I've been playing this game off & on since 1997. THAT WAS BEFORE THE TURN OF THE CENTURY. Holy crap. Back then, I had a 28.8kbps modem and a crappy 486 laptop in college. This was the first multiplayer game that kept me up until 4am. MUDs and MOOs only got me to 3am. But this... this was something. Still is.

Oh, and I'm still terrible at it.

I've only played like ten minutes and I've gotta say, this is the nicest community I've ever met in any game. I've never seen more smiley faces and "Hey, you did your best" in any other game. Last time I started off in a competitive PvP I got kicked for being too bad.

10/10 would be polite again

It is hard to try and express my feelings about how good this game really is. I've been playing it off and on for nearly twenty years and still hardly a week goes by where I don't fire it up and enjoy it. I've installed and played it on every computer I've owned (and a few I didn't). There is a lot of variety in the different zones. It's easy to pick up but can be challenging to master. You'll meet all kinds of people on this some you'll like others you'll want to pound into the ground. The keys and graphics are easily customizable. Any computer built after 1994 will likely be able to run this game. Ships have different setups in the zones and even in sub arenas in those zones.

Pros: Free.
Small install.
Variety.
You might just be playing this 20 years down the road too.
Addicting.

Cons: You'll learn to hate some keyboards, and may just remove the windows key.
You might end up toggling caps locks a lot and yelling at people unintentionally.
You might just be playing this 20 years down the road too.
Addicting.

As a side note: You should be able to bind the keys to a gamepad. Try to decide early if you want to use a keyboard or a pad. I know some people who have different keysets depending on this ship-type. Working out your best way before too long would be a good idea. It can be annoying hitting printscreen when you're trying to hit insert to warp.

This game has taken up 12 years of my life and given me dozens of lasting friends in the process. Incredibly fun game with the best community on the internet.

Edit: Reasons

Pros:
Entirely community driven servers, content, and events.
Several different Zones (servers) with very different playstyles, events, graphics.
Amazing community. A specific lack of 12 year old CoD kids.

Cons:
Very old. Some may not like the graphic style.
For the same reason as above, the community is dwindling in recent years.
Large barrier to entry, could be overwhelming. There's a lot to learn from text commands to chat commands. Also a huge learning curve on the game's controls. There's a lot of buttons.

I thought this game was pretty boring at first, I'll admit. But, once you spend some time with it and figure out how the game works, it's really quite addictive. The learning curve is quite high, and it takes some time to get used to the layout and the controls, but the patient and the persistent will be rewarded greatly. The community has been around for a while, and seem pretty enthusiastic about teaching newcomers, so feel free to ask away.

Easily the most fun I've had in a F2P for a long time.

I started playing this game in 2002 when I was 12 years old... I think that alone is a testament to the addictiveness and fun this game brings to the table.

Pros:

--Virtually unlimited number of mini-games (called "events" in game) ranging from dodgeball to race to CTF to King of the HIll to team deathmatches... you get the idea.
--Eight ships to choose from (each server, called "zones" in game, has its own unique ship settings and sometimes different ship graphics)
--Pretty good variety of weapons and counter measures including portals, speed boosts, specialized weapons, and more.
--Great communities. The game came out almost two decades ago so there aren't as massive communities as there used to be but one of the best parts of the game is the conversation.

Cons:

--You might become horribly addicted like I am.
--Since the game is almost 20 years old the server populations aren't what they were in their glory days (Steam should help a lot with that I'd think!)
--Learning all of the controls and commands can be slightly daunting to a newcomer. But feel free to ask around or just type "?help YOUR QUESTION HERE" when you enter a zone/server and a staff member should help you if one is online. Also, cycling through F1 menus is your friend.


All in all, this is one of the original MMO's and it's a classic that deserves to at least be given a chance. Plus it's completely free, and practically any computer can run it.

If you decide to give it a go, the four main servers that still have decent populations are Extreme Games, Trench Wars, DeathStarBattle and Hockey Zone. Personally I recommend Extreme Games and DeathStarBattle, but Trench Wars is probably the easiest zone to start out in.

My name is Autofire on there too so if you see me and have any questions feel free to ask. Happy hunting!

Played this game for 7 years now. Legendary title with an amazing community. Don't be decieved by the graphics, this game is absolutely incredible with a community that has stuck to it for over 20 years.

This is an extremely high-skill ceiling game, with veterans who have played for an extremely long time, but they are all very welcoming and will persevere to help any newcomers into the game. The longevity of this game is incredible, and the satisfaction you will obtain from playing it will keep you coming over and over again.

I've never seen such friendly community in my life

this game was awesome keyword was, i went to play it and there's no one left, i was on a server with 1 other guy. so many great memories with this game back in the day but it seems people have moved on.

if this game has a comeback someone please tell me because this game was amazing

I have played many great games... tf2, counterstrike, skyrim, deadspace, bioshock, grand theft auto, far cry, resident evil, fallout, left 4 dead, borderlands, battlefield, portal, half-life.. I could go on and on... many of these games, I played and finished all the objectives, and even replayed them several times, but no game has ever lasted on me as long as this game has. I have been playing this game for 14 years to today. That alone should be a testament to how great this game is. And look around the reviews, I am not the only one who has been playing this game for this long, this game has been around for more than 2 decades and is kept alive by its devoted community, who have worked hard to maintain the servers, and keep the place hacker free.

Subspace Continuum is a 2D space online multiplayer game. While population declined a bit over the last years, there have been servers that supported 200 people simultaneously playing in a huge map, without lag being an issue.

Controls are easy to learn, but it may take a couple of hours to get used to the physics, depending on your experience playing space games(2d). Once you do though, flying becomes second nature to you and you can focus on the objectives at hand. There are many 'zones' (servers) to pick from. Each with a different flavor, and a different sub-community, and even different physics settings! I recommend giving a few of them a try, until you find the one that works for you, and stick to that one!

The chat system is hands down, the best I have seen in any game. It has public, team, private, group, squad messaging, to name a few. I think that chat system alone takes the game to a whole new level, as many of todays games purposely make chats impersonal by making room for just 1 very crowded chat room, with limited ability to scroll through them, or look back at conversations.

The different spaceships, cater to different playstyles. There are ships that move fast, there are ships that can take a punch, there are ships that shoot fast, or quickly, there are others that are there to support other ships. You are bound to find one that works for you.

Different zones hold different game modes. In some zones you have to protect something, or hold it in your teams possession for a given amount of time, in others you are just there to fight and eliminate the enemy. Regardless of which zone you choose, subspace is a game that you can just join, and play anytime of day.

All in all, I think this game deserves an honest shot from everyone. It has been around for more than twenty years and is still alive for a very good reason, it is addicting, it is fun, and it is worth downloading and trying out.