If you've played Standoff, then you've seen all the wonderful splash screens that highlight key events in the game. The team has now cleaned up those images, removed the overlayed text and released a huge pack of them for fans. Most of the scenes below represent winning and losing endgames of each Standoff episode, but a few bonus pictures also round out the pack. A few shots might look familiar, since modified versions of several have been previously released as wallpapers. Check out high quality PNG versions and help provide feedback over at our Crius.net Forums.
My favorite is that awesome Rigakh.
As year two of Point of Origin rolls on, Underworld and Strike Commander still have not shipped... but the positive reviews and awards for Wing Commander 2 are still coming in from around the world!
A very special thanks to Joe Garrity of the Origin Museum for making this resource available and to Electronic Arts for sending them to him in the first place!
Here's the breakdown for Wing Commander:
- The headline article is 'Wing 2 Still Flying High', which is reproduced here in full:
Wing 2 wedge its way into more category in the SPA ballot: Critic's Choice. That means journalists looked at all 7 of the consumer categories and picked 5 games. Here's the rest of the competition:
Wing Commander II
The Adventures of Willy Beamish (Dynamix)
Sid Meier's Civilization (MicroProse)
Falcon 3. (Spectrum)
You may remember, Wing 2's already up for Best Arcade / Action Game and Best Entertainment Program. Word on the winners comes Tuesday, March 19, in Seattle.
For the record: the SPA has now officially certified Wing 2 as "gold," marking the sale of more than 100,000 units (Wing 1 got its Gold Card last September). Special Operations 1 is awaiting certification as "silver" (50,000 units sold) as is the Speech Accessory Pack--originally expected to top out at 5,000. Marten says this is the first time he can recall being so proud to be so wrong.
- Wing Commander II and the Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide are also represented in the issue's press roundup:
In the February issue, PC Sources reviews Mike's Wing Commander Strategy Guide. Russ Lockwood writes, 'It contains more than 200 pages of top-notch tactics to obliterate the dreaded Kilrathi.' He goes on to say that 'the information in this book will make you a better pilot, or at least a more informed one.' By the way, Mike's book is going into its third printing.
The new Video Games and Computer Entertainment has write-ups for all its award winners in the February issue. You might remember, we told you that VG & CE surprised us at CES by dropping off a trophy naming Wing 2 as 'Best Computer Game of the Year.' A couple of quotes: 'It has relentless first-person combat action and riveting non-interactive scenes in one slick, science-fiction package.' 'Those with the hardware power to install the speech disks can enjoy the most effective, dramatic cut scenes ever included in a computer game.' More awards may be on the way. Check out 'The Envelope, Please' elsewhere in this issue.
Wing 2 was also written up in the Chicago Tribune 'Best and Worst' column. Dennis Lynch named it 'Most Far-Out Sound of 1991.' He also named it 'Toughest Game to Run' due to the lengthy installation process. Guess it's the old 'is the glass half empty or half full' question.
Special Operations coverage is starting to hit the gaming fans. Computer Game Review says Special Ops 'has the quality and graphics that you have come to expect from Wing Commander I & II.' In Shay Addams' newsletter Simulations, Al Giovetti says he enjoyed the game so much that he plans to spend mega-bucks upgrading his system for the next installment. France's Joystick magazine (which has always been very kind to us) gives Special Ops a 95% rating. France's Tilt gives it 18 out of a possible 20.
Point of Origin
Vol. II, No. 12 - February 28, 1992
Contents
Wing 2 Still Flying High
Press Roundup
Mystical Matrix Management
Dear Point Man
Milestones
Snapshot
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