Wing Commander Arena is EA’s latest installment for the Xbox Live Arcade, loosely based upon the Wing Commander games of old. WCA takes a vastly different approach than earlier games in the series, which were cockpit based space shooters. WCA instead offers a third person perspective of the game, as the pilot battles through wave upon wave of enemy craft. Despite being set in outer space, the environment is essentially a 2D battleground, not unlike a naval battle. This radical departure from the traditional style of game play will have many enthusiasts from days gone by wondering whether EA is simply trying to cash in on the Wing Commander name.
WCA features two warring factions, the Terran and the Kilrathi, each with their own collection of 9 distinct ships. At the onset, the gamer will have only 2 ships available from each race, with the rest being unlocked as you play and rack up the kills. There are 3 basic hull types including recon, fighter and bomber, with 3 variants of each hull type. Each variant includes differences in armor and weapon load out, with most having 2 energy-based guns and two missile based hardpoints. A few others have mine laying abilities. The engineering specs differ among each variant, with speed, acceleration and turning radius playing a huge factor in how each ship maneuvers.
The focus of WCA is multiplayer, in which up to 16 gamers can go toe to toe on Xbox Live. The Free for All modes include two maps of the host’s choosing, as well as a unique “Bearpit” game. The Bearpit is described as an arena within an arena, in which two combatants take center stage in a duel to the death, while the other players are free to fight each other or take shots at the reigning Bearpit champion. There are also team based games, the most commonly played of which is “Capital Ship”. Each team has a massive battleship that they must defend while attacking and destroying the other team’s battleship. The battleships constantly move in relation to one another, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your radar so that you know where the attackers will come from. There are also team based Free for All games on the two maps offered in the “every man for himself” modes. There are no local multiplayer games presented in WCA.
The true core of WCA is multiplayer, which can be quite entertaining, yet it is not free of faults. A major oversight by the developers is the inability to keep a party of players together once a match has ended. It can be frustrating to find a group you’d like to play with, only to be kicked all the way out to the front-end menu at the conclusion of the match. This frustration is compounded when you have to wait several minutes for a game to get the minimum number of players before it begins. This is a major hindrance to what is otherwise a fairly enjoyable multiplayer game.
The controls are simple enough, but contain some advanced features to aid you in combat. The right stick is used to strafe as well as pull off evasive maneuvers such as loops and barrel rolls, or attack maneuvers including 180 degree turns and Immelmans. The right stick maneuvers are not always responsive enough. Perfect timing is needed to perform an Immelman turn, which is done by flicking the stick to the left twice during a loop. More often than not, the controls will not do as you wish.
