If I remember one game from my youth, it's Wing Commander IV. Beautiful, emonationally filled, starred with great actors, space opera. Days far back, I wished that there would be TV series based on Wing Commander. There's no other game I have played from start to end as many times as this. This is only final scene of this great game. There's so much more to see in game.
This is some of the best acting in the history of acting... and... God, I LOVE this game! They just don't make 'em like they used to... I still remember dying to come home from elementary to just log in time to play this masterpiece of a game. Glad to still have it, and glad to see this again. Oh, and poor Tolwyn...
I think the biggest thing with this is the fact that it shows Tolwyns fall, how far he had gone from the death of the behemoth. For those who knew Tolwyn from the earlier parts of the story Tolwyn was a hero always putting himself on the line for humanitiy. However during the end of the war the Behemoth was detroyed, Hobbes turned, Angel died, and Bonderevsky was badly injured. Well it all took its toll on Tolwyn, its one of those endings thats bittersweet, knowing how good a man he was before.
I miss the Wing Commander series, but especially this game in particular. Everything was great about WC4, from the spaceflight to the cinematic scenes to the brilliant plot and storyline. I do hope the series is revived again with the games being at least half as excellent as this one.
The recent remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still' had a similar message... That mankind must be brought to the brink of extinction before a great revolution can occur. The Wing Commander games were SO far ahead of their time!
Today in the galactic senate, Professor Maximillian Arturo moderates a debate between President Eden and Luke Skywalker over the death of Warren Keffer.
@marcus10 It's McDowell's performance that convinces us he really believes this too (he's not a "villain" just because the story assigns him a black hat, but because of what he believes and does). He's right though in the whole "conflict breeds strength", but his actions are unethical. A very interesting character, and a wonderful moral point in a game that could easily sell as many copies by just having bad guys to shoot for no real reason. Superb.
best Wing Commander ever -- it had genuine thrills and chills "What price freedom, Admiral?" "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. (which includes militarism and covert ops that actually betray such freedoms)" Wow. This game was years ahead of its time. The next one was the worst Wing Commander. It killed the franchise. R.I.P. to the late, great John Spencer.
It shows balls that they decided to make the final battle not some big "boss fight" but an ethical debate about the game we've just been playing. It shows the conviction they had telling this story and in their actors. Since WC2, the showdown between these two men was coming, and it's a wonderful, powerful note to end on. WC3 ends with the destruction of a whole world WC4 ends saving one.
Haha, this player drew it out a bit. "Secret unmarked fighters" instead of "like bioweapons?" So many years later I still remember it all. What great games.
The Kilrathi used to a peace-loving species, famous for their arts and poetry, untill they met Geoffrey Tolwyn, who antagonized them and turned them into enemies, for his career opportunities. 🙃
Mark Hamill is actually pretty good here, I think he's a better actor than people think when they judge him based on Star Wars: A New Hope. He's pretty good here.
I loved Wing Commander IV when I played it 10 years ago. It is The Godfather of games with live action cutscenes (I think it had about 4 hours worth of them). Wing Commander fans loved it but I think some criticized it for focusing too much on the cinematic aspects and not making the missions challenging/exciting enough. But Wing Commander III before it had slightly better gameplay (using the same game engine) and great cutscenes, it was a classic.
@marcus10 Agreed... I think it's good that they make Tolwyn himself really cause the vote to sway in the "good ending"; as a senator, you might have doubts who was right, until he starts praising the Kilrathi (who we've just been at terrible war with) and "if we perfect our methods of killing"... etc. I really love how he seems to snap at that point, with Paladin stepping forward. Wonderful McDowell performance in a great scene, equal to any "real movie" performance he's given.
There were also two different endings if you won, based on your decisions in the game. One featuring Blair as an instructor, and the other where he's a cold-hearted admiral with Hawk as his second in command.
I only had the opportunity to play WC1 and WC4. Even for a victorious Blair ending, there are two variations to it which gives 2 different epilogue scenes of the victorious kind. I used to have the options written on paper for these two variations but have lost it since.
