Description
The jump nodes to Sol have reopened after 100 years and the Shivans have returned to try and finish what they started, but the Shivans are the least of the GTAÂ’s worries as the human race approaches its own destruction...

Storyline:
Black HorizonÂ’s storyline is obviously very well thought out with extensive command briefings and a detailed overall plot. The story gets the player psyched and ready to play the mission, like every good plot should. It is all written in a very authentic FreeSpace style, true to the original game. The first mission will just totally draw you into the story. My only gripe is that some of the debriefings are overly short, and that there are just a few typos, but thatÂ’s really nitpicking. Regarding the briefings themselves, sometimes it feels like the camera moves just for the sake of moving at times, and some icons donÂ’t really match up with what the text says.

Balance:
This campaign has a good mix of very difficult missions and a few fairly easy ones. Many missions require you to shoot down Unknown Megabombs in-flight, so you had better be skilled for that. Also, donÂ’t be surprised if a few (sparingly used) Dragon-class fighters come into the battle every now and then. Loadouts are intriguing because, since this campaign takes place 100 years after the Great War, much of the technology has been laid to rest and has to be "re-discovered."

Design:
Mission design is on the verge of genius in terms of FreeSpace. There are a ton of innovative missions here – from deploying sentry guns to locating lost science vessels in asteroid fields, this campaign crams a ton of action into ten missions. The missions are not typically simplistic campaign missions and almost play out like standalone one, much to the author’s credit. There are also missions with elements in the background, like far-off science stations, which deploy freighters that warp out far away and reappear closer to the player. This campaign even manages to keep destroy the capital ship missions intriguing without a lull in the action.

Gameplay:
In a word – marvelous. The action is exciting and tense and doesn’t let up for a moment. The missions are complex without being long or overly cluttered. Everything really runs perfectly, that’s all I can say.

Other Thoughts:
Well, as you probably know, I’m not a Descent Chronicles staff reviewer – I’m just a guest. But I decided to write this because I felt that, hands down, this was one of the best campaigns I’ve ever played. Now, granted, I’ve admittedly never played Awakenings from beginning to end however, if I had to base a decision on the first missions of each alone, they’d be neck-and-neck.