What's up with the high player reviews? This is NOT the best in the series, you guys have no experience with this genre.
Let me put the record straight - Privateer 2: The Darkening came out in the heyday of the FMV craze: it was neither groundbreaking, nor a particularly good specimen. Too many scenes are repeated and recycled - try landing at a couple of bases and compare the ones of the same type. The story itself is so-so, but I'll admit I don't really mind about stories unless they're glaringly disjointed or possess other obvious flaws. Priv2 doesn't, but it doesn't shine either.
Best in the series? Are you guys insane? Check out reviews all over the web - overwhelmingly you will see support for the original. In fact, later space sim traders (e.g. Freelancer) all owe it to the original Privateer - nowhere is Priv2 even mentioned. I admit the fact that it got released for DOS in the dying days was a bad tactical move, but still even then it could've made a name for itself had it been any good. As it is, it's just barely decent.
They switched fuel from jump to afterburners. While having afterburners use fuel might make some sort of sense, it doesn't make sense for jumping to not use fuel - after all, intersystem travel is more complex. This means that you can jump all the way clear across the galaxy - I'd say that makes even less sense. The mechanics of the ship engines lend themselves to the unlimited afterburner theory better anyway, after all you don't refuel for normal flight now, do you? The afterburners aren't additional, separate engines, they're just mods to the one you have. You won't be able to fly with afterburners but no engine.
Mouse control was akward. This game was seriously the reason why I thought other games would be insane to use the mouse - fortunately Freelancer proved me wrong, but that was YEARS later. Being at the end of the DOS era, this game had mostly joystick support, with the usual hassles of getting your joystick setup properly for DOS play.
The different random mission types had more variety, but they were let down by poor AI. The AI in the game is worse than in the original - escortees would frequently not jump with you and get left behind, or lost, causing you to fail your mission. Enemies were even more fond of head-on collisions than in the original game, throwing what little combat strategy was left out the window.
Many ships were noticeably weaker or stronger than some, rendering the majority useless for purchasing considerations. There was even less component customisation than the original game, reducing you to just getting one of the best ships and maxing it out.
Graphically, it is nicer, but what do you expect? The original Privateer used a modified engine of the early Wing Commander games, obviously not in the same FMV-heavy class of the later ones. This is about the only advantage over the original game, and if you think this factor alone justifies giving it a better score, you're out of your mind.
It's been years since I actually played Priv2, but I remember all this precisely because I was let down - like other fans of the original, I had high hopes for it - even now people still mention Privateer when talking about this genre. That's how high the bar it set and how much of an impact it made.
If Priv2 was any good don't you think I'd be singing it's praises rather than reminiscing about the original game? And to top it off, check out the fan remake projects - NONE of them focus on this game, they all are oriented to the original Privateer.
If you haven't played this game, I wouldn't recommend it to you. Only die-hard fans of the original game might want to have it, for collection completeness' sake. Other than that, unless you have some pocket change to burn on a bargain bin purchase, avoid this game - you're not missing much. If you really want an introduction to this genre (space sim trading), pick up Freelancer instead: it's recent enough to not look too old and off-putting, it's simple enough for newbies to get into, it's got decent depth to hold your attention for a while, and if it really turns you on, you can find mods for it.