and plot twists that the PC and 3DO versions have. This game will definitely take you awhile to complete and is very fun. Obviously if you have played the PC or 3DO versions through you may want to pass on this one. However if you have not played it and don't have the hardware to run it on your PC, I highly recommend this version over the 3DO version only because the graphics are a little sharper and the loads don't take quite as long. A great game and worth checking out!

Jester
From the moment you boot this game up you know your in for something special. You gaze at your screen and see the unthinkable. Quality FMV, with recognizable, experienced actors (nobody from the marketing department here, well maybe). Unfortunately the FMV is a huge, huge part of the game. It comes on four CDs and you have to assume that the FMV occupies almost three of the discs which makes you wonder if they remembered to include the gameplay that made Wing Commander great before the advent of FMV. I'm happy to report that they indeed did. The flight missions are excellent. The enemy AI is good as is the AI on your wingman. The graphics in the game are excellent throughout and the only real flaw in the game (aside form the fact that there isn't a game pad in existence with enough buttons for this game) is the constant loading the game does in combat. Pausing the game for a few seconds on almost a regular basis. Definitely a must have for the PlayStation.

>>>>> 44.0/50 <<<<<		????	Jester
Graphics		4.5	5.0
Sound		4.5	4.0
Gameplay/Control		4.0	4.5
Longevity/Playability		4.5	4.0
Overall		4.5	4.5
Total		22.0	22.0

(07/96)