Oddly enough, my roommate was shocked when I chose the options, I saw the ALTERNATE ENDING when I first finished WCIV. I saw Blair become admiral. I can tell you where you make the choices if you want.
True. It's a shame really. After all his military contributions during his lifetime, his life and reputation is suddenly in shambles with his betrayal. It may be hard to do, but do not think too harshly of Tolwyn. His actions to preserve humanity over the WC series are great and he may have been driven somewhat insane because he has no purpose in life besides war. Imagine what would happen if you no longer had a purpose in life. How would you feel?
It's hard to know what Tolwyn could be thinking as he sat in his cell. Perhaps he was inwardly cursing Blair and his allies for dooming humanity to an inevitable defeat in a future war or maybe he was reflecting on what went wrong throughout his life that brought him to this disgrace. He may have committed suicide when he realized the enormity of his crimes and couldn't handle the guilt or he could have wanted to deny his enemies the satisfaction of his execution with one last act of defiance.
@Exverlobter I own the DVD version... the old very early DVD drive I got (that died a year later!) came with it, and it was WELL worth it! I only wish there was a DVD version of WC3. :(
@BanjoOz In the latest novel, Pilgrim Truth (unreleased until just a few days ago!) there is a statement near the end that touches whether he actually lived or died. Well, I knw what it says, but to say so here would spoil it. Of course, you can read it for free at wcnews.
Thanks Tigerman1138 but I've given away my 6 CD's to someone and moreover I don't have an old computer to run it. I'll just have fond memories of the game which I played for hours trying every possible variation when it came to the choices.
I love the storyline of IV, but i have to agree that II will always be my favourite, followed by III as far as gameplay goes. But how can you go wrong with ANY of these games? They're all great.
@jboweruk We never see Blair die... I like to think he was captured and was taken to the aliens' fleet on the other side of the gateway after Prophecy, to escape in an epic FPS spinoff game we never got. :(
@gregoryvn3 I just got it up and running again (both the CD and DVD versions...) not too hard if you follow the instructions at Wing Commander CIC's tech help pages. WC3 and 4 are easily in my top ten games ever, and an awful lot of recent sci-fi shows (B5, Space, nBSG, etc.) and movies owe them a fair bit, IMO!
its like luke skywalker drank himself into oblivion for 30 years after blowing up the death star then came stumbling into the rebel alliance meeting ranting and mumbling about lol
Wow even though I only played prophecy this is pretty good for a old game looks like a tv show. They should make a remake and keep the original in game movies
@BanjoOz There is only one Wing Commander universe, and the games, novels, the movie and the TV show all take place in it. If you want to be silly about it, you can say the games take precedence anywhere you might see a contradiction, but the fact remains that Chris Roberts wrote and directed the movie, so it's a part of the canon. Not to be a dick, just the issue's been beaten to death over the years and it's an old tired thing to argue about.
I agree....Why they didn't just use the cast from the games for the movie blows my mind..They went with some of the young-hot names of the time like Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matt Lillard. Sad, really.
@csdude35 Well, the problem is, Tolwynn's plan wouldn't have worked. Sure, mankind would be in a warrior mindset, but every few years there would be a new war or coup and the resources of the Terrans would be so low that by the time of Prophecy, there would be nothing left to stand against the new threat.
Blair risked being tried for treason in attempt to force Tolwyn into betraying himself so that the war could at least be delayed long enough for a trial exposing evidence of Tolwyn's crimes.
Gimli, Luke Skywalker, and Alex DeLarge? Hell yeah! but I played this game again recently, and it's still pretty good. Definitely old and outdated, but it actually still stacks up well as far as space fighters go.
Anything with Malcolm McDowell and Mark Hamill in it can be little else but pure unadulterated win. Awesome!
A final battle...fought with words. Perfect, very original and with a star cast...just beautiful :)
If I remember one game from my youth, it's Wing Commander IV. Beautiful, emonationally filled, starred with great actors, space opera. Days far back, I wished that there would be TV series based on Wing Commander. There's no other game I have played from start to end as many times as this.
This is only final scene of this great game. There's so much more to see in game.
