StarCitizen:Wing Commander III

Template:InfoboxNeue Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger is the third main game in StarCitizen:Chris Roberts Wing Commander series, developed and released by StarCitizen:Origin Systems Template:Years or months ago on December 8 1994.

Gameplay

Choices during combat as well as conversation choices can improve or lower a character’s morale. For wingmen, the lower their morale, the worse they will perform during missions, flying more recklessly, missing more shots, or making them less likely to follow orders. This, in turn, makes the crew behave differently towards the player. The player can choose which wingman to fly with, as well as their fighter and loadout.<ref name=":0" />

Mission branching features winning and losing tracks. If the player loses enough missions, he ends up in an inescapable losing track that ends with the destruction of humanity.<ref name=":0" />

Live Action

It was remarkable for its extensive use of live action full-motion video to add an interactive movie-style presentation to the space combat gameplay, emphasized by its advertising slogan, "Don't watch the game, play the movie!". The aim was to get the subtlety of a performance or emotion out in service of the experience and the immersion and the game, which wasn't otherwise possible at the time with the rudimentary animation.<ref>Star Citizen Chris Roberts at BAFTA LA Januari 2015, YouTube, 21 Jan 2015</ref><ref>The forgotten interview with Chris Roberts by Paul Dean, March 11, 2016</ref>

The game's more than two hours of video featured a number of prominent movie stars including among others Mark Hamill as Colonel Christopher "Maverick" Blair, John Rhys-Davies as James "Paladin" Taggart and Thrakhath nar Kiranka.

The budget for Wing Commander III was around $4 million, which at the time of its release made it the most expensive game ever made. Its predecessor for that title had been Doom, with a much more humble $200k.<ref name=":0">Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, hardcoregaming101.net, September 25, 2024</ref>

Legacy

Wing Commander III was a huge technological leap forward for the Wing Commander franchise. It proved that FMV games could be more than a gimmick, that they could be done right as Chris Roberts had said. It was a massive production with an enormous staff list on both film and game development sides, and the funding to match. Adjusted for inflation, its budget of $8-10m USD was enormous for a PC game at the time. Wing Commander III embodies the spirit of the modern blockbuster game: a star-studded cast, ambitious use of new technology, graphics that pushed current PCs to the brink, and an expansive list of new features.<ref name=":0" />

Trivia

• It was the first time Chris Roberts directed live action.<ref>Wing Commander Combat Information Center Chris Roberts Interview by Hadrian, 1999</ref>
• It was Electronic Arts first million-seller on DOS.<ref>The Stars His Destination: Chris Roberts from Origin to Star Citizen, 2014-09-13, archived</ref>
• StarCitizen:Rob Irving worked on it.<ref>Wingman's Hangar ep010 . March 1, 2013, Star Citizen, YouTube, 1 Mar 2013</ref>
• One of only two Wing Commander 3 Flight Jackets belonging to Chris Roberts was won during a StarCitizen:Star Citizen competition.<ref>Template:Cite RSI</ref>
• The very first issue of PC Gamer magazine to contain a CD-ROM had a demo for Wing Commander III on said CD.<ref>"The first-ever PC Gamer magazine CD-ROM, released in December 1994", @sharkabytes.bsky.social‬, Bluesky, August 5, 2025</ref>

Outside Links

• Wing Commander 3 Funny Tape
• Wing Commander 3 - Today Show Feature
• Wing Commander 3 Heart of the Tiger on GOG

References

<references /> StarCitizen:category:Video games