1st time I played it, I was killed before I got to the first planet to pick up cargo.
When I finally figured out where I was, and warped to the correct system, it was full of hostiles. 3 of them showed up on radar, but the one that killed me didn't. Almost made it to the 2nd of 3 planets in that system. (All I know for sure is that the 1st planet wasn't the right one.)
Sadly, or fortunately, I played a later version first.
Aside from missing the features of that later version:
1) The opening premise is that the ships in starfleet have been destroyed, but even in the opening system: you see loads of ships flying about.
2) The quadrants have been enslaved, but there is a feel that ships are free to go anywhere, do anything.
3) If Bajor is by the WH, why is that the only system still free? You would expect it to be the first to fall.