How awesome: This is the first time I've ever seen Mark Hamill in something other then Star Wars and voicing the Joker.
One of the best games ever, it shows the value of freedom and the constant threats to it.
I love how 10% of the Senate heard all that and thought, "fuck it, let's nuke 'em anyway."
That's nothing compared to today's Senate in the US!
One of THE BEST endings for a game or movie. Absolutely loved this game and still play it all the time.
9:02 "And I couldn't go on!" was Chris Roberts, creator of the series.
This is some of the best acting in the history of acting... and... God, I LOVE this game! They just don't make 'em like they used to... I still remember dying to come home from elementary to just log in time to play this masterpiece of a game. Glad to still have it, and glad to see this again. Oh, and poor Tolwyn...
The Tolwyn character just shows how awesome an actor Malcolm McDowell is.
Hate that this doesn't have the "like bioweapons?" response. That freaking killed. Still good to see a great game from the past
thanks for putting this up.
09:02 The Man Himself.
And he COULDN'T GO ON!
I think the biggest thing with this is the fact that it shows Tolwyns fall, how far he had gone from the death of the behemoth. For those who knew Tolwyn from the earlier parts of the story Tolwyn was a hero always putting himself on the line for humanitiy. However during the end of the war the Behemoth was detroyed, Hobbes turned, Angel died, and Bonderevsky was badly injured. Well it all took its toll on Tolwyn, its one of those endings thats bittersweet, knowing how good a man he was before.
I miss the Wing Commander series, but especially this game in particular. Everything was great about WC4, from the spaceflight to the cinematic scenes to the brilliant plot and storyline. I do hope the series is revived again with the games being at least half as excellent as this one.
The recent remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still' had a similar message... That mankind must be brought to the brink of extinction before a great revolution can occur. The Wing Commander games were SO far ahead of their time!
Today in the galactic senate, Professor Maximillian Arturo moderates a debate between President Eden and Luke Skywalker over the death of Warren Keffer.
I have played each and every part of Wing Commander and Part IV is undoubtedly the very best of them all.
you win at framerate. This is probably the best quality Wing Commander video i've ever found.
@marcus10 It's McDowell's performance that convinces us he really believes this too (he's not a "villain" just because the story assigns him a black hat, but because of what he believes and does). He's right though in the whole "conflict breeds strength", but his actions are unethical. A very interesting character, and a wonderful moral point in a game that could easily sell as many copies by just having bad guys to shoot for no real reason. Superb.
The movie "Wing Commander" - 100 minutes of my life that I´ll never get back!
best Wing Commander ever -- it had genuine thrills and chills
"What price freedom, Admiral?" "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. (which includes militarism and covert ops that actually betray such freedoms)" Wow. This game was years ahead of its time.
The next one was the worst Wing Commander. It killed the franchise.
R.I.P. to the late, great John Spencer.
It shows balls that they decided to make the final battle not some big "boss fight" but an ethical debate about the game we've just been playing. It shows the conviction they had telling this story and in their actors. Since WC2, the showdown between these two men was coming, and it's a wonderful, powerful note to end on. WC3 ends with the destruction of a whole world WC4 ends saving one.
Tolwyn was right when looking at the threats that were on the horizon.
wing commander 4?! never knew it existed! i had wc3 and the first 2 on the psp. they were all great
Haha, this player drew it out a bit. "Secret unmarked fighters" instead of "like bioweapons?"
So many years later I still remember it all. What great games.
I like how he's just hanging out at the end.
@Uejji Isn't that novel set in the 'movie universe' though? (pretty cool it got 'released' all these years later though, still, at long last).
this was easily in the top ten of all time gaming greats. as was no.3
The Kilrathi used to a peace-loving species, famous for their arts and poetry, untill they met Geoffrey Tolwyn, who antagonized them and turned them into enemies, for his career opportunities. 🙃
He was the voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. One of the best jokers ever.
Brian Blessed could've ended the Kilrathi War with a megaphone and some radio transmitters.
John Rhys-Davies, Mark Hamill, AND Malcolm McDowell?! This has instantly become one of the best video games ever.
