Star Wars: X-Wing | |
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Developer(s) | LucasArts |
Publisher(s) | LucasArts, Disney Interactive Studios (since 2012) |
Designer(s) |
Lawrence Holland Edward Kilham |
Platform(s) | DOS, Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, Linux |
Release date(s) | February 1993 |
Genre(s) | Space simulation |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Star Wars: X-Wing is a space simulation video game, the first of the X-Wing combat flight simulator game series. The player's character flies starfighters, including the eponymous X-wing, for the Rebel Alliance as part of a narrative that precedes and parallels the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
Designed by Lawrence Holland and Edward Kilham's Totally Games for LucasArts, X-Wing was one of the first games to use 3D polygon graphics for spaceships and the first non-adventure game to use the iMUSE music system. The game was updated and re-released several times, and was followed by three sequels. X-Wing was a best-seller and received critical acclaim.
Players assume the role of a Rebel pilot fighting the Galactic Empire before and during the climactic battle of the first Star Wars film. The story consists of three tours of duty of 12 to 14 operations each; although the tours can be played out of order, operations within each tour are played linearly. Briefings, cutscenes, and in-flight messages advance the plot. Additionally, a limited edition of the game came packaged with a 96-page novella, The Farlander Papers by Rusel DeMaria, that provides story information. The novella, later made part of Prima Publishing's strategy guide, presents a pilot name Keyan Farlander as the player's character for most of the operations.
Progress through the game depends on fulfilling each operation's primary objectives; if the player fails an operation, he or she can attempt it again. The initial game's storyline concludes with the player flying as Luke Skywalker in his attack against the Death Star. Two expansion packs extend the story beyond the events in A New Hope, up to the establishment of the Rebel base depicted at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back.