Older space game even today retains its spark
First of all, it's not simply thrown together. The story is RPG quality even though its really just a flight sim. Every detail is worked out to make you feel as though you're actually a pilot in the GTA. (Galactic Terran Alliance)
Every time I play a mission, i get lost in the detail. Volition even made a good number of different classes of bombers, fighters, and all sorts of other ships, named them, and pitted them against you. Its not just shooting enemies, its shooting Wings of aliens, individually named and classed. The HUD is remarkable. For such an old game, they really covered about everything i would ever expect to see. You can change the energy levels of your ship to make your engines, your weapons, or your shields more powerful. You really end up feeling like if this whole scenario were possible at all, that they've done everything they could to make it even more real.
The graphics... well... it is an old game, so you cant criticize too harshly. Any fan of recent games like Gears of War and Mass Effect that truly displayed the best graphics we can make will be sorely disappointed. However, if you realize that the less than stellar graphics are still good enough that you can see and understand what's going on, the gameplay will make up for the setback of unfortunate graphics.
The gameplay is a thing of beauty. It just shines. Every mission feels different, and they all also feel necessary for the story to continue and for you to get a hang of it all. It's a lot to think about, being so detailed, but once you play through a couple of missions, you will be able to annhiallate the enemy. That's not to say the game is easy though. I find myself angry with the game many times, especially on the higher difficulty levels. After beating it on the normal level once, i was fed up with the insane 'protect your destroyer from literally about 1500 enemies' missions. They end up getting kind of frustrating. But in the end, the game is really just plain fun
Final Verdict: Its a shame that this game didnt get more attention, because it deserved it. It got my attention, and i'm very very glad it did. I'll be playing this game for many years to come. It may be a hard game to find, but if you can get your hands on a copy, do so, and consider yourself very lucky.
XD