By the time Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance landed in 1999, the classic LucasArts flight sim series had already done a lot of heavy lifting for Star Wars gaming. X-Wing gave players the Rebel pilot fantasy. TIE Fighter somehow made flying for the Empire feel cool instead of deeply concerning. Then X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter turned the whole thing into a full-on Rebel-vs-Imperial showdown. So what did X-Wing Alliance do? Simple. It took all of that, added more story, more personality, and one very shiny Millennium Falcon, then sent the series off in style. If you’ve been following our complete Star Wars games archive, this is one of those entries that really helps round out the 90s era. And if you are digging through our 1990–1999 Star Wars games hub, this one absolutely deserves a good spot near the top shelf. Not just another Rebel pilot story One of the smartest…
Space combat
Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter (1997): The Multiplayer Space Sim That Changed the Series
By the time Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter arrived in 1997, LucasArts had already built one of the most respected corners of Star Wars gaming. X-Wing had established the Rebel pilot fantasy. TIE Fighter had sharpened the formula and proved the Empire could be just as compelling from the cockpit. Then X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter took the next obvious step: it turned the whole thing into a direct Rebel-versus-Imperial showdown built around multiplayer dogfights, cooperative battles, and a more modernized presentation. Official Star Wars support highlights its support for up to eight players, more than 50 missions, and nine different spacecraft, while Steam’s store page frames it as one of the most historically significant space combat simulators ever made. That shift matters more than it might sound at first. X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter was not just “more of the same.” It marked a real evolution in what the series…
Star Wars: X-Wing (1993): The Rebel Flight Sim That Launched a Legendary Series
Before Star Wars space combat became a nostalgia trigger, a subgenre, and a minor religion for PC players of a certain age, there was Star Wars: X-Wing. Released in 1993 by LucasArts, it put players in the cockpit of Rebel starfighters and asked them to do something that felt unusually serious for the time: not just blast TIEs, but manage power, complete mission objectives, and survive a proper space combat simulation set in the Star Wars universe. Official Star Wars support still describes it as a game with more than 120 missions and a full 3D battlefield of Imperial and Rebel craft, while MobyGames identifies it as the first major space combat sim in the franchise. That alone makes it historically important. But X-Wing matters for a bigger reason: it created one of the most respected Star Wars game lineages ever made. Without it, there is no TIE Fighter, no…
Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994): The Imperial Flight Sim That Still Feels Elite
Some Star Wars games are remembered because they were huge commercial events. Others live forever because players never really stopped talking about how good they were. Star Wars: TIE Fighter belongs in the second category. Released in 1994, it put players in the cockpit of the Imperial Navy, cast Darth Vader’s side as the playable perspective, and built a space-combat sim that many players and critics still treat as one of the best Star Wars games ever made. Star Wars’ official support page describes it as a game where you “join the Imperial Navy” under Vader, while a 30th-anniversary retrospective from heise online notes that TIE Fighter still usually sits near the top of all-time Star Wars game rankings. That reputation was not built on novelty alone. TIE Fighter mattered because it took the foundation of X-Wing and sharpened it into something cleaner, smarter, and more confident. Where a lot…
Star Citizen Guide to Mastering Contested Zones – Your Ultimate Survival
Star Citizen Alpha’s latest update has seen the release of several new game mechanics, among the most notable of these are the newly-designated “Contested Zones”. Players have been used to safe zones and other peaceful hubs till now, where Player v/s Player violence is highly penalized. However, contested zones bring an entirely new meta to the Galaxy. Contested zones are a free-for-all, spots designated for not just players but even hostile AI enemies to let their cannons loose! This violence, however, is accompanied by equally high rewards, with rare ships, high-tier gear, and eye-watering Star Citizen aUEC payouts. This guide will help you master these patches of the Wild West in Star Citizen. What are Contested Zones? Contested zones are high-stakes PvPvE (Player v/s Player v/s Enemy), free-for-all zones, offering an alternative to the usual safe hubs, designed to provide skilled players with a chance to prove their mettle, among…
Star Wars Battlefront II’s Hero Starfighters Update Turns 7 — Here’s Why It Still Hits
Hard to believe, but it’s been seven years since Star Wars Battlefront II dropped one of its most beloved and underrated updates: Hero Starfighters. Released on July 3, 2018, this free content update didn’t just toss in a game mode—it gave players a reason to master the skies, go full throttle with iconic ships, and, yes, fly as Lando’s Sullustan co-pilot with style. The update was a turning point. Not in the “we’ve redefined multiplayer” way, but in that subtle, satisfying “hey, this game’s finally getting polished” kind of way. Let’s take a hyperspace jump back and unpack what made this update soar. Hero Starfighters: When the Skies Got Personal Before this patch, Battlefront II had solid starfighter mechanics—but no real way to make them feel personal. Enter Hero Starfighters, a new game mode that made space battles more than just background noise. The setup was clean and brutal: It…
Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron Trilogy Review – High-Stakes Pilot Action (Spoilers)
(This review contains spoilers for Alphabet Squadron, Shadow Fall, and Victory’s Price.) The Alphabet Squadron Trilogy by Alexander Freed is not your typical sunny Star Wars adventure. It’s more like an intense starfighter tournament with life-or-death stakes – a trilogy that follows a ragtag group of New Republic pilots hunting down an elite Imperial TIE unit in the chaotic aftermath of Return of the Jedi. Think Rogue One’s grit meets Top Gun aerial action, with a dash of esports team drama and the suspense of a high-stakes Sabacc game thrown in. If that mix sounds wild, well, buckle up (and maybe grab a cocktail from Canto Bight’s casino for the nerves), because Alphabet Squadron, Shadow Fall, and Victory’s Price deliver an emotional rollercoaster at lightspeed. Get a copy of the books here What is Alphabet Squadron? (Overview) In the Star Wars galaxy’s post-Emperor era, Alphabet Squadron is a five-pilot team…
