X-Wing Alliance (Prima's Official Strategy Guide) (Paperback)

by Doug Barnett (Author), John Drake (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Not a big fan of Episode I? Hungry for some good ol' original trilogy action? Well, X-Wing Alliance has exactly what you need. This game is the concluding chapter in the acclaimed X-Wing series from LucasArts, a collection of starfighter simulation games in which you get to take part in ferocious interstellar dogfights in the Star Wars universe. Like its predecessors, X-Wing Alliance is an impressive, addictive, and incredibly challenging game that will put all of your sci-fi piloting skills to the test. To help you get the most out of the game and overcome the seemingly insurmountable challenges that pop up throughout, Prima's guide offers support for everything from basic flying and dogfighting skills to complete ship descriptions. You'll also find an array of information on the many ships' systems you'll have to master (the energy allocation system, for example). Each of the game's 50 missions--including the climactic battle of Endor--is described in detail, both through a narrative and a down-and-dirty walkthrough. The book even includes a CD-ROM containing a new film room feature for the game, along with films of all 50 missions (which let you see how they should unfold). All in all, this is one valuable resource for any aspiring starfighter pilot. The Force may be with you, but this book could prove quite handy as well. --Mike Ryan

Review
This ain't like dusting crops, boy!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Prima Games (May 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761520767
• ISBN-13: 978-0761520764
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #783,294 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, but could have been Excellent...., February 12, 2000

By A Customer

I won't repeat what other reviewers have already said. Basically, I'm in complete agreement with them. The story line is great, the hints are helpful, and the included CD with films of the missions is tremendous. I really wanted to give it 5 stars, but it omitted a few things I felt were invaluable based on the "Tie Fighter" hint book that came before. First, there was no listing of all of the possible ranks, and the point scores needed to achieve them, nor was there a listing of the possible skill levels (novice, veteran, ace, etc.) and the points necessary for those. It did not document the scoring mechanism - the bonus points earned by playing at the hard level, and the penalty for playing at the easy level. Secondly, it did not reveal the bonus goals, and point values, for those missions that offered them. Lastly, and I state this with reservation because the authors simply may not have had access to the information, there was no detail of the AI instructions that described how the computer-generated opponents would function in each mission. These instructions allowed the player to know what conditions would trigger a new type of craft appearing, or how many waves of enemy craft would be created. This information was extraordinarily helpful for winning the most difficult missions in "Tie Fighter". In its defense, however, the book did go into a lot of detail about how to set up single and multi-player skirmishes. All in all, an excellent guide, but it fell just short of being perfect.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just a techy book, August 10, 2002

By	Maggie Shephard (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

I am not an avid player of games on the computer and certainly not action games like the one associated with this book (but I do love the Star Wars movies). My son left this book on the floor in the living room and out of curiosity I opened it. It was delightful! The middle section of the book is filled with adorable and humorous stories told by an R2D2 robot. Wonderful! The more technical sections of the book relate to the game itself and became very useful once I tried playing the game. When a book gets me to play a game with my son on the computer it says a lot. Thank you Mr. Drake and Mr. Barnett for the chuckles! (My son thanks you, too.)
M.S.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this CD to get the Films on how to win each mission!, July 13, 1999

By A Customer

The film room is ont he expansion disc or downloadable from LucasArts on the net but those films on the campanion disc really help supplement the great text in the book.