Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
| Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Totally Games |
| Publisher(s) | LucasArts |
| Designer(s) | Lawrence Holland |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | 28 February 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Space simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Aggregate score | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 84% |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Game Revolution |   |
| GameSpot | 8.4/10 |
| IGN | 8.2/10 |
| PC Magazine | |
Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance is the sequel to both Star Wars: TIE Fighter and the multiplayer-focused Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. X-Wing Alliance presents the story of the Azzameen family, a family of space traders. The player assumes the role of Ace Azzameen, the youngest of the Azzameen children, juggling military duty as a fighter pilot for the Rebel Alliance, and allegiance to his family, flying larger heavily armed freighters for the family business, amid a bloody family feud and in the larger context of a galactic civil war.
Apart from the usual badges and medals for winning missions – a feature shared by the other games of the X-Wing computer game series – progress is also indicated by the number of souvenirs collected in Ace's room. There is also a "mail" delivery between missions that helps to evolve Ace's background story while also providing a deeper look into his personal relationships and his family's whereabouts.
XWA is the first game of the series to offer a full voiceover soundtrack and full in-flight dialogue. Flight control is marginally updated from the previous games of the series, allowing the player to link his or her different energy weapons to fire together, as well as the addition of rudder support. Graphics are also overhauled in this game; high resolution textures, more complex models, and full three dimensional cockpits were added. However, the cockpits are not faithful to the other games; indicators and screens are separated from the cockpit, depicted as floating windows as part of the in-flight heads-up display. The player also has three "mission skips" that allow him or her to proceed through the linear storyline without having to complete a particular mission. "Family missions," however, cannot be skipped.
The physics of starflight were made more realistic for this game; turning at speed was slow whereas is the previous games inertia was not present.
The ability to fly multi-crew craft like the Millennium Falcon was a major new feature because the player could freely choose to be the pilot or operate one of the turrets. The AI would take over any position not controlled by the player, but could be given orders by the player. X-Wing Alliance also introduced multi-part missions that involved making hyperjumps from one region to the next; in previous games, any hyperjumps the player experienced were either to start or end the mission. Additionally, players could now enter a starship's hangar bay to rearm and/or receive repairs before rejoining the fight. They could even witness the battle continuing to unfold outside the hangar. Finally, X-Wing Alliance added a much-desired custom mission builder feature. This allowed players to quickly set up a variety of battle scenarios involving almost every vessel in the game, including dozens of fighters and combat transports that had been fought against in the single-player game and were now flyable in this mode.
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