BREAKING NEWS: First Arena Screenshots! (February 22, 2007)

[Bandit LOAF]

GameSpot has published the first six screenshots from Wing Commander Arena! The first screenshot shows multiplayer combat in open space, the second is a single player asteroid-style game, the third is a multiplayer space station map, the fourth is a single player melee map (centering around a Midway-class carrier) and then the fifth and six display the game's spectacular capital ship combat multiplayer mode. Sharp eyed WingNuts will notice some very familiar ships... amazing!

--
Original update published on February 22, 2007

[Dyret]

Oh god, look at all those wonderfully WCish ships. This is so amazing and great!

[Capn Johnny]

Hmm.. looks like I was right about the play style.. maybe more of a 3/4 view than the top down I was suspecting..

I'm not sold on the ships yet.. reminds me of the movie a bit too much..

But I will reserve judgement until I see alot more..

-Capn J

[Bandit LOAF]

The ships are all from earlier games (other than the two capship mode battleships) -- it's hard to tell from these combat shots, but you'll be impressed when we see the selection screen...

[LeHah]

"Give them a broadside, Mr Gerald!"

Man, those are some great pictures. You better believe Im calling out sick the day this comes out.

[Mav23]

Yeah that one capship pic looks like it's ripped straight from the film. Awesome!

[Youngblood]

ok this is the best thing ever to happen!!!!

[Pedro]

This is by far one of the most impressive looking XBLA titles I have ever seen, that alone will see it selling copies (lets hope EA does atleast some marketting as arcade titles often slip past even my radar).

The art style IMHO is... great for what it is, but were it a retail title I'd be saying its not good. Its too much like an early design concept.

[StarSlayer]

I'm thrilled to be reading announcements of a new WC game for the first time in a long time. And I certainly can't wait for some multiplayer action with WC fans.

But I can't be the only one here who's worried as hell that it might turn out to be Wing Commander in name only. This first release is not a simulation, it's not first person. You are not apparently on a campaign, and as far as depth of story...we'll see. It's definitely not Privateer or Wing Commander Online as Origin once envisioned. The reality is that those are the titles we'd all probably REALLY like to see. Wouldn't you rather add some of the designs coming out of the Pioneer project to the canon rather than an XBLA version of a dralthi just because it's from EA?

My hope is that this is EA testing the waters as to the profitability of resurrecting the franchise. After all, they've brought back an FMV command and conquer sequel... Could another FMV Wing Commander be in the pipeline secretly??

[Bandit LOAF]

Would it be nice to wake up and find that EA spent millions of dollars developing a FMV game again? Yes... but that won't happen unless they can be convinced that it's worth the money -- and a product like this is *exactly* the right stepping stone in that direction. Just saying that, though, demeans what we have here -- which is amazing on its own.

The developers involved in this game are absolutely dedicated to making it a Wing Commander experience that will appeal to fans of the original games -- they even go so far as to say that in the press release. Just one look shows that it isn't some random space game with 'Wing Commander' thrown as the title -- there are Broadswords, Rapiers, Dralthi, Darkets and a Midway in the screenshots alone... you cans ee the classic Kilrathi and Confed logos. This is *big*! It's not some giant cinematic story game -- but neither were Armada or Academy... and it is going to advance the background we love -- and show us some pretty neat new toys at the same time.

[Starman]

all I can still say is OMG

Still these screenshots look great - I really hope this leads to being a killer XBLA title.

[Dundradal]

Thank you thank you thank you is all I have to say so far.

[hurleybird]

While this is definitely good news, I'm still cautiously optimistic. The game looks far too arcade-like for my tastes, and something looks off about the art direction as well.

However, this is definitely definitely the best news in a long time for us Wingnuts... as long as it sells well. If this game flops it could be the final nail in the coffin. I might need to see if I can scrape up enough for a 360 so I can buy this game.

[jaeger]

Its great!But I need to see more to get overly happy. Looks like its gonna be fun but Its not quite what I expected.

[Bandit LOAF]

That was my key worry, too -- but the ships fly and fight just like they did in the original game... shields, armor, multiple weapons and all -- no instant arcade kills.

[Mav23]

Personally I was hoping for first person cockpit flying, but I'm still gonna give it a try. I'm sure once I get used to it it will be awesome.

Edit: Looking at the screenshots again, now I'm confused, is it first person or overhead?

[Rmax2]

54 dumbfire on a rapier ? The ships from WC5 were made for fun and multiplayer. It will be disappointing to fly a broadsword at 600 KPS with 80 missiles. It probably will be a game for a new public.

[Pedro]

There may be call for cockpit view replica of a 10 year old franchise here, but personally I'm very glad they seem to be tailoring it towards consoles, as it in consoles that the success of any franchise lies, PC games just don't make money any more.

