Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom

Wing Commander III: Heart Of The Tiger was quite a new and unique video gaming experience. It combined the graphics and playability of a video game with the sensibilities, style, drama, and live-action performers of any Hollywood movie. And, guess what? It worked, to great effect! So, how do you improve upon perfection itself? Simple. You make everything bigger, better, and, in the case of the live-action elements, more realistic and film-like! First off, let's talk about the live-action. WC3's live-action scenes simply had the actors and actresses filmed against green-screen. The CGI-created sets were added later on in post-production. Because of this process, the film camera had to be locked down to the studio floor all of the time. In other words, the live-action scenes had no camera-movements whatsoever. In Wing Commander IV: The Price Of Freedom, director Chris Roberts has taken care of both of these minor problems by fully utilizing real, and in some cases impressive, sets this time. He sure uses his newfound camera-movements to great effect, too. He zooms in and out on his actors, he pans all around his sets in some shots, he follows his actors around the sets using hand-held cameras. He even threw in a few dolly and crane shots just for fun. He also knows a good thing when he sees it, too, because he managed to bring back almost all of the actors who were in WC3, including Mark Hamill, Thomas F. Wilson, Malcolm McDowell, and the great John Rhys-Davies. If you enjoyed Wing Commander III, then chances are you'll enjoy Wing Commander IV just as well, or maybe even more! It is currently available for both PC and PlayStation. I personally would recommend the PlayStation version, since the graphics and live-action video are much more cleaner and clearer than the PC version. Buy this game, and have fun! That's an order, Colonel!

This is the high point for the videos of the entire Wing Commander series, and the computer games in general. Films using real Hollywood techniques and an astronomical (for computer games) budget, we got the best video sequences ever seen on a computer screen, and even better on its DVD version.

This video game/movie is one of the best games, if not the best, that I have ever played. It is made up of such famous actors as Malcolm McDowell & Mark Hamill & the movie footage makes you just want to keep playing the game over & over

Out of all Wing Commander products to make use of video sequences, this one was definitely the best. Mark Hamill and Tom Wilson really add depth to the game, and the late-great Jason Bernard gives a performance to squeeze respect out of any Starfleet Captain. By far, WAY superior to the movie.

While making only slight improvements over the Wing Commander III engine, and a supporting cast substantially weaker than it's predacessor, The Price of Freedom has a deeper plot and is a joy for everyone. I do not know a single person who's played this to have been disappointed.

I hear the DVD version rawks!

They actually spent $10 million filming the video segments in this. Film historians might be amused to note that's about what Star Wars cost. Amazingly enough, they did make their money back, and the budget certainly shows. In terms of sets, actors, and effects, this is also probably the best movie to be paired with a game. The cast is a well-made-up crew of 2nd and 3rd-tier actors who, while fine performers, never became stars in their own right. (like John Rhys-Davies and Malcolm McDowell)

Unfortunately, the game itself isn't that hot BECAUSE the movie segments were the focus. The missions are, for the most part, boring and uninspired compared to most of the other WC games. My suggestion, if you pick it up, is to just set the thing on easy, and breeze your way through the "game" to enjoy the movies and plot.