History VideoGame / WingCommanderPrivateer

* LiveActionCutscene: ''Privateer 2'' is widely praised for its live-action cutscenes. While the game itself is [[ObviousBeta notoriously glitchy]], the cutscenes are often considered its saving grace, thanks to its outstanding production value and acting.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: When engaging in combat with hostile [=NPCs=], successfully destroying their ships usually causes them to eject into an escape pod. If you have a tractor beam installed in your ship, you can use it to vacuum the pods into your cargo hold and ''sell them off as slaves'' at any station.

''Wing Commander: Privateer'' is an adventure space flight simulation computer game released by Creator/OriginSystems in 1993. Privateer and its storyline is part of the ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' series. Privateer had an add-on titled ''Righteous Fire'' (1994) that continues the story and adds other purchasable equipment to the game. The game was followed up by a full-motion video sequel called ''Privateer 2: The Darkening.''

The player takes the role of Grayson Burrows, a "privateer" who travels through the Gemini Sector, one of many sectors in the ''Wing Commander'' universe. Unlike Wing Commander, the player is no longer a navy pilot, but a freelancer who can choose to be a pirate, a merchant, a mercenary or any of the above in some combination. The player may follow the built-in plot but is free to adventure on his own, even after the plot has been completed.

Burrows' name was unknown to the general public for many years. During that period he was known as "Brownhair", by reference to "Bluehair", the ''Wing Commander'' I and II protagonist later known as Christopher Blair.

** The jump drive you need to get out of the starting sector, in ''Privateer'', costs ten thousand credits, a hefty sum early on in the game. It will also immediately punish you if you put all your money into just getting the jump drive, as the enemy craft outside the opening system are ''much'' more difficult and dangerous than those within it (even the [[RedShirt Talons]] get an upgrade, going from a laser and two mass drivers to a mass driver and two particle cannons, turning them into [[GlassCannon Glass Cannons]]).

* AllianceMeter: Your standing with the factions in the Gemini sector can be altered by which faction you shoot down. While regaining trust with a faction after a killing spree of their pilots is technically possible, without Roman Lynch's help in the add-on ''Righteous Fire'' it's ''much'' more difficult. Note that Retros will never be friendly other than for plot-dictated reasons in ''Righteous Fire''.

* BigBad: In ''Righteous Fire'', Mordecai Jones, leader of the Retros and the game's FinalBoss.

* DeathCourse: Several missions in ''Privateer'' and its add-on ''Righteous Fire'' don't even allow that option, as the base you're operating out of for them is an abandoned mining base located in the middle of an asteroid field.
* DiskOneNuke: The friend or foe missile in the original Privateer. Two of these missiles will take out a Talon[[note]]The Talon is the most commonly encountered enemy ship in the game and the only one encountered in the starting system outside of rare anti-Kilrathi missions.[[/note]] 90% of the time, meaning that a single missile launcher is five almost guaranteed kills. Your starting ship comes already equipped with a missile launcher and loading it up with FF missiles allows you to take combat missions right from the start of the game. Depending on your luck with the randomly generated missions[[note]]Rewards of around 10,000 are not uncommon and you can take three missions at a time.[[/note]] you may be able to buy your jumpdrive and significantly upgrade your ship (e.g. buying a ''second'' missile launcher) after a single sortie.
* TheDragon: Governor Menesch from ''Righteous Fire'', the corrupt Gemini Sector governor who secretly works for the Retros [[spoiler: and is responsible for the theft of the player character's Steltek Gun acquired from the previous game.]]

* GuideDangIt: The power plant is now part of the ship's ''engine''. Although this does makes sense, in the previous Wing Commander games it was a discrete component. If you're a Wing Commander veteran and didn't read the manual, you'll end up experiencing really odd things, such as extremely expensive engines that don't provide any great increase in thrust (and the in-game statistics don't mention the power output, that information is only contained in the manual), and situations where a lucky hit knocks out your engine, and not only do you lose the ability to speed up or slow down, but your guns and missile launchers stop working!

** The Steltek Gun. It is the most powerful gun in the game and is not available in any ship dealer. It can only be obtained by advancing well far into the plot. Its rarity and power becomes a plot point in both the regular game and its add-on ''Righteous Fire''.
** The Fusion Gun in ''Righteous Fire'' is a stand-in for the Steltek Gun, with near identical stats but with the advantage of accessibility in ship dealers. Its disadvantage is its high price at 100000 credits, making it the most expensive gun in the game.

