The bane of many a strategy game that has made the foray into the world of 3D is camera control.  Playing the game's demo shows that this was a concern of the game's designers, and that they have taken the necessary steps to leave players fighting spaceships and not the game camera.  Holding down the right mouse button and moving the mouse quickly and smoothly moves the camera.  You can zoom, pan, and rotate quite easily and effortlessly.

You can direct your ships just as easily as you can move the camera.  All of the unit selection commands found in most strategy games can also be found in ORB, and ships can instantly be sent to a navigation point simply by clicking on it.  Pressing the [Ctrl] key brings up a navigation grid that makes it easy to fly to any point in space with the click of the mouse.  The game's tutorial does a good job of teaching the mechanics of ship movement, and you should find yourself effortlessly commanding your ships in no time.

Speaking of ships, you'll find a large variety of them in ORB, from small single-seat fighters to humongous capital ships, with several classes of each type.  These ships can be further customized by researching the fifty or so upgrades available to each side.  The ships also have a unique look, not just between the two races but in contrast to the spaceships usually found in computer games.

Overall, the graphics look great, and the game is not even finished yet.  Engine exhaust, laser fire, and explosions light up a space filled with asteroids and debris from ships against a backdrop of swirling nebular gasses.  The game's engine keeps the action running smoothly - we were able to smoothly move the camera while directing a battle involving two sides of nearly thirty fighters.

The main problem with the demo we played was that it was too short.  It really whet our appetites for the game and made us realize how hungry we are for a quality 3D space combat game.  It is exciting to see a demo run so smoothly knowing that the game has not even been through its final optimizations yet.  If the demo is any indication, ORB will be a glorious return to 3D space combat not seen since Homeworld.  It's about time we were treated to a spectacular looking space strategy game with the feel of a stellar epic.

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