Very glad to hear it sounds like you're in touch with the development team LOAF, it really implies they're going to taking their fans seriously. Do you know if there is a large collection of wingnuts on the team or if its proffesional pride?

[floundericiousMI]

Hey, in arena5.jpg (the one with the dead ship broken in half in the middle), that ship in the background on the right half of the image looks like one of the transport ships from WCP, no?

http://www.wcnews.com/ships2/wcppelican.shtml

Maybe it's just the bridge up on a big pylon, but it's certainly evocative!

[StarSlayer]

Well, all skepticism aside, I'll be hopping online and buying it the moment it shows up. Btw, if it came with a Wing Commander theme...especially of the more traditional variety...I'd be hard pressed not to spend some cash on that too....

[ShadowLight]

Wow, crazy news. Just the other day I was thinking they can't possibly leave this franchise alone forever.

I'm so glad to see the beloved WC franchise finally getting some love again! I'm not sure how I feel about it based on the screenshots, but I'll be damn sure giving it a try. We can only hope a positive response will inject a top quality product in to the market later on.

Glad to see wcnews is still kicking! The first place I looked after reading the press release.

Your ollllllllllllllllllddddddd pal,
ShadowLight

[Gamer8585]

Finally, EA actually DOSE SOMETHING with the franchise. Not what I was expecting, but any bit of love is appreciated (especially since this might be the grease that turns the gears of the machine that makes true WC games). Looks like it could be a fun Arcade type title and if it builds a bigger fan base, great.

However I don't own a X-Box360, nor do I have the funds to buy one and I probably won't anytime in the near future. I bought a Wii and a couple of games after Christmas and my mom has been breathing down my neck about how much that cost (reducing overall funds and parental tolerance). Plus my books this semester cost $500, so I'm running low on the ol' Greenbacks.

Yeah, so I just hope that a PC or Wii version comes out. That would be nice.

[Pedro]

A Wii version would be awesome, I'd be very excited about the controls on it...

Unfrotunatley thus far, whilst Nintendo has claimed its coming, there is no means for developers to publish original content, furthermore the online buddy system is childish and most developers don't have any SDK to work with yet. To put it short, for a Wii version Nintendo would need to get their online act in gear pronto.

PC, with the new XBox Live/ Vista friendliness promises, and the similarity in PC and 360 development... that's quite likely. Heck this is EA, if the PS3, Wii and Vista all deliver on their promises quickly enough we may see it going massively multi-format.

[privfan]

glad to see a new WC game
for now htat's all I'll say as my thoughts are drifting negative based on the screen shots but it's too early to be making an informed decision

[Bandit LOAF]

Originally Posted by privfan

glad to see a new WC game
for now htat's all I'll say as my thoughts are drifting negative based on the screen shots but it's too early to be making an informed decision

Better look again -- you can find Rapiers, Broadswords and Dralthi in there -- this is fantastic!

[NinjaLA]

yeah, and to use another franchise as an example, did mario kart detract from the Mario games? no, in fact it breathed a new life into a franchise by introducing whole new methods of play.

This could be exactly what WC needs to get a proper kick-start!

[Bandit LOAF]

Yeah, you have to look pretty darned hard -- or just be a big jerk -- to find bad news in *this*!

[hurleybird]

Looking closer at the screen shots (especially the last one where the background nebula is oddly mapped on a square polygon parallel to the capships) it looks like the game is on a 2D plane (or if there is 3d movement, it's extremely limited). I guess there is nothing specifically wrong with that from a game play standpoint, but it certainly isn't what I was expecting or hoping for.

[Howard Day]

Ooh. This is going to be interesting! I can't wait. If I needed any additional reason to pick up a 360 Hard drive, this is it!
I must admit, I'm just a little bit disappointed in the graphics. I had hoped the next WC game would blow my socks off, as all the others had. Even though all the ships are there - and more - they just look a bit mundane.
Still, that's such a minor, minor disapointment. And who knows how much they'll change before the release?
MULTIPLAYER WING COMMANDER! On the 360!
Hooooly Shit!
LOAF, you must feel like a proud papa!

[Bandit LOAF]

Looking closer at the screen shots (especially the last one where the background nebula is oddly mapped on a square polygon parallel to the capships) it looks like the game is on a 2D plane (or if there is 3d movement, it's extremely limited). I guess there is nothing specifically wrong with that from a game play standpoint, but it certainly isn't what I was expecting or hoping for.

Nope, it isn't Descent FreeSpace 3. But seriously, it's slightly more complicated than this -- it's on a 2D plane that also has maneuvering up and down via separate maneuver system... it's very hard to explain -- hopefully there'll be a movie of some sort available in the future.

I must admit, I'm just a little bit disappointed in the graphics. I had hoped the next WC game would blow my socks off, as all the others had. Even though all the ships are there - and more - they just look a bit mundane

I'm kind of surprised with how it looks, too -- the screenshots have a sort of muddy quality that doesn't portray how it feels in HD at all. That said, you're going to find some *very* cool takes on classic Wing Commander fighters.

