Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn
Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn is a freeware Windows game, released on 22 March 2012, made by fans of the Wing Commander series.
Plot
The game depicts a war between Terran Confederation and the Kilrathi Empire. The story runs parallel to the events of Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger. The player is a rookie pilot with a call sign "The Sandman", currently serving on TCS Hermes. The game features a 55-mission campaign.
Development and release
In the early 2000s, Wing Commander Saga was proposed as a mod for Conquest: Frontier Wars, Homeworld, and Starshatter until it was decided to be made with the FreeSpace 2 engine. The game's prologue was released separately on 31 December 2006. The full game was released 22 March 2012. A mission editor was released on 11 April 2012.
Reception
Rock Paper Shotgun wrote: "It's a terrific fan-game, and a much needed return to a genre that's been sitting with adventure games in the commercial sin-bin for far, far too long." called it a worthy remake with a gripping story. Eurogamer.de called the game a small masterpiece. HotHardware wrote: " it pays homage to its source material while improving on Wing Commander's classic gameplay and graphics." Atomic said: "If you remember or are a fan of the classic series this is a must-have to download and play. If you’re not familiar with the series but love Battlestar Galactica, this is also a must-have to download and play." PC Games said The Darkest Dawn comes close to the quality of FreeSpace 2 and is simply impressive for a fan project.