Good (recent) space fighter?

I'm in need of some ideas. My brother-in-law's birthday is quickly approaching and I'd like to get him a PC game. He really enjoys space shooters like Freespace 2 and the old Wing Commander series, but I'm more of an RPG or FPS player myself though so I'm not to current on what's "big" right now. I think he leans more towards the arcade-style games rather than heavily "realistic"-- in other words, not necessarily having to memorize fifty different keys for a bazillion different ship functions. A game that has missions on-planet might be neat too; ie not just up in outer space but definitely along the sci-fi lines.

Can I get some suggestions for some space flight/shooter games along those lines? I'd like to get him something that was released in the past year or two rather than an "oldie" and would like to read up on some reviews, but don't know what's been out recently.

Thanks,
m19

 

Star Wars Battlefront 2 has space battles as well as ground which i thought was pretty fun.

Even though they're old, id reccomend Tie Fighter or X-Wing; those were THE funnest games ever lol but he probably already has them

I dont know of any space fighters that have been out lately except like Darkstar One (actually looks quite fun) Here is a review:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/727/727537p1.html

and some other stuff on it:
http://pc.ign.com/objects/815/815150.html

 

Darkstar One looks promising and is relatively inexpensive. I know he's gone through the older games (like X-Wing) which is why I'm trying to find a newer one. Thanks for the advice.

m19

 

Get Freespace and Freespace 2. Kick arse story, sexy guns, big and dangerous capitol ships, and decent voice acting... where can you go wrong?

 

i think he already has it

 

I can heartily recommend Freelancer. Find out if he's played X-Com Interceptor.

 

You should try out
X3: Reunion

It's quite new...
I haven't played it myself, but the last part (X2: The Threat) is awesome (1 of the best I've seen...)

PS! I haven't played any Freespace nor Star Wars... so This here is my suggestion and my opinion... ok?

you can check the game out here:
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/sim/x3reunion/index.html
or here:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/618/618077p1.html
or here:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/games/pc/x3_reunion.html


Hope It helps!