I would say freespace 2, i always loved space sims, but for one in that game when the capital ships rolled in you were a cog in the wheel versus loan hero i cane take them all out by myself in my little fighter with 1 torpedo. Other games that followed like freelancer did a good job too but it started for me with freespace 2. It was a a very cool way to do things and the voice acting was superb and how you got different theater briefings and then tactical briefings from your squadron commander really helped with the feeling part of the story.