Description
One day in the life of a pilot-for-hire on an escort run with some not so savory cargo into a recently discovered system.

Storyline:
The player is cast as a rent-a-cop newbie, guarding the hard-produced goods of the Lord Harold Co. as they are shipped to the new colony of New Earth. What are these vital products, you ask? Food, or perhaps prefabricated housing for the colonists? Nope. You're guarding the most vital element of a post-computer era civilization... *cough* "adult" *cough* materials. This is enough for a good laugh, but the player is spoken of the way I'd expect a rookie rent-a-cop to be spoken to. The briefing is well-done, although why do mission creators insist on using the Capital Ship symbol for Arcadia installations?

Balance:
The player isn't allowed to make much of a selection in weapons - after all, all you've got are what the company... erm... "acquired" in terms of military-grade goods - but dual Avengers and a pair of Interceptor banks are fine with a reload or two. The enemy can be taken care of perfectly well, as long as the player keeps his mind (and ship) on defending the freighters.

Design:
There's nothing wrong with the design here, and there are some very nice touches. For example, when the Headhunter comes in heavily damaged, a few repair freighters glide up to repair it. The enemy waves are available in well-done waves... in fact, the biggest compliment I can pay HI is that I have few comments here. It's done well, there are no design issues, and everything's peachy. Although having some reinforcements earlier would really help...

Gameplay:
Overall, the gameplay in HI is quite good, although a bit easy for an experienced pilot. While succeeding in the primary objective is merely challenging, novice players may find difficulty in defending the cargo they transport. Fortunately, that's just a secondary objective.

Other Thoughts:
Nice to see that the cybereuphimism "pr0n" is still in use in the 23rd century.