A classic FPS/RPG hybrid that did it right in a way to set the bar for years to come of what could be done.
The game starts you off playing your character creation. It's a great way to introduce you to the game, how to play the game and at the same time let you choose how you are going to specialize your character for the game. You go through 4 years of training, each one gives you different paths to specialize in, while also teaching you how to shoot a gun or use your psionics. It sets up a little bit of back story and then drops you into Chaos the 4th year as you try to figure out what has gone wrong.
The game play with pure First Person Shooter at it's core. You aim you shoot, you move around. But they have added in Role Playing Game pieces to give you something other then your gun to shoot. Or another way to get through the next passage way. Maybe you'll improve your psionic power to pull things and reach items put in locations you couldn't get any other way. All these RPG items allow you to play the game in unique ways using different things. It's was refreshing to get to choose more then just pistol, shotgun or rocket launcher as your options for each problem.
What you do is the main reason to play a game, if it's not fun why play it. Why you are doing it is the reason you keep playing a game, and this game delivers a great story that always gives you some purpose to move on. Ghostly images tell you pieces of the story. You have a guide that talks to you through your trip helping you along. You have logs and actual set pieces that also tell you the story of what happened to the ship. This is where the Von Braun really becomes it's own story. You'll find an officers log about how he just can't take it any more, and then walk into the next area and see that he had hung himself.
The story moves along slowly explaining what has happened and why until the end where you are hit with a big twist and revel changes the what and why.
The music and sound are both done well. They add a creepy vibe that grows as you move through the dark twisting halls. The level design adds to this tension by having plenty of blind corners or running two passage ways close enough together that you are not sure which one the enemies are in.
At times you forget you're playing a game, and really feel like you are exploring the Von Braun. And that is really what playing a great game is all about, exploring a different place and feeling like you have some part in it.