Simple but fantastic space-based blaster
Right from the title, you know you're in for a treat and if you are looking for a game which offers heaps of action and which requires you to check in your brain at the front door but to keep hold of your trigger finger, then you've come to the right place. Gunship Elite plays out like a more action-focused version of Freelancer or Wing Commander and while it eschews the tactics required in such games, it more than makes up for by simply being bags of fun. The game's sense of humour is also fairly evident and its story makes no bones about the fact that this is going to be a less-than-serious experience, describing how you are being rushed through combat training school to deal with not one but two bloodthirsty alien races. This requires you to leap into the cockpit of your trusty fighter craft and engage in some seriously intense ship-to-ship combat in the depths of space. There's not much to the game beyond racing around space blowing merry hell out of your foes with a variety of cool weapons, but to be honest who cares when it's this much fun. Gunship Elite scores highly with its gorgeously vibrant visuals which are just packed with detail and slick effects and which really leap off the screen. The action is simple but undeniably intense and as far as space-based shooters go this is top notch stuff, being about as thrilling as you could hope for. Its lack of depth does mean that it's probably best suited for short bursts of play as if you fire it up for too long, its repetitiveness will show. However, as long as you stick to brief but full-on sessions, this is going to be a blast.
