I am a SUCKER for space exploration games (I even played Darkstar One, and it was mediocre at best). An yet I did not like this one. This has mainly three reasons:

* The story (what little I have played before giving up on the game) is not riveting and seems to follow already trodden paths (trodden by games far superior). The whole "The system is riven with conflict and there is some hidden threat only YOU can uncover" is nice and dandy, but again, done better by previous games. The voice acting is .. unethusiastic. I know, I have been spoiled by world-class actin as in Mass Effect, but still...
There is a lot of grinding - trading, mining, doing freelance missions, to get a ship that you need to NOT be blasted to smithereens by the next main mission,. There ALWAYS is. It is a core principle of the game, and usually, one that I like. In this game, it feels like a chore. This has again to do with the story, which just does nothing to make me want to reach the next mission.
* The steering. This is a MAYOR point. I did not think one could botch follow-the-mouse-steering. Sadly, one can. The point you fly to is somewhere in the upper third of the monitor. Which KINDA makes sense given the perspective and the axis of the ship and all. BUT the neutral zone of the mouse-steering is in the center of the screen. Which means that when you point at an object an try to fly towards it, you will pass OVER it (for given values of "OVER" in 3D space).
This is annoying, to say the least. It is also unintuitive. I remember when Freelancer made me use the mouse (for me, it was the first time then) to steer the ship. I took to it in seconds, because it was so intuitive. Well, this one is NOT.
* The mission system is bugged, if not broken. "Yes, you can take this mission with level 6" Great. They WHY is there a friggin' CRUISER waiting for my gunship at the mission point, blasting the living hell out of me? This happens regularly, and it is annoying. "Nooo, THIS science mission is WAY to dangerous, it requires you to be level 11." Ah-ha. So floating in space, with NO enemies to pop up (I have yet to meet one on science missions) and waiting for the scanner is something only my higher-level self can handle..

All those points make me kinda regret the purchase. Oh, and one final note: it may be okay with copyright law to use the theme from the mining minigame of Mass Effect 2 and use in the score, for me, it was just an INSULT to the ME franchise, because this game is not even doing the same sport, not not mention playing in the same league.

I am a SUCKER for space exploration games (I even played Darkstar One, and it was mediocre at best). An yet I did not like this one. This has mainly three reasons: * The story (what little I have played before giving up on the game) is not riveting and seems to follow already trodden paths (trodden by games far superior). The whole "The system is riven with conflict and there is some hidden threat only YOU can uncover" is nice and dandy, but again, done better by previous games. The voice acting is .. unethusiastic. I know, I have been spoiled by world-class actin as in Mass Effect, but still... There is a lot of grinding - trading, mining, doing freelance missions, to get a ship that you need to NOT be blasted to smithereens by the next main mission,. There ALWAYS is. It is a core principle of the game, and usually, one that I like. In this game, it feels like a chore. This has again to do with the story, which just does nothing to make me want to reach the next mission. * The steering. This is a MAYOR point. I did not think one could botch follow-the-mouse-steering. Sadly, one can. The point you fly to is somewhere in the upper third of the monitor. Which KINDA makes sense given the perspective and the axis of the ship and all. BUT the neutral zone of the mouse-steering is in the center of the screen. Which means that when you point at an object an try to fly towards it, you will pass OVER it (for given values of "OVER" in 3D space). This is annoying, to say the least. It is also unintuitive. I remember when Freelancer made me use the mouse (for me, it was the first time then) to steer the ship. I took to it in seconds, because it was so intuitive. Well, this one is NOT. * The mission system is bugged, if not broken. "Yes, you can take this mission with level 6" Great. They WHY is there a friggin' CRUISER waiting for my gunship at the mission point, blasting the living hell out of me? This happens regularly, and it is annoying. "Nooo, THIS science mission is WAY to dangerous, it requires you to be level 11." Ah-ha. So floating in space, with NO enemies to pop up (I have yet to meet one on science missions) and waiting for the scanner is something only my higher-level self can handle.. All those points make me kinda regret the purchase. Oh, and one final note: it may be okay with copyright law to use the theme from the mining minigame of Mass Effect 2 and use in the score, for me, it was just an INSULT to the ME franchise, because this game is not even doing the same sport, not not mention playing in the same league.