Star Wars Outlaws: A Pirate’s Fortune – New Update, New Adventures
The galaxy just got a whole lot wilder. Star Wars Outlaws has launched its latest story expansion, A Pirate’s Fortune, and it’s packed with new content that will have every outlaw scrambling for their blaster. Hondo Ohnaka is back in full swindling glory, leading players on a quest for hidden treasure, smuggling runs, and brand-new upgrades. What’s New in A Pirate’s Fortune? This isn’t just a little side quest—you’re getting a full-on expansion with more locations, treasure hunts, and the one and only Hondo Ohnaka at your side. If there was ever a character perfectly suited to the life of a space pirate, it’s Hondo. From finding hidden treasure maps to scoring rare loot and tricked-out blasters, this update brings a new flavor of chaos to the galaxy. And it’s not just new quests—A Pirate’s Fortune introduces: Patch 1.6 Highlights Alongside A Pirate’s Fortune, Patch 1.6 delivers a ton of…
Swtor-mined: Not-So Super Secret Space Project | Preview #2 Spoiler
This time swtor_miner has brought us some incredible data mined info but this is the kind of stuff Bioware staff really don’t want us to find. Before you read any further, be aware that this will contain major spoilers and some players just prefer not to know at all. If that’s you, then click away and don’t read what was found about the super secret space project coming up in SWTOR: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES POST ANY OF THIS INFORMATION TO THE OFFICIAL FORUMS. THE POSTS WILL BE REMOVED AND YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE BANNED. IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!! Previous: Preview #1 Today I spent several hours and rewriting my adapted modelviewer to work more easily with the new ship models. I cut down the time necessary to prepare models by at least 90%, if not more. Then I spent a few hours (see below)…
Secret Space Project Preview #1
SWTOR Miner is at it again. This time he has reassembled the individual pieces of the new ship models into something coherent. He managed to load complete models into Noesis, and view them. Right now it’s very time consuming to reassemble them, so expect more in the next coming weeks. You can check out the full preview album of the Republic Striker ship in the bottom of this post. He also managed to dig out all the Space Tutorial Graphic (Ship UI Graphics) Check that out as well. Here is what we know from the latest data mining: The space update will have Free flight gameplay with a a mixture of passive, active, and defensive combat abilities with several types of resource management: Below is a direct copy from his post: There will be Multiple Modes of Group vs Group Space PvP. It Looks like there will be several objective maps, and…
The Super Secret Space Project is revealed… or at least teased!
During the Seattle Community Cantina last night, BioWare reveal what looks like the “Super Secret Space Project”. Not much is known about it yet, but it looks like mouse based star fighter combat! Not on rails! It’s been hinted at for ages at events and on the forums. Devs had said they’d like to see proper PvP ship combat off rails and guild capital ships at some point. Bioware only referred to the project as the Super Secret Space Project (hence the title of this post). We knew it was in the works. The question is when, and what are all the details. But it is nice to see this might be sooner than later now. Swtor_miner have been sitting on some mined info for a while. Here is what he thinks it is from his mining: It’s freeflight. You get a choice of 3 fighter varieties for PvP: Heavy, Medium,…
Developer Update: Heroic Space Missions
BioWare posted a new Developer Update yesterday. This time by Lead Designer Michael Backus, focusing on the new Heroic Space Missions coming with game update 1.6. For those people following this blog and Star Wars: The Old Republic closely, there won’t be much new info. Still it’s worth a read if you are interested in understanding what thoughts that have gone into the development. Many spacers enjoy the serenity of the stars, the peace of floating through the Unknown Regions, wondering if they’re seeing events and phenomena never before witnessed by intelligent life. But for others, space is just another battleground in the Great War. It can be used as a place to hide from enemies, but more often it’s where the greatest warriors of the stars prove their skill… and their loyalty. Our primary focus for the Space Missions in Star Wars™: The Old Republic has always been to make the player…
Game Update 1.6 space combat mission prview
The crew over at DarthHater have been really busy recording video footage from the upcoming Space Combat missions in Game Update 1.6 on the Public Test Server. With the footage also comes a pretty interesting Impressions article that you can read it here. Here is a snip : While we all were somewhat expecting to be underwhelmed by the new missions due to BioWare’s admission that this is not the new Super-Secret Space Project, I can say that I was even a bit more disappointed than expected by the fact that the environments themselves stayed the same. I certainly did not expect them to go all out with these new missions (eleven in total, ten playable (five per faction) as discovered in the DB “leak”) but I always hoped that they would go back and make new environments. However, it is not a deal breaker for me as I am just grateful…
New SWTOR Content on the Way
With the news of the new free to play coming soon to SWTOR, we also learned that there will be some new content coming to the game. While dates have not been confirmed yet, there are five new pieces of content we know is on the way in the near future. Let’s take a look at these five new pieces of content and remember we will continue to update you with more information as it comes in. New Warzone There will be a new warzone added to SWTOR called the Ancient Hypergate. It’s supposed to be on the new planet of Asation and they promise us new game mechanics… whatever that means. A new warzone is a plus for anyone who loves PvP and since there will be many benefits with a free to play model, we can expect this to affect PvP as well as the population of servers….