Now it might just be my joystick, but I've actually had a bit of trouble setting up my Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Everything went great until I realized that for some reason I can't get the throttle buttons to work with the joystick hooked up.

Playing a space game without a joystick can take out a chunk of the game's fun, but unlike many other flight games out there, this game can be easily played with keyboard and mouse. As a matter of fact, after getting used to the mouse/keyboard combo I prefer that to the joystick one (for this game, not all flight sims).

SpaceForce: Rogue Universe does not have bad controls per say; but being the kind of game it is: a space RPG/Simulator, it does have lots of buttons and controls that need remembering. I'd strongly recommend reading the manual while the game is installing. The manual is lacking at best, but nerveless it will give you some pointers and hints. When it comes to any detail - game experience speaks best; the manual left any detail out; it is about as vague as it can get away with.

Practice makes perfect! In SpaceForce: Rogue Universe's case it does. The more I play the game the more it grows on me and the more sense it makes. At first I absolutely hated the game. Got it, installed it, loaded it up, now where's the action?

This is where I went wrong. I started out my particular game (each profile name is a unique game) looking for the scrambling type mission that most flight sims throw you in. Not realizing the RPG factor of the game, I kept getting "owned" by the AI and soon ran out of clever pilot names for my profiles. Once I decided to not act like Rambo things started going a lot better.

I've spend about one day playing on and off, trying out different races and professions before I felt comfortable enough to actually start a career and stick to it. One major drawback of SpaceForce: Rogue Universe is in the way that the game saves your progress.

Like most single player RPGs, you'd assume that if you saved your game somewhere next time you loaded up you would be in the same spot. SpaceForce doesn't work like that. First of all, there is no SAVE/LOAD option on any screen.

The game automatically saves your progress when you travel to a space station or a jump node to another planet. Since you can't reload your mistakes and since the manual is not very thorough just assume that the first few characters will go bankrupt and need restarting very soon.

Once you get used to the controls and get the hanging of the flying and fighting the rest is just history. The more you play the easier and more second-nature it gets. So give this game a chance. If you just try it for a few minutes it won't make much sense and you'll just be disappointed. This is one of those games that will take a while to get accustomed with.