A great indie multiplayer-only title that is well supported, evolving, and uniquely challenging
Firstly, a drawback for some may be that this is DirectX 10 only, so you'll need Windows 7 to get it running. I can't imagine playing this on anything less than maximum graphic settings because all of the qualities that make DirectX 10 nifty are a part of the gameplay.
The HDR and shadow effects are important if you're facing the sun, or someone deploys a flare grenade, making it difficult to see. The lighting in itself is a very effective and rather powerful part of the gameplay dynamic.
The gameplay itself is challenging in that it's an FPS that forces you to control all 360 degrees of movement. Seeing as you're in space with zero gravity, your jetpacks send you in a certain direction, and firing your weapon will alter your momentum. Being careless and letting yourself bounce into a wall or asteroid or whatever, will have exactly that effect, you'll bounce. It's all quite subtle so it's not crazily out of control like the reality of firing a powerful firearm in space most likely would be.
Maneuvering in this style while focusing on what is generally a team deathmatch environment, regardless of the gametype playing out on the server, is what is so challenging.
In the end it can only be described to a point, and beyond that you really need to experience it for yourself. If you have a keen interest in gaming as a way to expand and refine your coordination skills and general reflexes, this game will offer an experience no other game to date can compare to. At best you might be able to compare it to a slower type of space flight sim, like the good ole Tie Fighter, or something similarly addictive.
That being said, it's not a massively addictive game, not for me anyways, but I can see this living on as a game I boot up to play a map or 2 every couple of days. Kind of as a secondary 'regular'.
It is admirably built, designed and supported... and from an indie studio devoted to PC ONLY support.
And that support could be one of the most interesting things about the game. It looks like Futuremark have invested themselves in building upon what was a basic 4 map/1 weapon game on release into something bigger as the player population grows and give them their feedback on where they/we want to see the game go in. Two free DLCs so far with the promise of more free ones to come. That's a pretty awesome standard to be setting in an era where AAA titles are proving to disappoint, more and more, in so many ways.
The community at the moment is pretty good too... Pretty solid base so you should be able to find at least 1 decently populated Australian server to play on in the afternoons/nights... there are always at least a few American servers close to full, or full, at any time of the day, and you can still have a decent match on a server that gives you a 200 ping, but you definitely feel more control on a local server.
It's worth a try even just to satisfy your curiosity to see how it feels to be one of many gun wielding astronauts that are kooky enough to shoot at each other in space.