Privateer 2: The Darkening is an excellent sequel to Origin's classic Wing Commander: Privateer, although Origin made the unfortunate decision to sacrifice gameplay depth in favor of slick full-motion video sequences a la Wing Commander III. Which is not to say the The Darkening is a bad game. Far from it: it is fun, it has the best flight engine thus far in a Wing Commander game (until later releases like Prophecy anyway), it boasts excellent production value including an impressive cast (including Christopher Walken and John Hurt), it has an intriguing 'space opera' plot, and it offers dozens of challenging and lengthy missions.