One of the things I liked about this game was that the missions were fairly difficult for me. I've been through the Privateer games, Wing Commander games, and other flight (non-space) sims and most of the time even by the last mission I can just wipe out all the bad guys, then finish the mission. Here, I was actually quite overwhelmed the last few missions and my goal was just to get the objectives completed. That was much more realistic for me.

On a side note, the Banshee's a great ship for multiplayer once you're tired of flying Titans/Sabres/Eagles. Try being a mercenary/pirate/escort in one of those. The lack of excellent level-oriented weaponry adds to the challenge a bit, while the agility of a light fighter still lets you run rings around those who think Titan's rule because they're the most expensive.