When it rains, it pours: Wing Commander Arena went from being a title no one had heard about (in a presumed-dead franchise, no less) to a fully playable game in about a day's time. 1UP has the details:
Gameplay is an easy jump-in arcade experience. You position the camera in one of three places: above, distant-behind or in front of your ship (so you can check your six) — all pretty far back from your vehicle. At first, we were disappointed and wanted a nice up-close After Burner viewpoint to kick some furry Kilrathi butt. But once the action started up, and missiles, lasers and god knows what else starting flying across the screen, we were glad the camera was where it was so we could see where fire was coming from. Navigating the maps and finding power-ups to repair engines/shields or add an additional fighter for fire-support round out the arcade list of features.
While I'd still love to see a new traditional Wing Commander game, the faster-paced arcade style of gameplay is probably better suited for an XBLA title. I'm looking forward to trying this one out myself.