FYI for those asking, the PS1 port of this game (not a great port) is on PSN for $6.
Mark Hamill is actually pretty good here, I think he's a better actor than people think when they judge him based on Star Wars: A New Hope. He's pretty good here.
I loved Wing Commander IV when I played it 10 years ago. It is The Godfather of games with live action cutscenes (I think it had about 4 hours worth of them). Wing Commander fans loved it but I think some criticized it for focusing too much on the cinematic aspects and not making the missions challenging/exciting enough. But Wing Commander III before it had slightly better gameplay (using the same game engine) and great cutscenes, it was a classic.
I was surprised. I didn't think he was ever such a good actor. Be he did very well here.
And, of course, in Batman.
@marcus10 Agreed... I think it's good that they make Tolwyn himself really cause the vote to sway in the "good ending"; as a senator, you might have doubts who was right, until he starts praising the Kilrathi (who we've just been at terrible war with) and "if we perfect our methods of killing"... etc. I really love how he seems to snap at that point, with Paladin stepping forward. Wonderful McDowell performance in a great scene, equal to any "real movie" performance he's given.
I got it with my PC way back. I love the game.
The bioweapons line was always far more effective than the one about the prototype ships.
There were also two different endings if you won, based on your decisions in the game. One featuring Blair as an instructor, and the other where he's a cold-hearted admiral with Hawk as his second in command.
Based on your choice to save civilians or raid weapons and ships. Siding with Panther or Hawk gives you those missions sets.
I only had the opportunity to play WC1 and WC4. Even for a victorious Blair ending, there are two variations to it which gives 2 different epilogue scenes of the victorious kind. I used to have the options written on paper for these two variations but have lost it since.
Anyone else remember this scene more then any part of the wing commander series?
Easter Egg: The guy at 9:03 is actually Chris Roberts, the creator of Wing Commander.
Guys, if I'm not mistaken...that's Chris Roberts at 9:03 saying "I couldn't go on".
*gasp* This video didn't include the Bioweapon option? I loved that!
Epic ending to an epic game.
This is a game I have to go back and finish :(
Awesome quality! Is it the DVD-Versio? I've only got only the CD-Version.
I've always thought Mark Hamil was a FAR better actor than he's usually given credit for.
This ending and Mass Effect's are quite simply the greatest of all time.
This makes me want to find a way to play this game.
Very good Quality. Is this the DVD version?
I searched it for a long time, but it is very rare.
@brian2132351 Yes, the movie is based of the video game series of the same name.
Oddly enough, my roommate was shocked when I chose the options, I saw the ALTERNATE ENDING when I first finished WCIV. I saw Blair become admiral. I can tell you where you make the choices if you want.
8:50 that's straight to the point.
How much more prepared for the Nephilum had Admiral Tolwyn continued on with his goals?
Sometimes, tough choices need to be made.
@csdude35
That's Christopher Roberts (main guy behind the Wing Commander series) making a short cameo.
As I recall there were 2 possible endings to this, one where they killed Tolwyn for treason, and one where Colonel Blair was killed.
That Skywalker sure gets around... ;)
True. It's a shame really. After all his military contributions during his lifetime, his life and reputation is suddenly in shambles with his betrayal. It may be hard to do, but do not think too harshly of Tolwyn. His actions to preserve humanity over the WC series are great and he may have been driven somewhat insane because he has no purpose in life besides war. Imagine what would happen if you no longer had a purpose in life. How would you feel?
It's hard to know what Tolwyn could be thinking as he sat in his cell. Perhaps he was inwardly cursing Blair and his allies for dooming humanity to an inevitable defeat in a future war or maybe he was reflecting on what went wrong throughout his life that brought him to this disgrace. He may have committed suicide when he realized the enormity of his crimes and couldn't handle the guilt or he could have wanted to deny his enemies the satisfaction of his execution with one last act of defiance.
There is certain truth in Tolwyn words.
totally agree its a pity that this wasn't been released or remade for windows 7 that and wing commander 5
Since bio weapons were forbidden or something right?
