Enter Freespace 2, Volition's second take at their award winning 3D space combat simulator. Chock full of nothing really new, this sequel does what it can based solely on the success of it's predecessor. Don't get me wrong, this is a brilliantly designed game, it's just that I feel like I played it last year under the guise of Freespace: The Great War. Anyway, the story takes place some 30 odd years after the end of the Great War in the first Freespace. After the destruction of the Lucifer, a mammoth Battle Cruiser, all ties with Earth have been cut off. This is what happens when you blow up really big ships next to your wormhole. Let this be a lesson! :p The Shivans, a race of beings with superior technology, have been seemingly driven off, and Terran-Vasudan relations are shaky at best but still better than ever. However, seeing as how there would be no need for space if there weren't some moron trying to control it all, a Terran rebel faction has made its opionions public on the issues of Terran-Vasudan politics. Chock full of classic "screw the pooch" missions and more Beauracracy than you can shake a finely sharpened stick at, Freespace 2 will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. I swear, this game has more plot twists than a Quentin Tarentino film.

Sounds good so far, eh? Well, as I am sure you already know, no good game is without it's flaws. For one, the mouse/keyboard flight controls are a bit cumbersome. I found it very hard to keep up with enemy fighters using the mouse. I tried to get my Madcatz flight stick to work with it, but I had no luck. The cockpit HUD lacks a few of the intsruments I think are necessary for a good combat sim. I don't know offhand what it's called, but that little ball thingie that measures the pitch/yaw of the craft would have come in handy. Also I saw no options to change camera angles. A "chase cam" would have aided in the evasion of missles and those awful beams the capital ships fire. The interface is a bit of the same, though. No new additions here. The mission breifings have been reworked, adding more animation; still have the voices, blah...blah...blah...

Keep in mind this is not a good game for nothing, despite the fact it is a blatant rehash of the previous version. They improved on a few things, one being the graphics. The visuals, combined with a refined physics engine, throw you headfirst into the fray. Realistic explosions will leave you checking your ribcage for shrapnel. The textures are so detailed you can see the rivits in the hull of the craft. The sound is spectacular also. Bullets (or lasers...whatever) rip by at high speeds, while rockets and torpedos smck into the sides of capital ships. As a matter of fact, the one thing I DID like about this game was the selection of weapons and craft. I noted over a dozen different pilotable craft, ranging from scout fighters to super-heavy bombers, carrrying everything from the stadard issue pea-shooter to the fleet embarrassing, Capital ship killing Helios anti-matter torpedo. One weapon configuration I picked actually forced my ship to "recoil" every time I fired. Now that's what I call realistic. The interface is a bit of the same, though. No new additions here.

After running what seemed half the campaign, I was starting to extremely dislike my Commanding Officers. It was time for a little old fashioned butt kicking. I got a hold of Mithril, signed up for PXO (the multiplayer service offered by Parralax Online), and got ready to get my hands dirty. Soon enough I was blasting away like a good little homicidal manaic, racking up kills and gaining the experience (and patience) I felt I would need to finish the later portion of the Campaign. The multi was realtively lag free, which it should have been seeing as how both Mithril and I are on T1 connections. Later on, my boss jumped in along with a few other scrubs from the farthest reaches of cyberspace. We ran a 5 player multi with no problems. Not bad. It also looks like you can run Freespace 2 on a dedicated server, although I did not get the chance to try this out.

After all my ranting about this game being too much like the first Freespace to be any good, I actually recommend you buy it. Before you do, however, go out and find the first Freespace. It would help in laying down the foundation for the story, although it is not absolutely necessary. If you already own the original, then waste no time running out to get this. Lastly, if your a fan of in your face 3D space combat, this is the game for you. I put money on it getting some kind of award for being one of the best games of it's class. But don't take my word for it.

· · · Lawd