Freespace 2

This is to this day, my favorite video game. It has even beaten Jumpman, which is far older and almost as awesome. This game would make a great movie, and desperately needs to be reborn or continued. There is an Open source site that loves this game so well that they have updated the graphics to keep it current. Truly an awesome game.

For the first look you may find this game an old space shooter with blurry textures and old school gameplay. But if you give it time the game shines: energy systems management, countermeasures, sensors use, advanced weapon use are key features in Freespace 2. The campaign is a long one, the missions are vibrants, varied in goals and the atmosphere is fantastic.

As in the original, the story unfolds in FreeSpace 2 through a combination of mission and command briefings, sporadic cutscenes, and, most effectively, through events depicted within actual missions. Gameplay in FreeSpace 2 will be very familiar to Freespace veterans, but there are several significant improvements. You'll still pilot fighters and bombers, but the capital ships in the game have been made considerably more dangerous. The cruisers and destroyers weren't exactly puny in the first game, but they're positively gigantic in FreeSpace 2, and unlike in many space sims, the capital ships are as deadly as their ominous size suggests. Almost all the capital ships in the game are now equipped with powerful beam weapons similar to those that were on the Shivan dreadnought, the Lucifer, in the original game. The main beam weapons are primarily used in battles between capital ships, but most of the larger ships are also stocked with smaller, anti-fighter beam weapons. Capital ships have been decked out in flak cannons as well, which let them make quick work of bombers and fighters foolish enough to wander in range. They are also still equipped with laser turrets and missile silos as in the original game, collectively making capital ships flying fortresses you'll learn to fear.

For those of you unable to play the game after the initial cinematic because of the game being unable to go full screen. Simply change your screen resolution to 1024 x 768 and select caracter size 100%. The game launched perfectly well after thoses changes.

If you are on the fence about playing this game allow me to help you. BUY IT!!! Freespace 2 is one of the greatest space combat games of all time. It is one of my favorite games of all time. The universe and the story alone are great. The huge space battles with swarms of fighters and bombers laying siege to massive capital ships are amazing. The game gives you the freedom to choose your craft and customize its loadout. The franchise is an epic space opera that you need to experience. Now get off the fence and join the rest of us in Freespace. STOP READING AND PLAY IT ALREADY!!!