Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger

About Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (1994) is Origin's space combat game that turned the series into an interactive movie, with Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell and John Rhys-Davies in over two hours of full-motion video.

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger in Depth

In 2669 the Terran-Kilrathi War has raged for over thirty years. The hero of the first two games is now officially named Colonel Christopher Blair, played by Mark Hamill, and after the Kilrathi Crown Prince Thrakhath executes a group of Confederation prisoners, sparing only Blair's lover Angel Devereaux, Admiral Tolwyn, played by Malcolm McDowell, transfers Blair as Wing Commander to the TCS Victory, an ageing Ranger-class carrier. Old faces such as Hobbes and Maniac, played by Tom Wilson, serve alongside new pilots including Flint, and the arrogant test pilot Flash Dillon arrives with the prototype Excalibur heavy fighter. The Kilrathi soon deploy cloaked "Skipper" missiles and a bioweapon against the Locanda colonies.

Play alternates space combat missions against enemy craft with live-action cut-scenes, advertised with the slogan "Don't watch the game, play the movie!". Medals after missions were dropped in favour of cut-scenes that drive the story, and as commander Blair often chooses his ship, its missiles and his wingmen, some of whom can die permanently. Branching conversations let the player pick Blair's replies, which can change a character's attitude or the morale of the whole crew. The series moved from sprites to software-rendered, texture-mapped polygonal 3D, with a wholly new line of ships; Kilrathi craft became asymmetrical shapes with prongs, barbs and fangs, and the blockier forms suited the primitive polygon graphics of a time before 3D cards.

Making Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger

Chris Roberts' third main Wing Commander was developed and released by Origin Systems in December 1994 for DOS and Mac OS, followed by 3DO in 1995 and PlayStation in 1996. It was another major hit, with the PC versions alone selling over 500,000 copies, and PC Data reported that the US computer version earned $15.9 million by October 1999. Next Generation gave the 3DO version five stars, arguing that the big-name actors made it more realistic and suspenseful and that the video enhanced the play rather than substituting for it.