Bargain Basement Review : TIE Fighter
When LucasArts released XWing , they revolutionized the world of space simulations. And TIE Fighter improved on it ! TIE Fighter is available in two versions - the older (no longer available except in second hand stores) standard edition , and the Collectors CD-ROM edition.
TIE Fighter follows the story of an Imperial Navy fighter pilot battling the forces of the Rebellion. In theory. Inevitably , to maintain the idea of the -evil- empire , you are forced to battle defectors more than the rebels , and this detracts from what is otherwise a superbly designed game.
The differences between the standard and Collectors Edition are very noticable - the most significant being the speech additions to the mission screens , and the added campaigns. The graphics do not change at all , except the addition of new craft , and a revamped intro sequence. However , the collectors edition is almost 5 times larger than the standard edition (as you would expect) , bringing it to a full install of 90 megabytes. However , only 30 megabytes needs to be installed for optimum performance , which is only just under double the standard edition. And lets face it , 90 megabytes is very little space compared to some of today's games.
Hardware
Standard Edition
required : 386/DX-33 , 4 Meg RAM , mouse and/or joystick.
suggested : 486/Dx-33 , 4 Meg RAM , joystick , soundcard
Collectors Edition
required : 486/DX-33 , 4 Meg RAM , mouse , CD-ROM
suggested : 486/DX2-66 , 8 Meg RAM , joystick , soundcard , 4x CD-ROM
Graphics : mainly vector graphics without any texture mapping , lack of detail , but perfectly adequate for the game itself. Animations are smooth and are in synch with the sound effects.
Gameplay : excellent , although non-interactive story , it is logical and full of twists. Spaceflight/combat is as realistic as you can expect. The system is easy to learn and use.
Sound : superb effects that capture the essence of the StarWars universe. Theme songs are accurate and clear. Sound moves with the craft , so you can use your ears to assist in combat.
Difficulty : the game is imbalanced in places , dogfighting more than one A-Wing in any craft without a tractor beam is frustrating at best. However , all other craft are reasonably well balanced compared to the rest. Once you learn techniques for evasing fire , the game is fine. Difficulty settings not only control skill level but numbers of enemy and mission goals.
Other : The game is interesting and faithful to the StarWars universe storylines. Fans of the universe will enjoy some of the cutscenes as they are like the originals from the movies.
Overall : Great game , even for non-StarWars fans.
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