It’s a treat for the itchy trigger finger, as well. The plot picks up after the first
FreeSpace, and you’re fighting the Shivan threat on an even more massive scale, all the while being hampered by some upstart Terran rebels. Tsk. The plot is decidedly linear, but for all its linearity, it is also decidedly engrossing, and you’re going to find yourself caring more about what happens in
FreeSpace 2 than you have for any other space sim. It’s suitably dark, mysterious, and with its share of twists and turns, you’re going to play this game all the way through.
The gameplay itself is as tight as I’ve ever seen in a sim. Both keyboard-and-mouse and joystick control are usable, and the interface lends itself very well to customization. You’ll fly plenty of ships, each with its own interesting load-out, and you’ll get to see capital ships duke it out up close and personal. No other game that I’ve played comes close to the epic style of FreeSpace 2. Sure, the game itself is basically everything good from other space combat sims, sort of a Speed Punks or Crash Team Racing of sci-fi, but there’s nothing wrong with making lots of good formulas even better. If you get frustrated on a mission, you can even skip it so you never get bummed out entirely. It’s features like these that make FreeSpace 2 a gamer’s game, one that every fan of the genre (or even those with just a passing interest) should at least try and probably buy. The nebulae that you fly in are executed with gorgeous precision, the A.I. for your wingman, although sometimes a little flaky, is generally on-the-spot, and you’ll be pulling a Luke Skywalker every time you see a capital ship go up in smoke. Yee-ha! is right.
The Sci-Fi Sim of the Year Edition offers a few new goodies. You can play a new single-player campaign, 13 missions that users have created and were good enough to be put as “official” on PXO, the online gaming service, and a few other neat additional missions. Internet gameplay is as tight and furious as ever, although in my opinion, FreeSpace 2 lends itself as more of a solo experience -- there’s something about the majesty of outer space that makes it a little more personal. But judging from the popularity of PXO, not everyone thinks so, and I have to admit that I enjoyed the multiplayer aspect of the game, if not as much as the single-player.
