Amazon.com: Privateer 2: The Darkening, Deluxe Edition: Software.

This may be a tad weird, but Privateer 2 is one of my favourite games of all time. (I think it's a little bad out of the box, but applying the fan patch fixes all its shit and makes it wonderful.) I have the 3 disks, and the guides, and the original poster, and have written down all the hex codes and stats of even the non-playable ships, etc. I've played through it so many times. It's a bit of a hobby/obsession of mine.

In general, I just love the dark and gritty feel of the game, and I find it very immersive. Additionally, I adore the dark jagged art style. This is also something that I think WC: Saga does well.​So, I know there are some newer space sims around than Privateer 2. I enjoyed Vega Strike, but it's a bitch to run on machines younger than 2 or 3 years now.

I really loved WC: Saga, but it doesn't offer the freedom of Privateer. I was looking forward to SC, but I'm going to put that mess out of my mind until it's really playable.

Should I be trying X3? Or even something more obscure?​Thank you for putting up with my love of the infamous Privateer 2!:(. Here are my thoughts:The experience closest to Privateer (open world 'sandbox'-like space game with combat) at the moment is going to be Elite Dangerous. The problem with Elite right now is that it's very wide but very shallow.

If you want storylines and strong player impact on the game universe, you won't find it in Elite at the moment. But it's pretty, and very immersive, and if you accept the limitations of what the game offers, it's a lot of fun.Next in line to that will be the X series, of which X4 is the most recent (less than a month post-release). The X series focuses more on the game economy, and you can build fleets and stations and trade networks, and take on other factions. The current pinnacle of the X series is X3: Albion Prelude (and the pinnacle of that game is the Litcube's Universe mod, which is a total conversion that makes X3:AP better and more engaging).

As of right now, X4: Foundations still has a number of bugs that make it seem more like a late Early Access game. However, the devs are killing it right now and the game is already up to version 1.32 and they expect to get up to 2.0 by the end of February.Similar to the X series is the Evochron series, the most recent being Evochron Legacy. (And as with the X series, there is a fantastic mod for Evochron Legacy that makes it look gorgeous.) The Evochron universe is 'quieter' (not as many NPCs out in the black), but it's a solid game. The developer focused his attention on the flight model, so the Evochron flight model is hands down the very best space sim flight model that has ever been created. It's not even a debate.Next to Evochron is Arvoch Alliance, which runs on roughly the same engine but is more of a mission-based space combat game in the style of the main Wing Commander series or Freespace 2. Same flight model as Evochron, so if you want Wing Commander but more sim-style, go with Arvoch Alliance.Freespace 2 with mods is probably the most polished and complete mission-based space combat game out there, as suggests.Finally, there is Everspace. Everspace is a rogue-like space combat game.

Very fluid and arcade-feeling, but still quite fun and deep. It's the farthest thing on my list from Privateer, but I thought I'd mention it because it does at least have a decent backstory and some worldbuilding and storytelling. If you’re on Steam, go to the Evochron Legacy discussions, and look for the thread titled:“new game feel” Mod Download EvoTweaker7.35.Assets Pak w/.bat launcher.It’s actually a collection of mods, installable through a command line menu system (that’s.not as bad as it sounds). Some systems (like mine) have had problems getting the batch file to run, but the mod collector is working on a fix (I’m actually going to be helping him test it). That said, it’s just a mod collection, and each individual mod can be installed separately - including all the visual mods.

The visual mods include a background replacer and a reshade setup. There are also some HUD replacers (one of which is a nice amber color, which reminds me of Elite) and music replacers in there. There’s even a voice mod that adds to the computer voice.You can find EvoTweaker on the web but that Steam discussion thread is where the mod collector is keeping us up to date on the status of the mod. He’ll have a 7.4 version soon, once we’ve beta-tested it. I last played Privateer 2 twenty years ago when I was a kid. It was amazing. Looking at it now.I can’t say I’d ever want to play it again.Elite: Dangerous has a dark kind of coloring and atmosphere, expansive trading, EXCELLENT flight handling.

But it has zero characters, zero people, zero story. It also doesn’t have “unique” planet/cultural environments, like how Privateer 2 Bex was like a beer brewing monastery, or the other weird 90’s sci-fi planet aesthetics and cultures.

