This is a shoot 'em up, first and foremost. Its dialogue - both during and prior to missions - merely establishes a convincing brief for the combat ahead. Speaking of which, the voice acting is of a high standard too - another gaming rarity. As the actors at least try to believe the words they're speaking, it's a bit easier for you to do so, too. But Freespace 2 has a big problem, and LucasArts are to blame. Years ago, fuelled with the desire to make their Star Wars space combat games that bit more credible, the Lucas designers introduced endless button sequences for ship functions. It set a standard for the genre. Now all games like this demand that you, at least in part, memorize a ridiculous number of key presses. Sometimes these require combinations of Alt and Shift keys to access, as there aren't enough solitary keys for every in-game function.

As an addition to appease those who like the faux-sim appeal of imagining their keyboard as a cockpit panel, that's fine. Really. We know people who love that sort of thing, and it has a valid role to play for the more hardcore PC gamer. But, to be honest, it's just not necessary. You could cut out the majority of Freespace 2's key commands, make it more approachable to the power of X and beguile a whole new audience. You could port it to the Dreamcast, where console gamers would absolutely adore its visual finesse and fast-paced combat. Why over-complicate what is, at its very core, a simple, remarkably enjoyable shoot 'em up? Well?

Stepping down from our soapbox in time to meander towards some kind of conclusion, it's obviously apparent that we're fans of Freespace 2. At the time of writing, it seems to have the edge over all of its main competitors. I-War? Great, but getting on a bit, and over-complex in places. X-Wing Alliance? Flawed, and too damn tricky for its own good. X: Beyond the Frontier? That's just Elite without the finesse. Freespace 2's heavily-scripted, high-paced action sequences are, at present, pretty peerless (and, for that matter, peerlessly pretty). But you'll need a good, multi-buttoned joypad or hoofing great joystick to get the best from it. And if you can grow a few extra arms to tackle the multifarious keyboard commands, all the better.

Oh, and in Freespace, everyone can hear you scream. Cries of "Alt-S my ARSE!" really nark your flatmates. You have been warned.