While the story is not nearly as polished as that of the original, Freespace 2 offers exciting gameplay right from the start. Both games are notable for being far more immersive than many other games in the genre, but Freespace 2 goes a step beyond to give you feelings of desperation as you're lost in a cloudy nebula with enemies, being shot at by flak turrets from somewhere in the gas. It gives a grand feeling of scale that I've never experienced from any other game like it. In truth, I think it's the best of its kind.