Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance

• Platform: IBM PC Compatible
• Release Date: March 22, 1999
• Genre: Simulation
• Style: Space Combat Sim
• Similar Games: Star Wars: X-Wing (IBM PC Compatible), Wing Commander: Prophecy (IBM PC Compatible), Star Wars: TIE Fighter (IBM PC Compatible), Descent: FreeSpace -- The Great War (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

Putting Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance into the Star Wars timeline, it takes place at the same time as The Empire Strikes Back and continues through Return of the Jedi. You play the part of the youngest son of the Azzameen family, owners of a shipping and storage company. Before beginning, you can name yourself anything, but throughout the game your character will be known as Ace.

The family business faces tough times as many of its competitors are involved in organized crime and include Imperial-backed conglomerates. Your family business is one of honor, but most others run theirs through bribery, corruption, deceit and thievery.

One of the companies backed by the Empire also happens to be your rival, the Viraxo family. While helping your family business survive, you will learn the skills of a fighter pilot. Eventually, Ace will join the Rebel Alliance and take part in the Battle of Endor.

X-Wing Alliance is divided into missions, similar to games such as X-Wing and TIE Fighter. After joining the Rebel Alliance, there are a total of nine ranks to be promoted through as you complete missions. During the game, there are a number of ships that can be piloted other than the X-wing. They include the Y-wing, A-wing, B-wing, Corellian transports and the Millennium Falcon. Multi-player modes provide players with a choice of 28 different craft (including Imperial ships).

Roots & Influences

The vast world of X-Wing stands behind this title. Many titles have led up to Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance including the TIE Fighter games, X-Wing vs TIE Fighter, Rebel Assault and many more.

Review: Overall

Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance is very similar to Star Wars: X-Wing, so if you enjoyed the latter game then you will definitely have fun with the former. The game features quite a few more controls than X-Wing. Since Corellian transports have been added, players can now command gun turrets and use auto-pilot as they pilot their ship against the forces of the Empire. Also, with the addition of a multi-player mode, there are chat functions. Although there are over 100 possible commands, they are simple to learn and many are not needed to complete each mission.

Mission types include things like identifying cargo, picking up an object, covering a fleet or simply destroying the enemy. Most of the missions are challenging and may lead to some frustration, as there are multiple objectives that must be met for many of the missions. For instance, one of the missions requires going to three target areas, the first two of which are extremely simple but take about seven minutes to complete. The third area, however, is difficult and will most likely take players a few tries before getting it right. It becomes a tedious, frustrating chore to spend unnecessary time by repeating the first two objectives.

Other missions that have only one objective at the start may contain additional objectives that appear while you are trying to complete the one about which you already know. All of this adds realism since war situations are unpredictable, but when it takes five hours just to complete one ten-minute mission, you can easily become frustrated. There are three difficulty settings available and if things get too difficult it is possible to skip certain missions. While adding challenge to a game is a great idea, X-Wing Alliance may have benefited by breaking missions up more, especially the training ones.

The overall storyline will pull players directly into the Star Wars universe. Taking part in family matters introduces the main character very nicely and is short enough to have players reach the Rebel Alliance fairly quickly. A large portion of the game is filled with dialogue. Voices are used completely during mission briefings and throughout action sequences. Pilots constantly chatter over the communications systems, making players feel as if they are part of a team.

Visually, X-Wing Alliance is behind the times a bit. Being in space allows for most of the game to be black, which I would have thought could allow the rest of the game to receive greater detail than it does. Nothing looks terrible, but the space stations and starships just don't have the crispness they deserve. Some of the starships from past games, such as Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, don't look as if they have been upgraded.

Multi-player options are designed to handle up to four players during Internet play and up to eight competing on a LAN. It is possible to play with eight players over the Internet, but things may slow down more than normal. Racing missions can be performed in multi-player games, but dogfighting is the preferred mode for multi-player action. Players can break into teams with some flying Rebel ships and others controlling Imperial fighters. Eight players can also all be on the same team and fight computer opponents.

Overall, X-Wing Alliance represents a solid addition to the X-Wing series. Of course, the game will appeal much more to fans of Star Wars, but fans of space combat should also enjoy the game's storyline, control setup and multi-player options.

Review: Enjoyment

Some missions can get frustrating but overall a welcome addition to the Star Wars game universe.

Review: Graphics

Good, but could have been better.

Review: Sound

Music and voices are great.

Review: Replay Value

Multi-player mode should keep you coming back after the game's completion.

Review: Documentation

Organized well and comes with an extremely useful reference card with all of the controls on it.

Production Credits

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