@Exverlobter I own the DVD version... the old very early DVD drive I got (that died a year later!) came with it, and it was WELL worth it! I only wish there was a DVD version of WC3. :(
@BanjoOz In the latest novel, Pilgrim Truth (unreleased until just a few days ago!) there is a statement near the end that touches whether he actually lived or died.
Well, I knw what it says, but to say so here would spoil it. Of course, you can read it for free at wcnews.
Thanks Tigerman1138 but I've given away my 6 CD's to someone and moreover I don't have an old computer to run it. I'll just have fond memories of the game which I played for hours trying every possible variation when it came to the choices.
I love the storyline of IV, but i have to agree that II will always be my favourite, followed by III as far as gameplay goes. But how can you go wrong with ANY of these games? They're all great.
@jboweruk We never see Blair die... I like to think he was captured and was taken to the aliens' fleet on the other side of the gateway after Prophecy, to escape in an epic FPS spinoff game we never got. :(
@gregoryvn3 I just got it up and running again (both the CD and DVD versions...) not too hard if you follow the instructions at Wing Commander CIC's tech help pages. WC3 and 4 are easily in my top ten games ever, and an awful lot of recent sci-fi shows (B5, Space, nBSG, etc.) and movies owe them a fair bit, IMO!
who is the guy that says, "and i couldn't go on!"
this has a better story then the movie did :) and better acting
its like luke skywalker drank himself into oblivion for 30 years after blowing up the death star then came stumbling into the rebel alliance meeting ranting and mumbling about lol
is that the guy who was Luke in star wars?
Blair didnt mention the bioweapons?
Wow even though I only played prophecy this is pretty good for a old game looks like a tv show. They should make a remake and keep the original in game movies
Download the Autopilot demonstrations for Wing Commander Saga. Thy contain missions from WC3 and 4.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!
Frak it.. Going to play all the wing commander games again..
Earth almost looks like Coruscant.
Actually Chris wasn't smoking crack. He wasn't pleased with how the Kilrathi looked in the movie either.
You are welcome. McDowell is great, as always.
@BanjoOz There is only one Wing Commander universe, and the games, novels, the movie and the TV show all take place in it. If you want to be silly about it, you can say the games take precedence anywhere you might see a contradiction, but the fact remains that Chris Roberts wrote and directed the movie, so it's a part of the canon.
Not to be a dick, just the issue's been beaten to death over the years and it's an old tired thing to argue about.
Tolwin carries something of Chanceler Palpatine.
It would be also interesting to see a video with an alternative ending, where TOlwyn wins.
how the great admiral falls :( so sad so sad
@BanjoOz Join the discussions at wcnews if you're really interested in pursuing this issue. :>
This was SO much better than ANY Star Wars movie. Just sayin'.
I agree....Why they didn't just use the cast from the games for the movie blows my mind..They went with some of the young-hot names of the time like Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matt Lillard. Sad, really.
@RagingUtai I think it is.
I will never understand why Chris Roberts didn't cast them back for his 1998 movie... I'm willing to bet it wouldn't have been a flop.
i remember this...this was my favorite one but it wont play on this damn super vista
Try dosbox
@csdude35 Well, the problem is, Tolwynn's plan wouldn't have worked. Sure, mankind would be in a warrior mindset, but every few years there would be a new war or coup and the resources of the Terrans would be so low that by the time of Prophecy, there would be nothing left to stand against the new threat.
@chriscumbag seriously! "like bio weapons?" I figured you failed if you didn't pick that one since the opening choice is so unforgiving
He wasnt in Batman?
Funny thing is that all he had to do was deny, deny, deny. Blair had no proof other than his word.
Blair risked being tried for treason in attempt to force Tolwyn into betraying himself so that the war could at least be delayed long enough for a trial exposing evidence of Tolwyn's crimes.
Gimli, Luke Skywalker, and Alex DeLarge?
Hell yeah!
but I played this game again recently, and it's still pretty good. Definitely old and outdated, but it actually still stacks up well as far as space fighters go.
Best game of all time.
Umm yeah! Wiping out an entire planet with a bioweapon is a weeeee bit more serious than making some unmarked secret fighters :p