Wing Commander III – Heart of the Tiger (GOG/Full Rip/1994)
PC | 1994 | Developer(s) : Origin Systems | Publisher(s) :Origin Systems | 2.46 GB
Genre : Action

The protagonist of the previous two games was officially assigned a name in WCIII, Colonel Christopher Blair (played by Hamill). As the man giving the orders, Blair often gets to choose what ship he will fly, what missiles it will carry, and what wingman (wingmen) he will take with him. As in WC, some wingmen can be killed permanently in combat. Blairs call sign remained customizable until the future Wing Commander title Wing Commander: Prophecy, where he ceased being a player character and was canonically nicknamed Maverick.

The opening cutscene, the first FMV cutscene in the Wing Commander series, depicts a saddening scene: Thrakhath nar Kiranka, Crown Prince of the Kilrathi Empire, presiding over the execution by disintegration of a group of Terran Confederation POWs. One, however, is left alive: Colonel Jeannette Angel Devereaux, due to her status among the Kilrathi as a respected warrior, who is executed by Prince Thrakhath using his claws to disembowel her (though her death scene is not shown until later in the game.) The scene then cuts to the planet Vespus, where Christopher Blair and Brigadier General James Taggart inspect the downed wreckage of the TCS Concordia. The carrier is a total loss.

It is the year 2669, and the Terran Kilrathi War has been going for over thirty years, with no signs of stopping. Blair, by orders of Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn, is transferred as Wing Commander to the TCS Victory, a Ranger class carrier twice as old as Blair. Her captain, William Eisen, has been with her for many years, and is proud of his ship. There are a few old faces Col. Ralgha nar Hobbes Hhallas, and Major Todd Maniac Marshall but all the other pilots and staff are people Blair has never met. Among the characters onboard, Blair notably meets fellow pilot Robin Flint Peters and Chief Fighter Technician Rachel Coriolis, with either of whom the player may eventually choose to start a romance.

The Victory is currently assigned to the Orsini System, away from the front. Shortly after Blairs arrival, and a few introductory mission, a test pilot, Major Jace Flash Dillon, arrives onboard the Victory with his prototype warcraft, the F 103A Excalibur heavy fighter. Blair is given the chance to borrow it for a live combat mission. This angers Flash who challenges Blair to a simulator duel. If Blair wins the duel, he forces Dillon to request reassignment to the Victorys flight wing. Immediately afterward the Victory is rerouted to the Locanda System, where the Kilrathi are deploying a potent pair of new weapons: the KH 19Y Skipper cruise missile, which is equipped with a cloaking device, and a genetically engineered bioweapon for use against the Locanda colonies, the home of Robin Flint Peters. Blair and his wing are scrambled to defend Locanda against several flights of these missiles. Even if the player is able to destroy the missiles, Flint breaks formation and attacks the Kilrathi forces in an act of revenge. The player is given the option to follow her, though she returns safely in either case.

Bonus content:
manual
playguide
wallpaper
Fleet Action novel
Origin Official Guide
reference card
Authorised Combat Guide
Behind the Screens
deleted scenes
warbirds chart
Wing Commander 3 script
Wing Commander bible

System requirements
80486/50, MS DOS 5.0+,
256 color VGA/SVGA,
8 MB RAM,
20 MB HDD,
2x+ CD ROM,
sound card (opt. General MIDI)
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