Elite doesn’t have that. But for the feeling of flying around from planet to planet, jumping between systems, ship to ship combat in the dark, loading up on cargo, I think it’s the best game there is right now. Oh, Elite also doesn’t have real “missions” with any story or character, it’s just go from point A to point B and shoot somebody, or go from point A to point B and click on a cargo text box menu. But still the feel of flying around is great, landing is great.

Wing Commander: Privateer is an adventure Space trading and combat simulator computer game released by Origin Systems in September 1993. Privateer and its storyline is part of the Wing Commander series. The player takes the role of Grayson Burrows, a 'privateer' who travels through the Gemini Sector, one of many sectors in the Wing Commander universe. Unlike Wing Commander, the player is no longer a navy pilot, but a freelancer who can choose to be a pirate, a merchant, a mercenary or any of the above in some combination. The player may follow the built-in plot but is free to adventure on his own, even after the plot has been completed.

Privateer had two add-ons titled Speech Pack (1993) and Righteous Fire (1994). A sequel was released in 1996, titled Privateer 2: The Darkening. The game was re-released in 2011 with Windows support on GOG.com, with MacOS support added in 2012.

Gameplay[edit]

Basic gameplay consists of flying and fighting with the ship in a star system, jumping from system to system via jump points, landing on bases or planets, interacting with people (mainly talking) and buying or selling equipment or commodities. The Gemini sector is divided into quadrants, each contains several star systems, most of them with planets or bases that may be visited.^[1] Unlike other games in the series, the gameplay is primarily in the sandbox style of play.

When flying, the main view is a first-person-look from inside the cockpit onto the cockpit screens (HUDs) and the space before the ship. Space combat simulation is similar to the style of other Wing Commander games of its time. On planets and bases a static overview / first-person-view is used to show the rooms and interact with people. When buying or selling and taking missions from the mission computer, in-game menus are used.

The Gemini sector is frequented by seven factions: merchants, bounty hunters, retros, pirates, militia, the Terran Confederation and the Kilrathi. Some of them attack the player on sight, some are allies of the player. How the members of the factions react is not only pre-set but depends also on the player's actions.

The player may conduct his own business as a merchant or fight in combat for non-plot missions provided by the above factions. If playing as a merchant, the player must make a profit from price differences of commodities on different planets or stations. Alternatively, the player may choose from randomly generated non-plot missions from a mission computer. Successful completion of missions results in monetary award, which allows better ship weapons and equipment to be purchased.

During the plot, the player meets fixers, often representing one of the factions above, who assign the player missions in their interest in exchange for money or helpful information. The missions usually consist of plain combat, escorting other ships while combating enemies or commodity delivery including smuggling while combating / escaping enemies. The plot itself can only be played straight, one mission after another in a preset line. But between plot missions or even while being on a mission the player can follow his own interests.

Privateer features a pseudo-3D world in plain raster graphics at 320x200 with 256 colors (VGA).^[1]

Plot[edit]

The game begins with a mysterious drone attacking shipping in the system. When Burrows lands on the planet New Detroit, a man hires him and gives him a mysterious artifact. On his return, Burrows finds the man is dead. Burrows seeks information about the artifact, eventually meeting Dr. Monkhouse, a Xenoarchaeologist on Palan.

Monkhouse tells Burrows the artifact was made by an ancient technologically advanced race, the Steltek. The artifact is half of a map; Monkhouse has the rest. Burrows agrees to explore the area in the map.

Burrows locates a powerful weapon on an ancient ship and mounts it on his own. When he leaves, a mysterious drone follows him, destroying everything it encounters. Burrows is asked by the Confederation to lure the drone into an ambush, so it can be destroyed.

Burrows then encounters a Steltek scout, looking for the last traces of his technology. He energizes the ancient weapon in exchange for the location of the ship where Burrows found it. It then remains for Burrows to destroy the dangerous drone.

In the Righteous Fire expansion while Burrows is docked, the Steltek weapon is stolen from his ship. He travels to Oxford, where he meets someone who help him in return for flying missions against the Retros, a homicidal band of religious extremists led by a man named Mordecai Jones. The informant adds that Governor Menesch, who sells weapons and ships to the Retros and pirates, was probably behind the theft of Burrows’ weapon.

A Retro defector tells Burrows the location of the Retros’ headquarters and warns they have made copies of the Steltek gun. Burrows realises he must defeat the Retro leader Jones and destroy all copies of the powerful weapon.

