The missions are very similar to those in Prophecy, which is both good and bad. It's bad because there's very little that you haven't seen before, but good because it retains all the fast-paced space combat action that is a hallmark of the series. As in Prophecy, you will fly the standard patrol, bomber escort, capship escort, interception and strike missions. One thing that Prophecy veterans will notice is that the missions in Secret Ops are much tougher. They now tend to feature multiple Devil Rays, a very tough Alien fighter that you rarely saw in Prophecy. You will fly the same ships as in Prophecy, but most of them have been significantly upgraded. They are now faster, have heavier armour, and best of all, a whole array of new weapons to play around with. The best upgraded craft is probably the Black Wasp which now features twice as many of the deadly Swarmer Missiles as before. These missiles can take down just about anything in the game, though you need to keep the target in your sights to guide them (similar to a modern SARH missile). Other fun weapons include the Mosquito Missile packs, which are essentially rockets with tracking capabilities. There are also some new guns such as the Pulse Particle Gun (a very rapidly firing form of a Particle Gun), the Dust Cannon (essentially a machine gun that doesn't need ammo) and the Clouburst Gun (a seriously upgraded Ion Cannon).

In conclusion, Secret Ops is a great addition to the long-running Wing Commander franchise. If you like Prophecy but wish it were more difficult, Secret Ops fits the bill. You get as many missions as the original game, which is something that very few add-on packs will give you. All the missions are well-designed, and the storyline (while not up to the usual standard) is better than average. Best of all, it costs nothing to try (aside from the huge phone bills and complaints from your modem from downloading the 112MB monster) – two thumbs up!