Accolades Pour in for Darkest Dawn
FROM: Rear Admiral Tolwyn, CINCWEAPONSDIVISION
DATE: 2012.31.03
After ten years in development, Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn has been released! Wing Commander Saga is the product of a dedicated group of fans seeking to tell a compelling story and provide an electrifying gameplay experience in Chris Robert's iconic Wing Commander universe. It features 55 missions in two campaigns, over 70 cutscenes, over 11,000 lines of voice work produced by 60 voice actors, and a storyline that dovetails with the events of Wing Commander 3: The Heart of the Tiger. It has been released for the PC, with Mac and Linux version coming soon. And best of all, it is completely free!
So far, reception for Wing Commander Saga has been enthusiastic. We experienced about 50,000 downloads in the first 24 hours after the release of the game. Check out what some of the reviewers have to say about The Darkest Dawn:
"Terrific, and a stunning achievement." - Rock, Paper, Shotgun
"A fan-made game that's good enough to be worth paying for. It pays homage to its source material while improving on Wing Commander's classic gameplay and graphics." - HotHardware
"A worthy homage with a thrilling story." - PC Games Hardware
"A must have for nostalgic, old school gamers and space ship fans." - Gamestar
"Wing Commander is back." - 4Players
"You owe it to yourself to sample this labor of love." - ExtremeTech
"Relive the glory days of space flight sims. Highest Recommendation." - JustPressStart
"So much more than a simple fan remake. A polished, feature heavy, brilliantly designed behemoth of a game. Wing Commander Saga could have easily been a commercial release." - Gnome's Lair
But don't just take their word for it, come try Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn for yourself! Then, make sure to visit gog.com, where you can get copies of several of the original Wing Commander games from which Saga takes its inspiration.
-Tolwyn
Quote : Come to think about it... I'll send them an e-mail about it!
We are glad you are enjoying the game! Thanks for spreading the word!
Have you guys considered reaching out to Valve and working out a deal to distribute the game via Steam? This would certainly help bolster the game's awareness, and who knows, maybe there are some Wing Commander fans at Valve who would throw you some free ad space on the dashboard?
Loving the game so far, just saved Bluepoint Station!
I was so busy playing it i forgot to thank and congratulate you. i just finished it on standard difficulty and am about to do it again on the hardest.I cant thank you enough you did an amazing job.
Everything is amazing. Gameplay, cut scenes, missions, models and the sounds, it's all overwhelming and nostalgic for me. Thank you all so much for the huge time and effort you poored into this guys!!!!
Just finished the main campaign. Took me longer than the "original" WC3 campaign -- and i was playing with the default difficulty settings. *Very good job*.There's just one little thing : when you fail a (usually 25min+) mission, you have to start it all over again. Including the speeches between pilots at the beggining. And all the *mostly-dumb* one-liners.
Quote : I was so busy playing it i forgot to thank and congratulate you. i just finished it on standard difficulty and am about to do it again on the hardest.
Thanks for commenting. Playing the game on "very hard" is the ultimate test of pilot skills. Good luck!
Thanks for bringing us this game. Can I suggest putting a link behind those quotes. It would make it a lot easier.
The in-game graphics, the story, all the elements from the original WCs - everything is there. This game is not only a huge come back for Wing Commander - it demonstrates that cooperation and passion is enough to make a the best game of the year. If this game is distributed properly, new players and fans will find it - and love it.
Just finished playing the dropship mission. I actually closed the game to write this: Amazing. A fantastically good time. I can't remember the last time I had that much fun. Well done guys. This is SO well done that I feel guilty playing it for free. Devs, you guys are awesome.
Trapped up in camp on release day, but somehow their filters didn't stop me from downloading it. Watched the intro, and played the first mission using a gamepad I had in my laptop bag... I go home Thursday, and I'll be buying a joystick to properly play this masterpiece. You guys did a terrific job! I hope this causes a resurgence of space flight sims! Thanks!
Incredible work! Bad news are that I will have to isolate myself from the real world during a few weeks ;). The Terran Confed is recruiting old vets who served in the Tiger's Claw, and I guess it is time to kick off some kitties :O
Guys,Finally played through the campaign. I cheered in front of my computer. What an amazing feeling. Damn i really missed Wing Commander... I played al the games. Really enjoyed this one. Amazing done by you guys. Hopefully we see another campaign or some MP action from you guys.
Cheers
I just wanted to really say thanks. This Masterpiece brings back so many memories.But one Question.
When comes the next one?
Wing Commander Saga - Black Lance.
God I want that Dragon back. :D
Tolwyn. Gute Arbeit, weiter so.
I wanted to convey my thanks, and express my respect for this work of love for the Wing Commander series. You have designed a beautiful game, that doesn't just offer a high level of quality, but quantity as well. The campaign is very lengthy and the general feeling is so... Wing Commanderish! I can't express it in any other way!
Just managed to finish the story and I can honestly say that I hadn't been so caught up in a game for many, many years now. I was literally plastered on my chair, remembering the old days when I was a kid and the first Wing Commander had just gotten released...
Thank you for this feeling, and thank you for your passion that kept you going for ten years in order to create this game that I can only describe it as a dedication to everyone who loves space-combat simulators, but most importantly to Wing Commander fans.
First of all, a great big hug and the sincerest "thank you" to all the fine folks who had made this great game. Needless to say, I am a huge Wing Commander-series fan during my younger days and also a equally huge Freespace-series fan. I missed the cockpits though... hope you guys would include cockpits as an option in future patches.
Now I gotta jump back into my trusty Hellcat to save the Confederation~~
Thank you so much for this great game.Incredible how much effort you put into that!
For me it is one of the best dogfighting games I ever played...one can easily get adddicted by slaying cats
Sorry Don, but I enjoy the free view on the stars so much, I don't need any cockpit. Perhaps a nice chill out area with a big window to step in and rest, when the "job is done"...
I love this game. The passion, the love, the dreaming. This child could only have been born with true love. Chris R. can never match this game, regardless budget. That is the only problem.
The music and the storyboarding is just perfect as well.
I have been a Wing Commander fan since the beginning and have followed your production for years. I just finished the campaign this morning and must say awesome job well worth the wait!! Highlights:
-Enjoyed the pop culture references and humor
-You really captured the essence of the franchise with great overlaps of WCIII and did an excellent job of bringing in WCII, WCIV and other elements that made the series seem less disjointed
-The universe was so well formed that it made me feel like I was there which was always a strength of WC
-Mission structure was the best of all Wing Commander games (which I say because I feel like this game deserves to be included in that category) incorporating strategy fleet movements, special ops, more attention to military structure and execution, etc. just an extremely well put together package
-I hope Cris Roberts appreciates your hard work as much as I do.
Thanks for keeping it alive
Many many thanks!!!!!!
Man i love this game! Great story and missions!
I'm just hoping that there will be a review of Saga in the next "Gameplay" magazine (former "PC gameplay" www.pcgameplay.com)! They were always wing commander fans and the last edition (march 2012) of the mag also mentioned WCsaga again. (They've drawn attention to WC saga some more times in the magazine). If there is a review in the may number i'll let you know!
Come to think about it... I'll send them an e-mail about it!