Burrows' name was unknown to the general public for many years. During that period he was known as 'Brownhair', by reference to 'Bluehair', the Wing Commander I and II protagonist later known as Christopher Blair. In the CD-ROM edition which uses full speech, the characters always refer to him as 'Captain' or 'Privateer'; many people assume 'Privateer' is his callsign.^[2]

Expansions[edit]

Two expansion packs were released for Privateer: the Speech Pack (1993), which added digitized speech voice-overs to the entire game; and Righteous Fire (1994), which continues the story and adds other purchasable equipment to the game. Righteous Fire differs from the original Privateer in that there is no way to 'lose' by failing a mission. If the player does not successfully complete a mission, he is offered the chance to try again.

The audio was good, but not great. As for the sound effects, they were nice, but I don't really have any comment on them. Sound/Music gets an 83%.The story was definitely my least favorite part of IoG.

In 1994, a CD-ROM edition was released that included the Righteous Fire expansion and full speech throughout the game, more than what the Speech Pack alone provides. The actor voicing the main character also changes between the Speech Pack and CD-ROM edition of the game.

Sequel[edit]

Another Privateer game, Privateer 2: The Darkening, was released in December 1996, helmed by Erin Roberts, the brother of Chris Roberts. However, The Darkening is not a storyline sequel, but a spin-off. The Darkening is set a century after the original Privateer and in a different region of space. This setting and the storyline of The Darkening is self-contained, never being mentioned in any other Wing Commander game. Privateer 2 uses live action sequences featuring such talents as Clive Owen, Mathilda May, Jürgen Prochnow, John Hurt, David Warner and Christopher Walken. After Electronic Arts shut down Origin, Chris Roberts created the game Freelancer which featured similar art and story to Privateer, but was set in a new universe.

A television series based on Privateer was planned to debut sometime in 1997.^[3]

An unofficial fanremake entitled Wing Commander: Privateer - Gemini Gold was made using the Vega Strike engine and released in 2005.^[4][5]

Reception[edit]

Privateer was very popular, appearing in second place in PC Data's list of best-selling DOS games for September 1993, and first place in Computer Gaming World's 'Playing Lately?' reader survey for November 1993.^[7] The magazine in 1993 liked the game's less-structured storyline with Ultima-like 'real moral choices', but criticized the 'sophomoric' writing. Computer Gaming World recommended the 'deluxe, high-end product' to those with '486 machines sporting fast video cards and vast hard drives'.^[8] A 1994 survey of strategic space games set in the year 2000 and later gave the game three-plus stars out of five, calling it a 'pretty exciting game' but criticizing 'an unusual number of incompatibilities with sound cards and joysticks, even for such a complex product'.^[6] The magazine in May 1994 approved of Righteous Fire's 'fun' storyline—as open-ended as Privateer while adding 'new ship elements'—and its tight continuity with the original game. Despite reporting a 'lack of challenge' for experienced players, the magazine recommended the expansion to 'privateers who just can't get enough of life on the edge of the Wing Commander universe'.^[9]

Privateer was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's Action Game of the Year award in June 1994, losing to Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame. The editors wrote that Privateer 'advanced the graphic look of the series somewhat and introduced a free-wheeling open-endedness for the players who chose not to follow the story line'.^[10]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Origin Classics: Privateer'. 1997-03-30. Archived from the original on 1997-03-30.
2. ^WCPedia Grayson Burrows
3. ^'Origin'. Next Generation. Imagine Media (13): 105–8. January 1996.
4. ^'Privateer Gemini Gold 1.02a Review'. Macworld. January 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
5. ^Largent, Andy (March 7, 2005). 'Wing Commander: Privateer Remake for OS X'. Inside Mac Games. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
6. ^ ^abBrooks, M. Evan (May 1994). 'Never Trust A Gazfluvian Flingschnogger!'. Computer Gaming World. pp. 42–58.
7. ^'What's Hot'. Computer Gaming World. January 1994. p. 240.
8. ^James, Jeff (December 1993). 'Trading Spaces'. Computer Gaming World. pp. 132, 134. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
9. ^Yee, Bernie (May 1994). 'Profits Of Damnation'. Computer Gaming World. p. 26.
10. ^'Announcing The New Premier Awards'. Computer Gaming World. June 1994. pp. 51–58.

External links[edit]

• Wing Commander: Privateer at MobyGames