I was a huge fan of the Buck Rogers games too. Loved the combat, and I felt that the skillful use of smoke and chaff made up a bit from the tactics lost (compared to the other Goldbox games) from not having magic. Absolutely loved the ship combat too!
And yeah, Matrix Cubed’s ending was quite abrupt. Out of any of the series, it took be the longest to beat Matrix Cubed, and the sudden ending was brutal when I finally reached it. Also, did anyone else manage to save scot.dos? I never did, and was always so sad when he died. His death has always been one of the most memorable deaths in a videogame for me, particularly because I knew I could have saved him if I had spent my skill points better. Tragic.