I first met Han Solo in Space, approaching a small planet in the Halitosis System, it was about 2 years after the Emperor's death. He was being chased by a dozen angry fighters, friends of Jabba no doubt, which I generously took care of while he made his landing approach. Later the night in a small bar on the dark side of Halitosis we got to talking, "Well, Chewy and I have been searching the galaxy for two years now." he said, eyeing me carefully. "I know it sounds like an impossibly dream but, one day, we hope to find a place where Man and Wookie can be together, without fear of recrimination, prejudice or guilt." It was at this point that I woke up, realised that I'd spent the last eighteen hours playing X-Wing vs TIE Fighter, and promptly collapsed back into a coma. But it was a good coma.


It's been a long time coming, but I'm sure no one minds too much now that it's here. X-Wing vs TIE is more than just a combination of LucasArt's earlier Star Wars titles - it's a whole new experience with a new 3D engine, built from the ground up to support multiplayer play. In fact, it was actually ready for release last November, as a prior multiplayer experience, but wiser heads at Lucas decided that some single player were needed, hence the delay.

This modular approach gives the game a bit of a split personality, with some of the single player game modes working differently to the way they do in the multiplayer game. There is no campaign game as there was in the older X-Wing and TIE Fighter games, just a set of varying mission types. In fact, you could say that the single player game is really only there as a training ground to prepare you for the multiplayer scenarios, just so you don't get your ass kicked too badly.

To this effect, Lucas have tricked up their AI programming remarkably. Your (computer) opponents now act in a much more human way and are much tougher than they were in the earlier Star Wars games.

To get you into the swing of things, X-Wing vs TIE Fighter's developers have included some 'Exercise' missions, "Take out the target drains at nav point..." etc. There are different ones for Rebel and Empire pilots. In the multiplayer game the 'exercise' missions are a good way to learn how to fly in formation with our buddies, watch your wingman's tail and coordinate your attacks most effectively. Here you can also set up 'Historical Missions' (hey kids, next time you're in history class, try asking your teacher about the Jedi Knights' contribution to the Crusades.)

When you're done with training, it's time to party. Melee missions are designed for instant, ferocious action and by instant I mean that if you don't have your 'stick pulled hard over and your fingers on the shield controls when the game starts, you're toast! If you're after something with a little more depth, the Tournament option groups either three or five melee missions together, with purpose of finding out whi is the best overall pilot. Tournaments also allow you to team up with either a friend or AI pilot to compete against other teams.