PC CD-ROM minimum system requirements: 486DX4/75mhz; 8 MB RAM; 30MB hard disk space; DOS 5.0; Dual speed CD-ROM drive; SVGA. £49.99
IF you successfully completed the superb Wing Commander III - The Heart of the Tiger, you will be aware that the Terran Confederation, of which you were an integral part, finally defeated the dreaded cat-like Kilrathi race. After your heroics and the ensuing peace you decided to take life a little handier and earn your living from the land.
Such peace doesn't last long. A Confederation convoy carrying refugees is destroyed. The culprits, it seems, are the mysterious pirates known as Black.
Lance. You are sent for by the Confederation and this is where Wing Commander IV begins: preferring to be an eagle rather than an earth-worm you without hesitation decide to support the cause again.
Many games claimed to be, but Wing III was the first truly interactive movie. The compelling storyline, combined with hair-raising action, left gameplayers feeling as if they were actually in deep space fighting for the Confederation.
Again, you direct the path of the main character (Mark Ham ill) in the game. Although interacting with other characters is important, the fundamental reason you are here is to seek out and destroy the Black Lance. Thanks to profits from the success of Wing III (more than 500,000 copies), the budget for this sequel wasn't far off the $10 million mark, and it shows. Visually, it is breathtaking and with the addition of Dolby surround sound it is the benchmark for these multimedia extravagances.
As much care and attention went into the gameplay of Wing IV as went into its appearance. Once you put that flight suit on, there's no looking back.
Newcomers to Wing Commander will find that controlling the various craft is intuitive but if you played Wing III, the skills you learned during your apprenticeship will serve you well.
The resolution of the craft ink the game is almost movie-like: it's like being in your own Star Wars. Shooting down an enemy fighter, for instance, feels infinitely better than destroying the pixilated polygon excuses for ships to be found in several other games of this, nature.
Most of us have a preference, for a particular type of game - action, role-playing, strategy or whatever - but this game is so complete it would, be hard for anybody, whatever their allegiance, to begrudge to place among the elite. Wing, Commander IV costs a little more than your average game but it's light-years ahead of most games and it's worth every penny.
Graphics: 97%, Sound: 94%, Gameplay: 96%