Judging from the letters we receive (and from the discussions we have with each other at the office), there's a sizable contingent of gamers out there who are really hungering for classic space combat games. Games like Wing Commander, TIE Fighter, Freespace, Independence War, and others still have thriving communities despite their age. When Matrix Games sent us a copy of StarShatter: The Gathering Storm , we were understandably excited to give it a try.

The new game offers players the chance to fly as a fighter pilot through a variety of dynamic campaigns. As you progress through the campaigns, you'll rise in rank and be given more and more responsibility and control over the forces involved. Once you've risen high enough, you'll step out of the cockpit and onto the bridge as you're given command of a number of powerful capital ships, from dreadnaughts to carriers.

The campaign offers some significant opportunities for the player to affect the outcome of the war. A stunning success in one mission will likely make for easier going in later missions. Likewise, a spectacular failure will mean players will have to fight an uphill battle to regain their advantage. Taking out a minefield or heavily damaging an enemy capital ship has a real, lasting consequence here. In fact, some of the bigger ships may require multiple missions before you can actually eliminate them. On the other hand, if you lose wing after wing of fighters in fruitless carrier assaults, you're going to find that your enemy can take advantage of your weakness. Having this level of flexibility makes the campaigns more interesting than the scripted pass/fail outcomes of missions in other space games.

There are some occasional news reports that pop up between missions to give you a sense of the overall progress of the war but we'd much rather see this commentary show a little more of a human scale instead of just talking about fleet movements and the overall outcome of battles. Getting letters from old friends is a nice touch, but the missions would be much more engaging if there were some prominent, persistent characters. Even something like Wing Commander's kill board would add a sorely needed touch of personality here. The fact that your own pilot is able to continue in the campaign even after being exploded seems to undercut the concept of a progressive career.

At the start of each campaign, you'll be shown a map of the galaxy and its individual sectors and be given a number of missions you can undertake. These can take the form of simple patrols or escort missions, strikes against ground targets on nearby planets, assaults against enemy capital ships, or the defense of your own fleet against attack. After the completion of each mission, you'll be shown a number of new missions that build on your previous successes or failures. The campaigns we've played seem to culminate in the destruction of either your own or your enemy's carrier forces.

Unfortunately, the overall objective of the campaign and the objectives of the individual missions aren't as clear as they could be. There have been many times where we were unsure of what to do next. While it's true that each mission comes with specific objectives, they're not always updated as you complete each task. A nice voice over telling you when you've completed an objective and when to return to the ship would be nice. As it is, you have to wait until you see other wings start to fly back to the carrier before you can order your own men to land.

By default, StarShatter uses the hardcore Newtonian physics that treats acceleration and velocity as realistically as possible. This allows for all sorts of inventive tactics, from sliding past a capital ship while keeping your weapons trained on it at all times, to accelerating quickly away from a pursuer and then turning 180 degrees to fire at them as you continue to fly away from them. There seem to be some weird and inconsistent fuel consumption issues that tend to undercut the realism of the model but it's nice for players who want the "authentic" space experience.