Not so long ago, in a video game store not far, far away…
one could purchase a genre of game that in recent years has gone extinct. That genre was the games of flight
simulation, specifically space combat games.
No, they weren’t very realistic, there was sound in space for instance,
and they certainly weren’t designed by NASA, however, they were challenging,
and most importantly, fun.
This genre created games such as
Descent, or the Wing Commander Series, and it’s still out there today. It’s in the dark recesses of the gaming
world, in the corner of people’s eyes.
It used to be in front of your face, you couldn’t enter a gaming store
and not think about this genre. Space
combat games need a come back, they need a champion that will re-launch not
only a franchise, but also an entire genre.
There is a game out there that could do this, the original grand daddy
of all space combat games; Tie Fighter.
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| Branching dialogue paths. Take that, Mass Effect. -Ed |
If you don’t know what Tie Fighter
is, do not be ashamed, you’re young.
Those who remember it remember it fondly, but many never played it, and
that’s a shame. This isn’t because Tie
Fighter was an indie game, far from it.
Tie Fighter was the ultimate space combat game without the pesky woes of
what air molecules do to an aircraft in World War II, like many combat
simulators of the era. Every battle was
a palm-sweating dogfight against a faction that, as we all know, in the end win
the war.
Tie Fighter was a challenging game,
there were no checkpoints, no prizes for second place. When you were shot down you had to start all
over again, no matter how close to the end of the mission you were. Didn’t complete all of your objectives, or
accidently fly into the side of a Mon Calamari Cruiser? Don’t complain to me rookie, you obviously
aren’t ready to fly for the Empire. Tie
Fighter was ruthless, that’s what made it so great.
 |
| This is a good idea. You are not outmatched at all. -Ed |
One of the most appealing things
about Tie Fighter was how you played for the bad guy. Vader was your boss, (never disappoint him)
the Emperor shot a lighting tattoo on your arm when you did well, and all the
while you flew in a spacecraft that was inferior to your enemies’. These things combined to make it a fun,
challenging game with a unique perspective.
The Empire was an evil faction, but sometimes the evil viewpoint is the
most interesting. There’s a reason it’s
remembered so well, a reason it’s number twelve on IGNs list of 100 Greatest
Games of All Time, and a reason why it is my absolute favorite game ever.
Nearly a year
ago now, just before Halloween, LucasFilm and LucasArts were purchased by The
Walt Disney Company. The general confusion
of the days that followed were mixed with rage by some, shrugged shoulders by
others, and curiosity by all. What did
this mean? Did it mean anything?
 |
| Besides that a lot of people got a lot of this? -Ed |
The answer came in April when
Disney announced that it planned on making a new Star Wars Trilogy; after all,
you don’t spend 4 billion dollars, that’s with a “b”, for no reason. Now the question on many a mind became when,
when will we see it? For myself
personally, I only had one question which struck my mind the moment I heard the
first announcement in late fall; “When are they gonna release a new Tie Fighter
game?”
When was the last time you saw a
decent space combat simulator? Ever since
publishers turned their attention to consoles the answer is you haven’t. PC has been treated like the ugly stepchild
for the last few years, but it’s back and more powerful than ever. Flight simulators died years ago and no one
is making them, no one is interested. It
may be time to start looking into making a new generation of flight simulators,
and Disney has the answer in their back pocket, yet they probably don’t realize
it.
Once the new trilogy was announced
it seemed as if people forgot that Disney had acquired both LucasFilm and LucasArts,
which of course means that the Mouse now owns the rights to Tie Fighter.
Disney could re-launch both a
franchise and a genre with one game, and there’s very little downside. It’s not like if Disney loses money on one
game the company will fold, we’re talking about Disney here. If it fails then it proves that the genre is
truly dead, which would be a shame. But
if it succeeds then there are so many good things that would come from it.
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| Imagine this, but for a Tie Fighter. I'm just saying. - Ed |
The success of a reinvigorated
genre would create interest in that genre.
Other publishers would be willing to take a chance on ideas that they
might already have about games they think could work. Once the ball gets rolling it would be hard
to stop it’s momentum, and that’s what Tie Fighter could do.
In reality, this is just a fan’s
cry for the game he loved to return, with a vengeance, but it could actually
work. Disney is the one holding all the
keys, they have everything they need to make it work, all they have to do is
use some of Walt’s magic vision and see it.
The world could use some new combat
simulator games. The world could use a
new Tie Fighter game, it just needs to be made... but hell, I’ll take X-Wing
too.
So Long, and thanks for all the
fish.
-Ender
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