X-Wing Alliance (PC)

As soon as you load up X-Wing: Alliance, the game emanates Star Wars nostalgia. The stirring intro could have been created by Mr. Lucas himself. You take the role of Ace Azzameen, the youngest of a family of traders. It's now time for you to do some jobs for the oldies, as they teach you all the flight skills there is to know. You'll need 'em.

The actual game is superb. Every single mission has been carefully planned and orchestrated. The storyline is second to none and you really get the feeling you are flying in the movie. The music, too, is absolutely jaw-dropping. LucasArts have got rid of the old MIDI tunes, and replaced them with CD quality music, lifted straight from the Star Wars films. It seems a large focus has been put on making it feel as much like the movies as possible, as your wingmen turn and weave like Wedge, and for once, your wingmen are actually helpful!

It is hard to fault X-Wing: Alliance in any way. The graphics, music, AI, storyline and practically anything else you can think of are superlative. The one niggle is the high spec PC needed to run it properly. On my P233 MMX I have to have it at the lowest detail possible to stop it jerking, which detracts from the experience. That said, every warm-blooded PC gamer should own it.

93%

Chris Lewis