Privateer 2: The Darkening

About Privateer 2: The Darkening

Privateer 2: The Darkening (1996) is the Origin-branded space trading sequel in which an amnesiac survivor, played by Clive Owen, becomes a privateer in the Tri-System, with a cast including John Hurt and Christopher Walken.

Privateer 2: The Darkening in Depth

Set in a remote region of the Wing Commander universe, the Tri-System Confederation has nearly three thousand years of history of its own, parallel to that of the Terran Confederation. In the opening, in the year 2790 of the Tri-System calendar, whose months last about 40 days, the cargo ship Canera is attacked as it lands and crashes into Mendra City on the planet Crius. The one survivor, Ser Lev Arris, wakes from cryo-sleep in a fugue state, with no memory of who he is and no record of his existence before two weeks prior to the crash, and must live as a privateer, trading and fighting across the Tri-System while rediscovering his past.

Live-action scenes, scripted by Diane Duane and directed by Steve Hilliker, are discovered as the plot progresses, but players can ignore the story. Next Generation said it "has rejuvenated the genre", praising its graphics, frame rate, flight mechanics, support for most flight sticks and throttles, and upgradeable ships, though it noted glitches and no Windows 95 support. GameSpot's Greg Kasavin found it rushed and a Wing Commander game in name only, but "actually a fairly solid game" for its flight, graphics, plot, acting and length. Arcane's Andy Butcher gave it seven out of ten, calling it one of the better attempts to combine an interactive movie with a real game, but "still not a true 'Elite for the 90s'".

Making Privateer 2: The Darkening

Electronic Arts published it for MS-DOS in 1996 under the Origin Systems brand as the sequel to Wing Commander: Privateer, developed by a team at EA Manchester. David Warner and Jürgen Prochnow, who appeared in it, later played Admiral Tolwyn and Commander Gerald in the Wing Commander film. It was a runner-up for Computer Game Entertainment's 1996 Best Action Game prize, which went to Duke Nukem 3D, and GOG.com released an emulated version for Windows in 2013.