Does anyone else think that the redshirt wingmen in WC: P added hugely to the game?
I'll tell you why: it's the Jagged Alliance effect. The side characters are voiced in an interesting or funny way and given unique in-game dialogue, and most importantly, are mortal. You start to care about them, and losing them in a mission and seeing them go KIA on the kill board makes you feel like you're really fighting a war where people die.
Who remembers Goblin? "I can take you with one gun tied behind" in a thick country accent or when responding to a call for assistance, the happily yelled "This sounds like a job for....ME!"
Luckily Goblin survived my tour, though other friends, like BoomBoom, TBone and Ogre were lost.
It's curious that it's their very mortality that makes me care about them. I didn't care one bit about the plot characters, for example (well, Maniac is always Maniac of course, can't help but like Tom Wilson there).
I just wish some of the other squadrons' members could die on their own missions when you're not flying for them. Those Diamondbacks only ever got one KIA and I think that was a plot-related death.
Here's hoping future games have more of this. Sadly, Standoff only featured mortal redshirts in the final episode (I'd really love a version where you can run short on people or ships if you're not careful).
I'll tell you why: it's the Jagged Alliance effect. The side characters are voiced in an interesting or funny way and given unique in-game dialogue, and most importantly, are mortal. You start to care about them, and losing them in a mission and seeing them go KIA on the kill board makes you feel like you're really fighting a war where people die.
Who remembers Goblin? "I can take you with one gun tied behind" in a thick country accent or when responding to a call for assistance, the happily yelled "This sounds like a job for....ME!"
Luckily Goblin survived my tour, though other friends, like BoomBoom, TBone and Ogre were lost.
It's curious that it's their very mortality that makes me care about them. I didn't care one bit about the plot characters, for example (well, Maniac is always Maniac of course, can't help but like Tom Wilson there).
I just wish some of the other squadrons' members could die on their own missions when you're not flying for them. Those Diamondbacks only ever got one KIA and I think that was a plot-related death.
Here's hoping future games have more of this. Sadly, Standoff only featured mortal redshirts in the final episode (I'd really love a version where you can run short on people or ships if you're not careful).