'90s Hits Fill Escapist Sim List

Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi

Liz Harper says: Why mess with a winning strategy? Wing Commander II took the original Wing Commander and improved the graphics, the sound -- featuring full voices for characters in certain sequences -- and the story in an all-new chapter of the Wing Commander saga. As WCII opens you learn that the Tiger's Claw has been destroyed by new Kilrathi stealth technology... and without any other survivors, you've taken the blame and demoted to serve on an out of the way space station for the rest of your days.

Fortunately, the game skips over the ten (no doubt tedious) years your character served and you jump back into the story when there are new Kilrathi attacks in the system. Though the combat is much the same, the story has a lot more depth as it follows your rise from disgrace... and, of course, uncovering the traitor who really doomed the Tiger's Claw and clearing your own name. While in hindsight, story seems to string together a heck of a lot of tropes, it did so better than anyone had before it.