[hurleybird]

Originally Posted by Bandit LOAF

Nope, it isn't Descent FreeSpace 3. But seriously, it's slightly more complicated than this -- it's on a 2D plane that also has maneuvering up and down via separate maneuver system... it's very hard to explain -- hopefully there'll be a movie of some sort available in the future.

So, its a 2D shooter with a cool innovation for moving up and down on a limited 3rd axis. In that case, I'm very interested to see how this innovation affects the core gameplay. Do you have any idea how the 3rd axis affects the aiming system?

[Bandit LOAF]

So, its a 2D shooter with a cool innovation for moving up and down on a limited 3rd axis. In that case, I'm very interested to see how this innovation affects the core gameplay. Do you have any idea how the 3rd axis affects the aiming system?

The up-down maneuvers are fairly important to the core game -- they're required for everything from evading your opponents to reaching various areas of the maps.

I'm not sure about aiming, though.

[NinjaLA]

that sounds very nice

I can't wait to see a demo or something

[Chicken]

I may not like the art, but having the ability to pound fellow WingNuts into space dust is just too damn attractive. The capships look like ashtrays with stapled accessories, but the fighters are just awesome.

[hurleybird]

All the fighters in the screen shots look too tiny to make any educated claim about how good they look. personally, I think that from what I've seen that they look like cardboard cutouts, but it's possible that they're LODed and look better up close. The cap ships seem to look ugly when you're very close to them, but from a distance look much better (but too shiny!). The backgrounds look kind of washed out, blurry, and are on weird planes.

But I don't really care about the graphics. It's the gameplay that will make or break the game.

[lxi]

remember, it's just a live game... most of those don't have amazing graphics, they are just fun games...

but this could lead to something else

[Mav23]

So I'm assuming two teams of 8? Or four teams of 4? Probably both.

[hurleybird]

The press release does say "multiple-teams" so it's possible that there's support for more than two teams in a game. That would certainly be cool!

[lxi]

and free for all... which is sweet too

[Stone48420]

Im definatly going to buy this game when it comes out. But I think its to soon to tell if its going to suck or not either way its going into my collection.

Why can't they just remake the engine that they used in Armada/Wc3/Wc4 and add some multiplayer to that. I would have a blast playing online in those my fondest memories come from the old armada days.

I really can't wait and this is great news.

[Dougly]

I'm a bit sad that it's multiplayer and not for PC. But, I'm EXTREMLY happy to see any kind of a new (as in, not a remake) Wing Commander game at all.

I'm especially happy because this means we can now officially tell all of those people who engaged in "Wing Commander is dead!" hysteria what they can go do with themselves.

[Ijuin]

What I am hoping for is some sort of cooperative campaign mode where you can form a squadron of players and fight through missions full of NPC's to win or lose control of a sector of space.

[TCSGettysburg]

This makes me wish I had a console.

[AD]

While the game sounds great I wasn't sold on it by the screenshots. THey *Do NOT* do the game justice at all.

If you have any doubts gamespot has some Arena gameplay videos: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sim/...ena/index.html

It looks freaking sweet! 2d plane and all...

[dafusion]

I agree with AD, the screenshots really don't paint the whole picture.
The videos are pretty cool, but boy does that player (in the first clip) barrel roll a lot.

It reminds me of Subspace, which isn't a bad thing at all.
I hope it also shows up on the Wii, PS2, or PC!

[NinjaLA]

yeah.. watch those gameplay vids.. they are much better than the screenshots would let on.

[st3lt3k]

I'm definitely looking forward to this (enough to possibly purchase an Xbox 360)!

I'm curious how the ship customization will work.

[Bandit LOAF]

It's too bad we can't host the high res movies here. On an unrelated note, #WingNut is a fun place to visit on a night like this.

I'm curious how the ship customization will work.

Me too, because as far as I know there isn't any in the game...

[Dougly]

Does anyone know if there will be much of a plot/back story to this game? Or, is it just a chance to get together with some friends and blow each other up? Because the impression that I’m getting (and, I may very well be wrong) is that it’s the latter.

Even if it is primarily a “get together and blow things up” game, I'm hoping that this might be the first step in resurrecting the WC franchise... That, perhaps, after this we might see a more story based, primarily single player WC game released. Something that helps to significantly expand upon the WC universe that we know, in the same way that previous WC sequels did.

A game set after the events of Secret Ops would be nice. Though I'd also be happy with a sequel to Privateer.

Any news at all on the WC front is good news...

[Bandit LOAF]

The game has a 'setting' that will advance the Wing Commander timeline a little, but there's no specific narrative included here.

I think, unquestionably, though, this is the first step to bringing back Wing Commander -- and it's a *big* one. This game is going to sell well based on its outstanding technical virtues alone...