Wing Commander, Privateer, Freespace, Homeworld. What do you think when you hear (see) these names? Space sim! You got it! Star Shatter is a space sim. While it may not be as advanced as E.V.E., it is still very fun to play. I tested Star Shatter on an AMD Athalon XP 2500+ with 1GB of RAM and an ASUS N6200 with 256MB of RAM. If you have an old 8MB or 16MB video card, you will likely not be able to enjoy this game. What I like best is commanding a fleet of ships. You see, you don't just get to fly space fighters or frigates— you get to fly all sorts of ships. You can play missions where you shoot down enemy fighters, or blow up targets on the surface. But you can also play bigger missions, with much bigger ships. Currently, I prefer to play missions using the carrier. With the carrier, you have to control your frigates and provide supporting/suppressing fire while you command and prepare various fighters for launches against enemy capital ships. You also get to patrol or provide fleet escort. And, while you have shields up on your carrier, you still lose hull integrity, which means when your hull goes, so do you. :( While this can be seen as a drawback to some, I think it’s more realistic. In addition, there are mods available to make your own space crafts (hmmm, I wonder if anyone has made an Enterprise capital ship?). Speaking of Star Trek, I have played Starfleet Command, and one thing that really bothered me about that game was the lack of 3D space. In Starfleet Command you can fly right at your opponent, and just before you collide, the game automatically does a "chicken" dance with the two ships. This is not so in Star Shatter! Oh, and yes I found that out the hard way ("hmmm, I wonder what happens when I fly at this frigate head on? KABOOM. Oh!"). I much prefer the 3D space to the non-3D space. While I can see the benefit for multiplayers in non-3D space, since it provides enhanced game play (you don't die when you fly head on into each other), I can also see a BIG boost to knowing you can ram your opponent, and if they do not move, you both die. Shatter also has speed controls, which helps when you have to travel far and you don't want to sit around watching minuscule space debris float by. Visually, the game does not have highly detailed textures and environments. For those of you that like "eye candy," look elsewhere. For those that like to play a space sim with simple controls and just enough reality (aside from space ships that burn forever), then Star Shatter is for you. I'd like to comment more on multiplayer mode, but unless I can find a network of users, I'm stuck playing the campaigns and the built-in single player missions.