Okay, maybe not in the strictest sense…and you sure as heck won’t be fighting any Kilrathi as you play through it. But even so, Black Market, a Flash-based game currently in beta, does feature many of the hallmarks of Origin’s spaceflight classic:

Descended from PC space-trading games such as ‘Elite,’ ‘Privateer,’ and ‘X,’ ‘Black Market (Beta)’ deftly combines economics and combat within a detailed sci-fi setting. Gameplay consists of commodities trading and ship-to-ship combat, as you travel from planet to planet, buying and selling goods. You can use your steadily increasing fortune to upgrade the ship’s arsenal; and the ever-improving weaponry (like missile power) allows players to take on ruthless space pirates fully-loaded. Battles with the pirates are fought using a simple point-and-click interface that, while not particularly complicated, keeps the game moving at a brisk pace. Superbly presented, the game wraps itself in fantastic graphics and a fleshed out backstory.

The game will evidently be a pay-to-play venture once it moves into full production, with individually-priced campaigns. Currently, while it is in its beta phase, a lifetime membership can be purchased for the price of the first campaign. Interested? Go thou and try it out!