Colony Wars: Red Sun returns with a new release for Windows, Linux and Mac

Colony Wars: Red Sun has made an unexpected return. Psygnosis’ PlayStation space combat game can now run on Windows, Linux and Macs, giving the third Colony Wars game a fresh route onto present-day hardware. This isn’t a remake. Nor has Red Sun received new graphics, redesigned missions or a modern combat system. The release takes the original PlayStation game and prepares it to run as a desktop application, using data supplied from the player’s own copy. So, yes, you still need the game. Players need a compatible US copy of Colony Wars: Red Sun along with a PlayStation BIOS. The release doesn’t include either one. Once both files are provided, its setup process handles the work needed to prepare Red Sun for play. Windows has received the most testing so far. Linux and Mac packages are available too, including support for Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, though testing on those platforms isn’t as extensive yet.

The final Colony Wars was a very different game

Colony Wars: Red Sun first appeared on PlayStation in 2000. Developed by Psygnosis, it became the third game in a series built around large space battles, dramatic science-fiction storytelling and surprisingly ambitious presentation for Sony’s first console.

The original Colony Wars launched in 1997, followed by Colony Wars: Vengeance in 1998. Red Sun arrived two years later and changed the formula rather than producing another straightforward military campaign.

You play Valdemar, a civilian miner drawn into a wider conflict before taking work as a mercenary pilot. Missions pay cash, cash buys equipment, and better equipment opens up more options once combat becomes tougher. It gives Red Sun a noticeably different structure from its predecessors.

Instead of spending most of the campaign following military orders, players can take contracts and develop their ships through purchased weapons and equipment. Nine spacecraft are available across the game, with different strengths suited to different jobs.

The action remains pure Colony Wars. Dogfights unfold across open space, enemy fighters swarm into view and larger vessels turn battles into something more substantial than a series of one-on-one encounters.

Escort work, interceptions and combat assignments make up much of the campaign. Some missions move closer to planets and atmospheric environments, breaking up the endless black of deep space.

More mercenary, less military

Red Sun’s biggest change comes from its mercenary setup. Previous Colony Wars games placed far more weight on serving a military cause. Red Sun makes progression more personal. Complete a job, collect payment and decide where to spend it. A stronger weapon might help in the next fight. A different ship might suit another contract better.

It sounds familiar now, but the approach gave Red Sun a different character on PlayStation. The wider Colony Wars conflict remains part of the story, including the League of Free Worlds and Colonial Navy, yet Valdemar isn’t introduced as another soldier waiting for orders. His position outside the usual command structure gives the game room for a more flexible campaign.

Red Sun still carries plenty of late-era PlayStation design. Its controls, presentation and mission structure come from a console generation with very different expectations. Nothing here attempts to disguise its age. Nor does it need to.

This release presents the original game rather than rebuilding it around modern conventions. Anyone expecting a remaster with widescreen artwork, remade textures or a redesigned interface won’t find one here.

The new release is still early

There are a few caveats. A complete playthrough hasn’t been verified across every supported operating system, and areas such as multiplayer and exact audio behaviour haven’t received full testing. Windows currently represents the safest choice for anyone wanting to try it with the least uncertainty.

Setup still asks more from players than installing a normal PC game from a storefront. You’ll need the correct game data and BIOS before Red Sun can be prepared for play. Once past setup, the attraction is the game itself.

Colony Wars: Red Sun remains an unusual mixture of console space shooter and mercenary progression game. It arrived late in the PlayStation’s life, changed several ideas established by its predecessors and ended up becoming the final Colony Wars release. Twenty-six years later, its ships are flying on current PCs, Linux machines and Macs. No remake, no overhaul and no attempt to turn Red Sun into something newer. It’s Colony Wars: Red Sun, running on modern computers.

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The final Colony Wars was a very different game

More mercenary, less military

The new release is still early

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