Freespace 2

To be honest, I haven't even tried the retail vanilla FS2 after I bought it. Nostalgia-coloured glasses is not my preferable fashion choice. What I did instead was gping over to the Hardlight forums, get the Knossos mod manager, download half a dozen of most popular mods and overhauls, and start kicking butts. One disclaimer: FS2. for all the arcade-ness, is pretty simulationist when it comes to controls. And with all the craziness on the battlefield you will want to run your fighter as smooth as possible. Fortunately, you can re-map all the keys, and you better do it. If you don't have a stick, base your movement controls (pitch/turn) on the WSAD-cross, with acceleration nearby, a dozen or so other useful keys as you like them, ignore all the other controls and do the fine-aiming and firing with your mouse- and you're gonna be dandy. It is a pretty steep learning curve, but once you get rollin, it's fun AF. Everyone else already gushed about how amazing the game is. Space sims don't get any better than this (and I loved both TIE Fighter and Wing Commander). The mods and overhauls will make the game look like it came out... well, maybe not yesterday, but circa 2010, and a lot of the fan content could pass for AAA products, no sweat.

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!!!

If you like space sim shooter games, you have to buy this one. I played it more times than even wing commander. The mod community is also very active with tons of mods and many different campaigns. Great voice acting and gameplay, what more to say?

This is better than the first game. The first one is a true classic, but this is better. It continues the story and does so with good writing. The graphics are improved, even the stock graphics still look modern. No economy, no grinding, no trade. Just a good old space shooter. The fact that it is still being modded today and has all the modern updates really speaks about how much this game is liked. This is one of those games that stick with you after you're done playing.

With the original Descent:Freespace, Freespace2 forms one of the best flight-sim franchises out there. Like Descent:Freespace, you pilot individual spacecraft in huge battles, often with capital ships as either enemy targets or friendly targets to be escorted. Despite this, you still feel important in the missions as being able to disable a tactically important enemy turret or shooting down that one bomber might make the difference between passing or failing the mission. The music is gorgeous and atmospheric. THe cutscene, though a little dated, are still suitably cinematic. The voice-acting leads to a compelling story which the player becomes engrossed, following the progress of the war. Important plot events occur both between missions (ie we see them in mission briefings) but more so, during the missions. The plot feels a little less epic than FS1, but the narrative is much tighter and better handled. The only drawback is that there will unlikely be an official Freespace 3. The story feels a little unfinished as a result. There is a VERY ACTIVE fanbase of modders out there. I would highly recommend getting the game, and look for the Freespace Open download which contains many game engine tweaks, HD support, and most importantly, many high quality unofficial campaigns/mission packs (many with custom cutscenes and voice-acting) most of which you can obtain for free. (They have even ported the original Descent:Freespace onto the FS2 engine via the FS Open!)