One of the most impressive space combat sims ever made.
OK, enough with the menu. The game is just an The tutorial is just great, where all the basic controls are taught, with both text and audio, then you get a hands-on approach. The tutorials last---say 10 minutes.
The first missions are pretty basic. Escort refugees against small numbers of enemy fighters, but after a few missions, you'll encounter Shivans, and their ships will just make you think "What the hell?" (Certainly that was what a pilot thought during a cutscene, and by the way, the cutscenes are beautiful).
Combat in the game is great. The controls are quick to learn, and layed out extremely well(e.g to increase rear shield---press down! To 'command' press C!) Dogfights are quick, and later in the game you will participate in huge battles involving nimble fighters, slower bombers and BEHEMOTH sized Cruisers and Flagships. The latter are just huge, and when two approach eachother, prepare yourself for some eye-candy. Flak pour from their guns...hundreds of flak fragments fying everywhere, huge more damaging beams cut through the chips, whilst small beams fire off at fighters. It is just all so amazing. There is little to no battle scripting, so anything can happen. The enemy may destroy one of your ships, and you may have to destroy the cruiser by yourself.
The graphics are excellent, and a huge modding community can improve visual and gameplay. THe sound is great, and realistic(the aliens speak in their own language, and a robotic translator decifers their message, so you can hear both at the same time.
But I still need to mention negative things...all I can mention is the fact that sometimes ships collide very often, even when they are allies and nothing is going on, but that is very minimal.
Overrall, the game is the best space combat sim I have ever played, and I am sure you will think that too, even if you don't like space sims.