Since the days of Elite on the BBC Micro, space combat games - and especially those with a plot of some sort - have been very popular. Origin's Wing Commander started it all off on the PC, and subsequent games in that series have been money-spinners ever since. But compared to Xenocracy, the most recent Wing Commander game (Wing Commander Prophecy) is just... well, pants.

Xenocracy's winning ways start with its plot, which is quite an advanced one for this sort of game. It's the future (of course), and the four super-powers of the Solar System - Earth, Mars, Mercury and Venus - are close to war. As part of the UPN peace-keeping force, you have to take on combat missions against these four planets when they transgress the boundaries of international agreement, and sometimes against pirates too. There are other, less savoury enemies waiting in the wings, as well...

You choose which missions to accept, and which to reject, but your choice can have far-reaching consequences. If you are a little too zealous in one mission, you may actually start the war that you were trying to prevent. But that's only the case in 'simulation' mode. If you play in 'arcade' mode instead, there's none of that politicking to worry about. You just wade into the action, guns and missiles ablaze.

The screenshot below looks like it was knocked up in 3D Studio, or some similar CAD rendering package. It wasn't. That's an actual screenshot from the game, running on a system equipped with a 3D graphics card. But even if you don't have such a card, Xenocracy still looks beautiful. The ships are very organic in shape, and even on a relatively slow PC (P133), they move gracefully and quickly. Rather too quickly at times, in fact, particularly if you are using a mouse to control the game. A joystick is infinitely preferable, and you can't play it at all with the keyboard.

It's easy to float about the many different battle scenes in Xenocracy, some of which are set in space and some of which take place on the surface of planets, and just enjoy the scenery. Don't do that, though, because you'll be killed pretty quickly. In any case, the ships in Xenocracy have a good range of nasty weapons to play with, each of which looks, sounds and feels like the real thing. This all contributes to the completely immersive atmosphere that makes Xenocracy an instant hit.

This is a stunning game. It looks fantastic if you have a good 3D graphics card, still works pretty well if you don't, and doesn't require the very latest hardware. The action is fast and smooth, the weaponry is satisfyingly destructive and a lot of thought has gone into the plot. The multiplayer option alone (PC only) is worth the price tag.