I haven't heard of this game before, but it looks intriguing.

THANK YOU!!
I voted for this and the sequel only yesterday! Buying tonight.
Now, fingers crossed for I-War 2.

Oh...
Wow.
That was unexpected. Never played it, but I adored the sequel. Definitely going to buy this.

Instabuy

A very good release. Quick question though how tough is it ? as the reviews all say it has a steep learning curve.

OMFG!!!!!!
This also means I-War2 is coming! *fist punch*

I own both the original I-War and the later Deluxe edition. Its a fantastic game and not a simple shoot fest.
I haven't played much of it in a good few years as it had DX sound issues on WinXP and would crash after completing a mission (not before saving mission status, so you could play the game it was just painful)
Would love to know what they did to get it working.

We seem to get a lot sort of unexpected releases lately. I like it :)

I remember a fair bit of praise for the I-War games. Never played them though, didn't even see them in the shops at their release time.

sadly I'm broke :( cannot afford this one, is on my wishlist

I seem to recall claims when it was released that you really needed a joystick to play it properly. Can anyone comment on their experience using a keyboard & mouse?

Oh yes, now if they only get I-war 2 added, I'll be in heaven!

You do need a joystick. I can't imagine this to be playable by mouse. But it is so DAMN worth getting a joystick for this. The flight model is just so nice; i.e. Newtonian. This is not an arcade shooter or Wing Commander/Freespace like. Think Elite flight model, but as a more polished and responsive experience (with a fairly decent story, too).

I guess after the disappointing disaster that was Wing Command Prophesy, the industry realized that things had to drastically change if the space-combat genre was to stay relevant. Two companies came up with two very different solutions for this change: there was Volition with the Freespace series, and Particle Systems with I-War. Where Volition's idea for saving the genre was taking all the best parts of it and cram it all into a awesome package, Particle Systems decided to go in another direction - trying something new, rather ambitions, and a bit risky: implementing Newtonian physics, and putting players in the cockpit of not a single-pilot craft, but a full-fledged battle cruiser, with a virtual crew, and deeper strategy than in most space-combat games.
The result is something a lot more hard-core, with a rather steeper learning curve and not as accessible as the competition. It is a great game once you wrap your mind around it though, at least I loved it (and love it) just as much as Freespace, for very different reasons.
I would recommend it for those looking for a serious sim, as it takes a bit more getting used to then other games of the genre. Absolutely a classic, but be sure you read about it first, and know what you are getting into. For me: instabuy!
Edit:
Oh, and yes, joystick is pretty much a must have. Not a requirement, but I can't imagine playing I-War (or any space-combat/flightsim) without one. This is even more so in the second game, where you also will also want a joystick with POV-hat for the interface.