How Goes the I-War?

Space-combat games and me go way back -- I was playing some of the first-ever 3D space games when some of the younger members of the PC Gamer team were still messing their drawers. Star Raiders, Elite, the original Wing Commander, and X-Wing... ah, those were the days, when line-drawn "vector" graphics and a few well placeed white dots on a black background were all it took to transport you to strange new worlds. These days, of course, it's all very different. The genre has been at the forefront of the PC gaming's technological evolution -- Origin and LucasArts leading the way in the mid-'90s with ever more impressive-looking Wing Commander and TIE Fighter titles, before finally being overtaken in the last few years by the likes of FreeSpace 2, Starlancer, and Independence War. The race has been twofold -- keep improving the graphics and speed to the point where you can really begin to feel as if you're in a Return of the Jedi-style furball, while also providing an ever more rich and "alive" universe to interact with.