Good start, abysmal sequel
Improvements
1. better graphics
2. modular system isn't bad
Changes (for better or worse)
1. For some odd reason, technology moved backward and you can only make one ship at a time. This radically alters the strategy in the game, so don't expect your HW1 strategy to work here.
Bad things...
1. You could no longer tell the individual fighter and corvette class ships apart (i.e., you now need the tactical overlay on all the time). I guess they've ran out of ideas for ship models.
2. The detail of these ships is actually a bit less than the previous games... I'm not sure how they've managed that.
3. The single player was a joke. Don't even play it.
4. The music and backgrounds for the most part are nothing special. The voices have FAR regressed, Cataclysm did a much better job of that.