Space shooters aren’t exactly a rare genre on the PC. We’ve not seen quite so many in recent years, but during the nineties the genre was a pretty big deal, especially when it began taking advantage of true 3D graphics and surround sound.

The original FreeSpace title was once such game, released in 1998 to near universal praise. The game introduced a sense of scale never before seen in space fighters as well as being one of the few with an interesting plot and in game chatter. It was the first one people really took notice of since the brilliant X Wing series.

However, it was the sequel a year later that really blew apart the genre and did so well that it’s never really been beaten since. FreeSpace 2 is the Diablo 2 of space shooters; a sequel that took an already great game and enhanced it in just about every way possible to create a real classic.

The brilliant thing is, loading up FreeSpace 2 today feels no less epic than it did ten years ago, and there are few games you can say that about today. Load up most games released in 1999 and your first reaction is normally something like “Damn, games used to look like that and we thought they were cutting edge?”

Load up the first few missions in FreeSpace 2 though and you barely have time to think about the graphics before you’re thrown headfirst at an enemy squadron. Yes, things aren’t quite as pretty as you might remember them, but everything else hasn’t aged at all and the action is so intense and enjoyable that you barely even notice.

Perhaps the game has aged so well is because one of the most important elements of FreeSpace 2 is actually in the story, not the presentation. It’s so easy to jump into a space shooter, find nothing more than a campaign about an evil alien race bent on destroying the galaxy and everyone in it, ignore it all and just focus on the action.

FreeSpace 2 is a story about an evil alien race bent on destroying the galaxy and everyone in it, but it’s done so well you barely even notice. The writing is great, but the way the story is told is even better.

You quickly get this impression that the war you are fighting really is a huge, ugly mess, and that nobody really has a clue what’s going on. There are plenty of plot twists, not only throughout the campaign itself but in each individual mission, which rarely end anything like you might expect.

There’s plenty of radio chatter as well, so even when you’re not being briefed or debriefed, the story still moves on. You don’t stay in the same squadron for long and your wingmen have a habit of dying quickly, so there’s no long term emotional attachment to other character or love stories of anything.

But who needs that when you have giant lasers and capital ships the size of planets?

Then there are the little things that you easily forget about until you reinstall FreeSpace 2, like how after you fail a mission five times, it politely asks if you want to just forget that mission and move on to the next

.

A simple little element, but one that means you can play and enjoy the game and the story without getting hopelessly stuck on a single mission. That’s attention to detail.

Normally there’s always that little annoying thing that stops you completely enjoying an older game, but with FreeSpace 2 nothing comes to mind. Any issues with installing and running the game are made mute thanks to the brilliant FreeSpace Open Installer, which automatically installs a huge bunch of stuff ranging from optional graphical and sound upgrades to whole new campaigns to enjoy.

If there was ever an argument that some gameplay is truly timeless, than FreeSpace 2 is it. If you’re going to reinstall it, I recommend digging out your joystick, as it adds so much to the realism and enjoyment of the game.