X-WING: THE OFFICIAL STRATEGY GUIDE by Rusel DeMaria

Published by Prima Publishing
Reviewed by Sir Launcelot du Lake

For those of you who did not manage to get the limited edition of the X-Wing game from LucasArts which contained The Farlander Papers, it is possible to obtain this and much more with this book. Written by the same author, The Farlander Papers is included in this strategy guide, albeit in different sections of the book. The X-Wing Strategy Guide is presented in a fictionalised form via the exploits of the Rebel hero Keyan Farlander.

The book is divided into four main section and five appendices. Part I - Farlander's Story, and Part II - Early Training, are essentially reproduced from The Farlander Papers. They describe, in a fictional format, the events that led to the recruitment of Farlander as a starfighter pilot in the Rebel Alliance. There are also tactical tips on getting through the Pilot Proving Grounds.

Part III - Historical Combat Missions, gives detailed strategies on winning the 18 historical training missions for the three starfighter types. Maps and screenshots are reproduced to give emphasis, and the tactics and general lessons to be learned are useful. In Part IV - Tours of Duty, the same presentation format for strategy and tactics is used as in Part III, with the Mission Briefing detailing the mission objectives, Farlander's After-Action Report describing the tactics he used, and the Debriefing showing the win conditions. In addition, there is also a C.O. 's Analysis, which describes alternative strategies. For you hackers out there, the filename of each mission is also given.

In between missions and tours are fictional interludes, in which DeMaria advances the story of Keyan Farlander. The plot in itself is rather interesting, with Farlander himself coming to grips with the Force and the Dark Side. The story in no way detracts from the main focus of the book as a strategy guide, as it is written in a light, easy-going style. To be consistent with the movies, Luke Skywalker gets to blow up the Death Star in the final mission.

The appendices are a wealth of highly detailed information for the anal- retentives out there. The complete scoring system is revealed - I had no idea that each laser/ion fired without hitting gets 1 point deducted! 3 points are awarded for hits. The points required to get promotion and win the awards are also shown, plus enemy AI characteristics. Another appendix describes in detail how to use the camera functions to your advantage. The Mission Statistics Tables is the most detailed section. Every ship's orders, AI, number of waves etc., on every single mission is detailed. So if you are stuck in any mission (and X-Wing is notorious for some very diabolical missions), you can scrutinize all the intricacies of the mission in these tables.

The book winds up with the obligatory mini-biographies of 8 of the designers, plus an interview with Larry Holland and Edward Kilham. The interview isn't very long, compared to the ones with Lord British et al in Ultima: The Avatar Adventures and Ultima VII and Underworld: More Avatar Adventures. We get to read about the design philosophies and decisions that went into the making of X-Wing. A lot of influence came from Holland's Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, and even Wing Commander had an impact on some decisions. We also get a hint at the end about a sequel to X-Wing, with both the designers looking into the Dark Side. Of course, by the time you read this, TIE Fighter would probably be out.

Overall, this textbook is well written and very comprehensive, but it doesn't cover the add on disks, Imperial Pursuit and B-Wing (although technical specifications of ships appearing in these tours like the B-Wing and Interdictor Cruiser are given). Most of you would have already finished X-Wing, so I'll leave the Force to guide you on your decision to purchase this guide . For you who are stuck on those accursed missions, or who are going to give X-Wing a try, you won't go wrong with this book by your side.

This review is Copyright (C) 1994 by Sir Launcelot du Lake for GameBytes. All rights reserved.