** The Centurion fighter boasts a well-balanced combination of firepower, speed, maneuverability, and protection. It only skimps on cargo carrying capacity as it is not suited for delivery missions save for smuggling operations. The add-on ''Righteous Fire'' turns the Centurion into a LightningBruiser with newer and more advanced ship upgrades.

** Sadly, the robot (Both the basic model and the upgrade) will only work in real time and only while you're flying, that means that if your ship is a crate full of holes, barely keeping itself together, and you press auto-pilot to go to another location, your ship still will be wrecked. Should you take your time (Waiting while looking at the computer's screen) the robot will fix you, slow and steady. You cannot command it to fix your systems while you're docked. It's a particular example, because auto-pilot isn't supposed to be a teleport but just a convenience to players, to skip a long wait from point Ah to point Bee!

* NoFairCheating: In ''Privateer'' and its [[ExpansionPack addon]] ''Righteous Fire'', with invulnerability activated at any time during a mission, whether random or plot, you can't get credit for completing it.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: Justified in ''Righteous Fire''. [[spoiler:The Steltek Gun that is stolen from your ship in the beginning of the game can never be retrieved in the storyline again, since it's a one-of-a-kind gun developed only by the Steltek and its blueprints were never sold to or obtained by the public for mass production. A Retro informant later in the game tells you that his faction has just created downgraded duplicates of the gun and he promises to destroy all of its remaining copies if you kill their leader. For anyone wishing to kick some major butt with the Steltek Gun, this comes off as a major player punch.]]

* {{Precursors}}: The Steltek, from '' Privateer''. Arguably they were Precursors of the [[NeglectfulPrecursors neglectful]] variety, though they did make an effort to clean up after themselves once made aware of the problem.

* SpaceAmish: The Church of Man ("Retros") from ''Privateer'' and its [[ExpansionPack addon]] ''Righteous Fire'' are a militant variation on the theme. Of course, the irony of using technology to punish you for using technology is completely lost on the Retros.

* SwissCheeseSecurity: In the intro of ''Righteous Fire'', [[spoiler:the player character calls out the head security guard of the Jolson pleasure planet for failing to prevent the theft of his prized Steltek Gun from a then-unknown group of conspirators. He vows to find out who stole his gun and settle the score.]]

* DolledUpInstallment: ''Privateer 2: The Darkening'', the "sequel" to ''Privateer'', originated as a non-Wing Commander-related game with a working name of The Darkening (as per an advert in the back of the ''Wing Commander IV'' manual). Due to several factors, including but not limited to ExecutiveMeddling, ''Privateer 2'' had Wing Commander touches added before the final release.
** Apparently The Darkening started as one of two expensive projects being made by Origin in England. When the budget spiraled out of control, management decided to combine both games in order to get something out the door.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Reinhart is unfailingly calm and polite during his scene, but he still uses the opportunity to hit [[BerserkButton Berserk Buttons]] and creep out Lev and Hassan.

* ALongTimeAgoInAGalaxyFarFarAway: Set in a region of space called the Tri-System unrelated to the rest of the ''Wing Commander'' universe and Earth. Justified in that it was originally an unrelated game until ExecutiveMeddling turned it into a DolledUpInstallment.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: Justified in the sequel ''Righteous Fire''. [[spoiler:The Steltek Gun that is stolen from your ship in the beginning of the game can never be retrieved in the storyline again, since it's a one-of-a-kind gun developed only by the Steltek and its blueprints were never sold to or obtained by the public for mass production. A Retro informant later in the game tells you that his faction has just created downgraded duplicates of the gun and he promises to destroy all of its remaining copies if you kill their leader. For anyone wishing to kick some major butt with the Steltek Gun, this comes off as a major player punch.]]

-->'''SpacePirate:''' Who are you that flies so good? Are you insane?!\\

* WronskiFeint: In the intro for ''Privateer'', the PlayerCharacter lures a [[SpacePirate pirate's]] missiles around an asteroid, and then sends them back at the firing craft. How he did that in a ship that can't outrun or outturn the missiles is an exercise best left for those who forget the MST3KMantra.