Given the ordeal surrounding the acquisition of Freespace 2, I’m going to try and get as much mileage out of it as possible for review fodder. Instead of doing the one-shot “I fed the bomb to Freespace 2″ review, over the next few weeks, I’ll be publishing a series of running reviews as I play through the game. That said…

Freespace 2, Day One

Like the previous Freespace game, this one starts out with a long cut-scene explaining the setting and situation of the game. This game happens thirty-two years after the original, which provided the game designers an opportunity to design updated spacecraft and weapons. In this scene, we find out that Earth has been isolated and lost, due to the collapse of the hyperspace jumpnodes at the end of the last game. The humans and Vasudans have formed a joint government, and their biggest threat is a xenophobic sect of humans slightly reminiscent of the American Neo-Confederates.

After the storyline is laid out, the game begins by setting your new pilot up in a set of training missions to teach you the ropes of weapons systems, energy management, wing commanding, and so on. After a few basic firing and maneuverability training missions, the game throws your pilot into the thick of things battling the anti-gov’t rebels.

Preflight Command Briefing

In terms of gameplay, this has been the first time I’ve broken out the joystick since finishing the last Freespace. Immediately, I was struck by how clumsy I am with the joystick and how difficult it is to track and shoot down targets. While the stages are still easy enough at this point to compensate for my joystick clubfoot, some trial and error lead me to disable the banking controls that are tied to rotating the joystick. Since I had a tendency to twist clockwise while maneuvering, this helped out immensely. Still, I need to retrain myself as it’s taking me much too long to track and destroy enemy fighters.

“Say ‘Hello’ to my little friend.”

After chasing the space Neo-Confederates a bit, the game switches gears as your fleet discovers a Shivan (the foes from the last game) jumpnode. Your pilot is transfered from a quick space-superiority fighter to a slower fighter-bomber. Before setting out out on the bombing runs, the game provides a few more training missions to educate your pilot on the finer points of shield direction and missile evasion. After these missions, your pilot is thrown into nebula-based combat with the Shivans. While your original responsibility is to scout and destroy enemy fighters, by the end of the sequence, you’re engaged in a bombing run targeting out a Shivan capital ship while an Allied capital ship also pounds the behemoth and provides cover. After dispatching the Shivans, your Allied group declares victory having captured this section of space.

Things won’t be quiet for long…

Stay tuned.