Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos is the follow-up to Independence War, visually impressive game for the hardcore space-sim pilots. The game is set in the 24th century, 100 years after the setting of the original Independence War, in the "Badlands Cluster" of space. You are Cal Johnston (son of Felix who in turn was the son of ex-pirate Lucrecia Johnston) an escaped prisoner. The man who originally imprisoned you is Caleb Maas (also known as Caleb Maaaarss) The same bastard who murdered your dad on his birthday. Really bad luck isn't it? This scene is set by a hugely impressive 15 minute intro with professional voice actors and gorgeously rendered characters. The gameplay revolves on a central simulating part where the player is the pilot of a number of small space-ships, particularly suitable for combat (If you ever played games like X-Wing or Wing Commander, you will be very quickly "in" ) In Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos you can pilot your ship, communicate, trade, recycle items, buy or modify your possessions, etc. You can travel everywhere you want, just you cannot travel into another dimension (like in X - Beyond The Frontier), it's shame :] I bet you will like autopilot which does most of the work in getting you to your desired destination (because manually it's not so simple) For faster travelling you can use the number of stargates and interstellar turbo boosts, or cheats :P Honestly I preferred cheats, because I'm too impatient to wait minutes before my ship will reach some destination. But I heard some weird people likes this feel...no comment :) I almost forgot - You will need a Joystick - a half-decent one with a throttle and a POV hat switch. Sure you can control the game by keyboard, but it's pervert idea. Try it and you will get mad in 2 minutes, because over 8 separate keys are required just to move and steer - I wasn't born with 20 fingers, though they say am an Alien :)) Fortunately, the combat interface similar in style to a FPS (A/D/W/S keys + joystick). Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos is definitely the best combination of hardcore simulation, space strategy and shooter action hybrid ever. If you like space sims, don't miss this excellent game with impressive graphics. Download playable demo (198kb) [mirrors: PCZone, 3DFiles].The Demo contains time limited Instant Action, a training mission, the full intro movie and 2 missions from the game.