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What is the best, and most recent space simulation/shooter game out now?

Not really. Closest you'll get is X3, which is more of a space trading game than a space combat sim, but there is combat at least.

BTW as far as I can tell there's X3 Reunion and also an expansion for it called Terran Conflict. I haven't played either but a friend of mine got X3 a couple years ago and while it was buggy at first, some patches got it working fine. I'm thinking of getting it myself. Expensive on Steam, but super cheap on Amazon and other places.
 
Another option, though it is very incomplete, is the open source, fan-made game Babylon 5: I've Found Her. This is more of a straight-up space sim that features inertia and allows you to put all 16 of the Starfury's thrusters to use. Very complicated but it's at least worth the download (after all, it's free).
 
I'm currently playing Freelancer with the Crossfire 1.7 mod in singleplayer. Adds a ton of new systems and ships with some graphical updates as well. Exploring the universe and having a great time. Plenty of combat. Pretty decent multiplayer community with this mod as well.

X3 is good too and actually has as much combat as you want to throw yourself into. You can definately avoid it if you want to and vice versa.
 
Roughly chronological order:
* Tachyon: The Fringe (pretty old game)
* Freelancer
* Darkstar One (most recent, but I think most people like Freelancer better -- I've had it on my Steam account for some time, but still haven't played it yet)

I have X3 and I've put in a decent amount of time into it, but it's definitely a different style of game. Slow pacing (it'd probably take several weeks to months of gameplay to be able to afford capital ships).
 
I vote Freelancer.
Once you get over the ridiculous notion that only a joystick can be used in a flight sim, you will REALLY enjoy it. The mouse works great, especially considering all the interacting you need to do with the systems.
Its a freeform, open-ended space sim, kinda similar to EVE but without skills.
The main downside of Freelancer is you can only purchase and keep one ship at a time. Aside from that its excellent. Wide variety of stuff to buy and the main quest is fun.

But as has already been pointed out: Its old.

The space sim genre kind of died, and while I dont care for MMO's I so glad EVE came out because thats the only thing keeping it alive.
Lucas Arts pretty much flat out stated they dont care anymore, and thats it. Microsoft has no interest in making another Freelancer and the X series is sporadic at best. Everyone else has been bought out and crushed by EA. (Cocksuckers)
 
IWAR 2 is open ended, with great combat, missions, and story, but MUCH easier than X3. It also uses Newtonian Physics, which is great, graphics are still great, a huge system to explore, hidden items, and a lot of fun. However, it is not as linear as Freespace, and does involve more trading, exploring, etc. Freespace is definitely the best that has ever been released, but IWAR 2 is also right up there.
 
I enjoy Freelancer with the Discovery mod. Playing on Discovery FL 24/7 RP. Great community with that mod. TONS of new systems and really nice new and updated ships. The current beta adds a completely new House.
 
I played Freelancer a lot when it first came out, and even reloaded it a couple of times since. But eventually I got tired of the mindless pirate swarms appearing everytime I ventured away from a station. Do the mods make that any more reasonable?
 
Originally posted by: Markbnj
I played Freelancer a lot when it first came out, and even reloaded it a couple of times since. But eventually I got tired of the mindless pirate swarms appearing everytime I ventured away from a station. Do the mods make that any more reasonable?
Click to expand...
You will have to dig around for the best mods sites.
There used to be quite a few but now that the game is older there are less of them. I seem to recall several which changed the running around part of the game. I believe some of them did reduce the amount of random attacks when you werent in a mission.
Also, you will probably need the Freelancer Mod Manager. Google for that, and I bet you will find plenty of misc. mods.
 
I remember playing a pretty extensive Freelancer mod called TNG (The Next Generation). Tons of new ships (including Star Wars and Babylon 5 ones), new weapons, new factions, new star systems and gates, etc. The main community mods site used to be Lancers Reactor...not sure if it's stilll alive or not.

 
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