Freespace 2

Get this, and download the free Freespace Open Source Project. It basically gives you graphical updates, lets you play the first game and its expansion in the improved engine, and loads of other improvements (not that the base game isn't awesome). Long ago, I saw the box art for this game's predecessor in store. The box opens up to two pages, and it showed the Lucifer class Shiva Superdestroyer, spanned across two pages. Next to it, is other ships you will encounter, and finally, your tiny fighter, as a dot, with the caption: yes, things are drawn to scale. That's when I wanted to play the game. And it took me nearly 4 years before I had a computer capable of playing that and its successor, which is this game - the best space game ever made. What grips me about this game is two things. First, the space combat is tight. Things just make sense. I remember watching the new Battlestar Galactica, and feeling it's basically this game, which came out years before. Second, is the story. It's cohesive, intriguing, and ties the missions together. The fact you are a pilot going through epic moments in the war's history kept me engaged. Hitting the bonus objectives and secret missions made me feel like a war hero. I've played the stuffing out of this game so many times that I remembered every shortcut by memory. The polish on this game is just insane. At first, there seems to be a lot of buttons, but really, it gives just enough technical depths to the game that you feel like you're actually doing something. In combat, you may shift power weapons to engines to get that little extra boost as you close in your target, or divert everything into shields after a fierce fight to recharge them for the next encounter. The game is just plain amazing. Even today, 20+ years after its debut. You won't be disappointed.

This game is epic. However, to get the full expecience, look up the the open source "Freespace Source Code Project". You need the data from the game, which this will get you. This new engine includes multitudes new features, and combined with the "MediaVP" packs, brings the graphics up to par with today's games.

It's a cliche but they just don't make them like this anymore. In fact I haven't found a true blue space combat since this, even a bad one. There have been some that pretend to be a space combat sim, but they mostly focus on commerce and flying from place to place and rarely have even the most basic physics and combat properly implemented. Space combat seems to be a forgotten genre and this truly is the pinnacle of it. Starting with such gems as X-wing and the amazing Tie fighter, Freespace 1 was a huge leap technically and gameplay wise. This game had amazing graphics for the time, had a realistic atmosphere and played like a real dogfighter. When Freespace 2 came out I could hardly see how it could improve ton the original, but boy was I wrong. This took the scale up 50 notches and really made you feel like a pilot in a massive war. Not only was the gameplay and graphics greatly improved the variety of missions is phenomenal. One minute you're dogfighting for your life, the next your trying to take down a MASSIVE warship then you are running covert black ops missions. Really all I can say is buy it now, you won't regret it.

GOG is giving it away for a short time, pick it up and play with a HOTAS. Seriously. This game is so good, it gives Wing Commander and the Elite franchise a run. If you do get it during the give away or afterwards, pair it with the Source Code Project at fsoinstaller.com. It'll use the GOG package and install the game and all the extra mods you want.

Install https://www.fsnebula.org/knossos/ Let it know where your FS2 install is. Works (Win 11) and has tons of mods and extensions.