2. What kind of games are the Escape Velocity series? And what specifically does Nova bring over the previous games?

The Escape Velocity series has been quite popular because of the open-ended gameplay it offers, with compelling scripted story lines intermingled to spice up the action. It's really quite hard to quantify what the games are like, because there are many different approaches you can take in playing, but loosely, they are a blend of space role playing/action games with a high fun factor.

EV Nova ratchets up the technology used in the gaming engine several notches, while keeping all of the fun core elements of EV Nova. There are plenty of games that have better graphics than the EV series, but few seems to approach the fun factor the games offer. Also the games are open-ended, in that people can create "plugins" that enhance, alter, or even completely replace the game, which keeps it fresh for years.​