[DarkStar]

I too was surprised by the lack of 3D movement in the game. When I first heard about the game and how it was going to be like Elite I thought that it would include some type of 3D movement, even if it was basic. It wasn't until I tried the demo that I found out it was some strange 2D arcade movement and didn't feel like moving in space. Even the old Elite on the Commodore 64 felt like you were in space, and had basic 3D movement, and a VERY slick map that showed Z values with the height of the lines, very nice design IMHO.

I haven't played enough of the DEMO to know if it really matters or not, but does seem strange that it's 2D when all those older games had 3D movement in them, and it is 2003. I think adding 3D would have made the game much better.

I don't really have any problems with the graphics or sound I think they are fine and are at the level I expected.

I will say that I don't really like the way the movement/turning of the ship is done. It really seems like I'm driving a car on the freeway and it's some type of space racing game or something. I don't get the feeling I'm moving a ship thru space, and it's like I'm stuck on a rail, also there is no drift accel, or deccel on the movement which again feels very strange and arcade like.

Everything else I think is great and works very well, overall a good design. Outfitting your ship and all that is pretty cool, and fun. The combat is good, but again could be better if it was 3D.

I have liked all MM games (and own them all, including SE4, and SE4 GOLD), and the fact you can mod it is a big plus. The demo seems pretty fun, so I'm sure I'll pick it up at some point.

Just my 2 cents...