Wing Commander Privateer 2 was created in the wake of Wing Commander III as the cinematic video step up for the Privateer subseries. Erin Roberts developed the game with a more modest budget in the UK. The main character, Ser Lev Arris, was played by Clive Owen. He was supported by Christopher Walken, David Warner, Jürgen Prochnow, Mathilda May and John Hurt. The game took place about 120 years after Wing Commander IV in an isolated pocket of space known as the Tri-System. Planet Anhur was been home to humans for some two thousand years, and the locals independently developed faster-than-light drives from the Confederation. The futuristic setting lets players utilize advanced jump gates, short-range time travel devices and massive cargo haulers. In addition to the traditional build-up phase and story portions of the game, Privateer 2 peppers the experience with random cinematic mini plot missions. Certain upgrades are only available once these subplots have been completed, and entire character arcs are explored with recorded video cutscenes separate from the main story.

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Privateer 2: The Darkening
Privateer 2: The Darkening
Release Date	December 1996

U.K. box, front cover

Original U.K. Release

NAME: Ser Lev Arris

AGE: 30

DIAGNOSIS: Anterior Amnesia

U.K. box, back cover

RECENT HISTORY:
Ser Arris's condition was probably caused by accelerated
depassivity from a long artificial sleep, after being
pulled from the wreckage of a recent Cargo ship disaster at
Mendra spaceport. After a satisfactory physical recovery,
the subject was kidnapped in a violent attack on the
hospital resulting in a number of fatalities. The subject
seems to have escaped his kidnappers, and is now in
possession of a spaceship, trading and fighting his way
across the galaxy, seemingly in search of his lost
identity.

Deluxe Edition (U.S.)

Inner flap

U.S. box (Deluxe Edition), left inner flap

U.S. box (Deluxe Edition), right inner flap

THE ULTIMATE SPACE COMBAT TRADING EXPERIENCE

You regain consciousness, and the unfamiliar
faces around you inform you that you've lost
your ship in an accident. You're new to the
cutthroat world of Tri-System privateers, and
now your only order of business is survival.
You've got just enough credits to afford a new
ship, but it's going to need upgrades if you
expect to live long. The sector is full of
people willing to do business, but who can be
trusted? Legal or not, it's time to trade, travel,
and battle your way through a place where
high risk means high yield and those with the
brass reap the rewards.

Back cover

U.S. box, back cover

A new FACE...
A new PLACE...
A new STORY...

Strap in tight and jump into
the ultimate space combat
trading experience!

In Privateer 2, there are no rules.
You can fly over 100
different missions in
18 different ships.
Check out whatever you
want ― unique planets,
space stations, bars,
prison pits and more.

But without money, you're nothing.
Ship upgrades,
loadouts, repairs,
wingmen, information
― everything here
costs money. You'll
have to hunt, trade,
and fight to get it.

Only the fastest and most savvy survive.
Incredible new space
combat engine enables
hi-speed battles between
bands of pirates, greedy
police, desperate
privateers and you.

Strategy Guides

Development

The never-used box cover for 'Privateer: The Darkening'! The file, dated May 13, 1996, proves once and for all that Electronic Arts once seriously planned to release it without the '2'.

Box Contents

Documentation

Cutscenes

Privateer 2 Videos! Single zip file (730 MB)

Press

The Darkening - Article about Privateer 2 from The Times

Credits

see Privateer 2 credits

Privateer 2: The Darkening development team! Take a close look at the details, too--there's an area on the wall for each Tri-System planet! Special thanks to the always-graciou