For me this is the next best after Master of Orion 2. My only problem with why they did not do the staratagic part of it (Why I cannot control my ships in a turn based fashion ... it would be soooo cooler, yes in this way is faster but I cannot face with the enemy with my full shild and armor and with my 360 degree of blaster or cannon.... missed opportunity)?
I've bought this game around 5 years ago, I played for a couple of hours never clicked (the control schem for certain Vehicle is really confusing and disorienting). Nowadays I tried it again and the soultion In freelancer mode I test run every wepons and machine combo and if it suits my style I using it! Dope music intense battles, marvelkouly crafted enviroments a couple of options how to defeat the enemy. Thats it for me its a solid mindles PhewwPheww with mechs :)
Well, Where shoul I start? I bought the BFG edition because of the NOSTALGIA FACTOR. I wanted to relive some of my childhood memories etc. In quality it is above most of the other shooters out there, the shoty-shoty part is really solid. The engine ... oh the engine it's the grandfather of all today engine. here and there you got into places where lights and shadows can create a really artistic design. Back than ID wanted to make a more story driven horor game, and I think they had succeeded in it. Sadly BFG strips down a little bit from the original concept no flash light, the PDA is chaged to be more excessive and some other tweeks here and there. That is why I give it only 4 stars :(. If it's on sale than, that is the the biggest bang you can buy for your bucks.
I finally finished the campagin. If you are looking for a game which is a space shooter, where there is a little trading, and piracy (don't expect any deep stuff here) . It's a casual game by heart, than this is for you. What I really liked in this game is the music, it's fantastic really suits for the gameplay, and I find the ships designs quite cool too!