Star Wars: TIE FIghter

Totally Games - 1994 - PC

(See also my Top 10 Star Wars Games)

Greatest Star Wars game ever made. Trust me, I've played nearly all of them. I've played the good ones (Jedi Knight/Dark Forces, Knights of the Old Republic), I've played the bad ones (Rebel Assault, Super Bombad Racing), and I've played the ones no one has ever heard of (The Gungan Frontier, Droidworks). TIE Fighter stands alone as the greatest Star Wars game ever made, and one of the great classic old-school PC games. 

Star Wars: TIE Fighter is a flight simulator game. Remember when that used to be a genre? Where have all of those games gone? So if you're looking to play this game, you need to fight a USB joystick. Remember when those used to be a thing? Ahh the 90s... But seriously, get yourself a fight stick. This game DOES NOT play well with a mouse or keyboard. I haven't tried using a controller, but for the optimal TIE Fighter pilot experience, you're probably going to want a joystick.

So problem #1 is finding a USB joystick in the year 2014. Problem #2 is getting this game to run on a modern PC. I've done it before, it's a pain in the butt, but it's possible. Steam or GOG can we PLEASE get a re-release of this game with compatibility settings for modern machines? Please? Anyway, problem #3 is that this game was made in 1994 for DOS. So, you know, it kind of looks like it was made for DOS in 1994. Here's a tip though if you're trying to get this game to work: look for the remastered collectors edition. The model resolutions and polygon counts are a bit higher. It still looks like garbage but, you know, slightly higher resolution garbage. Or if you know me personally, ask and I'll let you borrow my CD that has all the compatibility files with it. But if you can get past those three problems, you're in for an amazing game.

Star Wars: TIE Fighter is a sort-of sequel to Star Wars: X-Wing, which was released a year earlier in 1993. I say "sort-of" sequel because it's essentially the same game, but you play as the Empire instead of the Rebellion, which is way, way cooler. Star Wars fans know what I'm talking about. There's also a few game engine upgrades, mechanical tweaks and graphical enhancements in TIE Fighter which make it slightly more polished than its predecessor. You'll start as a lowly trainee pilot, given the Imperial standard TIE Fighter at the beginning of the first campaign. The first levels start you off doing routine cargo inspections and escort missions while teaching you the controls for the ship, which are surprisingly complex. Nearly every button on the keyboard is mapped to one ship function or another. As you progress through the campaigns, you gain access to additional ships, progressing from TIE Fighter, to TIE Interceptor, to TIE Bomber to eventually experimental prototype craft like the TIE Advanced. The mission types vary as well, from cover missions to bombing raids, to starfighter dogfights, even full on epic assaults as in the movies.

While piloting your craft, you'll usually need to pay attention to several systems at once. You need to watch the recharge rate of your lasers/ions. If there's not enough energy in the cannon bays, you won't be able to fire. Increasing the recharge rate of your cannons draws power from other systems on the craft, like shields or engines. You'll also need to watch the energy level of the shields. If there's not enough energy in the shields, you're defenseless. But increasing the recharge rate of the shields similarly draws power from other systems like engines and cannons. So there's a little power balance subgame you'll be constantly playing throughout the mission which usually gets pretty frantic while your trying to keep one enemy ship in your sights while two or three others are on your tail. Some of the power balance is situational as well. For instance, cannons are not as important when attacking a stationary defense platform with no starfighter support, so cannon power can be redirected to engines or to boost shields. And shields are not as important as the speed to keep up and maneuver with faster targets, like the Rebel A-Wing. Here, shield power should be redirected to engines. The loadout of your craft can be customized as well. Equip the fast, ship seeking concussion missiles when expecting heavy starfighter resistance. Bring slow, but heavy damage dealing proton torpedoes when on a bombing run. Like any good game, there's a good bit of strategy mixed in with the skill required to succeed. 

The game does the movies such great justice. Seemingly every measure was taken to try to deliver the experience of piloting a starfighter just like in the movies. The little details like what systems and weapons and speeds each of the Star Wars craft should have are perfectly replicated here in the game. Concessions are not made. For instance, TIE Fighters, TIE Interceptors and TIE Bombers have no hyperdrives. They need to return back to the star destroyer or space platform from which they launched at the end of the mission. They also have no shielding systems, so they can be destroyed in two or three shots. Just like the movies. It's the little details that give this game so much credit with me and probably with other Star Wars fans as well. The game is even voice acted, and acted surprisingly well considering it was 1994. Most of the missions take place between The Battle of Hoth and The Battle of Endor, but for the super hardcore Star Wars fans, there's a whole set of missions that has you serving for Grand Admiral Thrawn, from Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire books. There's lots of really awesome Star Wars references and homages like that throughout the game.

Summary:

KOTOR and Jedi Knight/Dark Forces come close, but this is definitely the best Star Wars game ever made. Don't believe me? Check this game out. It's fun, fast, requires a good mix of skill and strategy, and is very true to the movies. It's a shame that it's so old and requires a good bit of effort to get the game to run on a modern machine. It would be nice to get a re-release, or dare I ask... a re-make? It would be great to see this game rendered on modern hardware and co-op online play would be amazing. Please someone make this happen... Disney??