Kilrathi Gratuit: Wing Commander 3 Free On Origin

Mark Hamill might be wearing those dusty old wizard robes again, but 20 years ago, the Wing Commander games were the only hope of Hamillaniacs to see him zapping about in spaceships and all that. Perhaps in the spirit of his renewed Star Warring, or patting Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts on the back for Star Citizen, or--who knows!--possibly even promoting their service, EA are giving away Wing Commander 3: Heart of the Tiger free on Origin for a bit.

The FMV-tastic spaceship shooter usually costs £3.99, though the price isn't the reason why you weren't playing Wing Commander 3 last night anyway, is it? Offers like this are handy reminders of "Hey! That game exists! It's meant to be good, isn't it? Oh, go on then!" Or for people who played it the first time around, it's a horrible reminder that you were once so young and so free and quick! if you play this maybe you'll recapture that?

WC3 was a big jump for the series. It went from sprites to 3D models, and introduced the lashings of live action cutscenes that the series is remembered for as much as its spaceship action. Mark Hamill played the main character, somehow managing to stay gravelly and serious even when faced with a species of giant spacecat puppet people. It also had future dwarf John Rhys-Davies and, because they are in everything, Tim Curry (in voice only) and Malcolm McDowell.

It's a freebie until September 3. And yes, of course this requires Origin. It's still weird that EA chose to revive the name of the folks who made Wing Commander, Origin Systems, for its download store, seven years after shutting the studio down.