Star Wars: TIE Fighter Collector's Series

Being an older game, TIE Fighter lacks the stunning graphics of modern flight simulators. It uses no 3D acceleration card, but the software rendering is very fast on any modern machine, and you should have no trouble with playability. The combat sequences still look good, as do the animation scenes. The animations were impressive when the game was made, and still hold as much wonder as 2-dimensional animated figures and ships can muster.

In this game, you fly various spacecraft for the evil Galactic Empire, engaging in a variety of missions and campaigns in various sectors of the galaxy. The plot is especially strong for a space combat game; the campaigns all link together into a coherent story and plot developments in one campaign will affect your experience in later missions. Additionally, the view of the inner workings of the Empire's space forces that this game provides is fascinating and different: inner strife, wavering alliances, and the tensions hidden throughout the Imperial Navy's strict military structure all are slowly revealed through the course of the campaigns. If you ever wondered how flying for the Empire would differ from flying for the Alliance, behind the scenes, this game can provide you with an engrossing and unique view.

Learning to control your craft is not a difficult task. The game includes tutorial-type missions in a "flight simulator" that guide you through the basics of movement and ship control. Your ship has enough functions and controls to make the experience realistic, but not so many that you feel that you are always fiddling with the flight controls instead of flying your ship. You learn the basics of ship movement, propulsion, weapons systems, and how to operate the targeting computer quickly, but there are plenty of unnecessary advanced features for the player that prefers complexity and strategy. Before long, you will delight in using your targeting computer to locate individual laser turrets on a large ship and destroy them with concussion missiles before flying in close to finish off the crippled vessel. The completeness and power of the interface is often stunning.

The behavior of your wingmen is much improved over TIE Fighter's predecessor, X-Wing. Now, your companions always understand and acknowledge your commands, and almost always will obey them. Thus, if you really need support in a ferocious dogfight, or you need a particular ship destroyed before it jumps to hyperspace in 45 seconds, you can rely on your ability to call in your wingmen to help you out. Of course, their increased usefulness makes them more valuable, and you will have to protect them and ensure they are not destroyed early in a long battle.

TIE Fighter also features a flight recorder, with which you can record films of particular battles. These films remember the positions and actions of every ship, every missile, even every laser bolt, and you can replay the movies, following the craft of your choice (friend of foe) through the battle. There is even a feature that allows you to enter one of the movies, taking the helm of the player-controlled craft to complete the movie as you will. This allows you to film your most daring attacks and greatest victories, and not only watch them, but attempt them again and again.

The Macintosh version of TIE Fighter is the last of the great space flight simulators by Lucas Arts to be produced for the Macintosh. X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance are both PC releases. Note that the game is better with a joystick, but is too old to support input sprockets. While this is only partially relevant for Mac OS X users, Mac OS 9 users with USB joysticks that rely solely on input sprockets will need to use custom USB drivers. If they are not available from your joystick manufacturer (most are not), an excellent shareware Mac USB driver utility is available at http://www.usboverdrive.com .

TIE Fighter is one of the rare games that crosses many boundaries, providing an excellent and exciting flight-sim while simultaneously containing a rich plot and excellent control systems. The powerful flight recorder is an added bonus to an already superior game. Join the Dark Side and fly for the Empire, and you will have an experience you shall never forget.


Serve The Emperor   August 8, 2001
Daniel James McNaught (San Juan Capistrano, CA USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

This game is the best space simulator I have played. When I compare it to it's predecessor X-Wing, I see how great it is. The graphics, music, and gameplay are all better, and you fly seven ships instead of four. There are dozens of new ships in game, allowing for greater variety. Plus, no game is as dedicated to serving the Empire and Empire only as is TIE Fighter. When I played X-Wing, I thought was doing something noble and good. I see now how wrong I was.


Great, but a better deal around the corner...   May 24, 2001
Dressi (Gainesville, Ga United States)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful

It is a great game... with a wanna-be twisting plot line that kinda makes you feel a part of it all. Ok well the plotlines aren't the selling factor for this game. It is a great game to have and own if you are a star wars fan or just enjoy simple classics to pass the time and nothing as involving as other 1st person games like BattleZone or whatnot... it's also a great game to edit with a good deal of editing programs available. They programing for the game is really good and provides for a large number of possible effects and abilities, only limited by the 28 object/per battlefield rule. It is truly a classic, but if you want to see a better version of this, try the Lucas Arts compilation of Alliance, X-wing, X-wing vs. Tie-fighter flght school, and Tie-fighter all in one, with new graphics like Polygon Skins and expansions beyond teh 28 object rule. I myself have owned just about every version of Tie-fighter from the 3.5 Floppy version to the Collectors CD-rom DOS mode to the beefed X-Wing Trilogy (star wars and trilogies... gee). It is truly a good game with even more fun waiting in the editing fields. If you like Wingcommander, X-wing or anyother flightsiulator then this is one you can definitely have fun with.


Outdated graphics...Outdated sound...Just Outdated!!   January 25, 2001
0 out of 25 found this review helpful

I'd like to consider myself a Star Wars fan, so I was looking forward to getting this game. Even though, I was expecting "okay" graphics, I thought "it can't be that bad". But after watching the opening sequence, I have concluded that this is by far one of the worst Star Wars games, in regards to graphics, that I have ever seen. It was enough to turn me off completely and curse the day that I had bought the game. Even the music, one of the things that makes Star Wars "STAR WARS", is horrible. Forget the orchestra! You'd be lucky enough to get a synthesizer!! *Please note: this review is based on graphics and sound alone. I am still in the disappointment phase so I haven't really gotten into the storyline of the game. If you are a die hard Star Wars fan and can tolerate crappy graphics/sound, buy this game... at your own risk! If not, don't waste your time or money. In either case, you'd have more fun playing with the actual toys.