Compare the dogfighting sequences outside and inside of the nebula. Both have great action, but the visual effects are very different.

A large capital ship, and a planet in the background. This looks like an interesting backdrop for some action.

These screenshots show off the nebula in its full glory. Inside the nebula, there are lightning storms (to the left) which provide additional excitement and danger to the environment. Note how the explosions and beams are highlighted by the nebula, and how ships leave trails as they maneuver through the nebula. Now that's a visual feast.

Although capital ships explosions looked absolutely spectacular to begin with, but in a nebula...

Capital ships with planets in the background as they approach a hostile fleet.  It doesn't look like Endor, but this is going to be a large battle between two fleets.

The defenders fire their beam weapons at one of the invading capital ships. A direct hit on one of the Shivan invaders!

Beam weapons appear to have decimating effects on hostile capital ships. But watch out for the shockwave from that explosion!

Even though there's nothing left of this one, there's still one more...

Not to mention the near miss by the lethal lighting in the right screenshot...

Intense beam weapons...watch it tear through that capital ship like butter!

Capital ships on the left, a new fighter on the right...they both die nicely.

Great pictures of the furious furrballs again...

If you look in the upper right corner of the left side screenshot, you see a purple color spiral. Odds are that this is the first glimpse of the new FS2 bitmap nebula system, which definitely looks much cooler than the ones in FreeSpace 1. Thanks to IceFire for spotting this, I almost missed it.