Freelancer

I bought this game on eBay having heard that it was a similar game to Elite. The gameplay is indeed very similar, and is very addictive. Once I'd played it a couple of times, I immediately went back on eBay and bought copies for all my kids so they could join in the fun too.... I have played this game right through and the storyline makes it feel as if you are actually in a movie, it's brilliant. If you have trouble feeling free to explore because of the restrictive nature of the storyline in the single-player game, simply set up a Freelancer server on your own PC (easy to do and the software is included) and play to your heart's content. There are still a huge number of Freelancer servers on the Internet, so multiplayer is no problem and is not all that threatening, because you don't often meant other players unless you want to. So go get a copy of this game, learn it by playing the single-player campaign, then set up an online presence and enjoy yourself. The depth of this game is staggering, with huge systems to explore and wrecks to find, as well as all sorts of other things to discover - hidden planets, wormholes, secret bases, the list is nearly endless. Fantastic game and especially as you can get it for a couple of quid on eBay. Get one with the full written manual if you can (blue box, not Xplosiv red box), it's loads better!

This is a great game! Okay perhaps it didn't have some of the features it was meant to have but Digital Anvil have still come up with a good game. There is a certain similarity to Elite(you can trade, pick up weapons and cargo off destroyed ships, go on missions)however this game features a heavily scripted mission. It is a great mission. The control system is different it uses the mouse! You basically fly you spaceship around a system and work your way up! The game features some pretty good graphics even through it was made in 2003. It should run well on even a modestly specified PC. The story features some great voice acting from John Rhys Davies, George Takei, Jennifer Hale(she appears in every computer game). Stick with the story it gets better and better as it goes on. There is even a race section, where you and an opponent have to race your spaceships around a course(it involves you going through rings). This section took me a while to beat. It adds variety to the game. Some sections are a little tough here and there but overall you can beat this game. The game has an active mod scene on the Net. Pick up some mods to extend the game. I haven't played any of the mods yet.

Sadly a sequel to this was cancelled, a shame!

I've long been a fanatical Wingnut (Wing Commander fan) even to the point of actually enjoying the WC movie, a characteristic that will probably get me flogged by other Wingnuts:). Because of this rabid love of all things WC I was anxiously awaiting Freelancer, and planning to upgrade my computer solely for that reason, since this was the last game that Chris Roberts initiated before leaving Digital Anvil and it was touted, at least in the Wing Commander community to be the new incarnation of WC Privateer.

Anyway the fateful day arrived when the game was released and I quickly snatched up a copy.

My reaction was: Not too bad.

When you start a new game you do have to sit through the opening cinematic that brings you up to speed on events. You are Edison Trent one of the survivors of a surprise attack on Freeport 7. Unfortunately, your ship was destroyed with the station and you wound up riding with the other survivors to the New York system. So you are short on money, clothes, and transportation. Because of this you are forced directly into the storyline, whereas in Privateer you could cruise around to your heart's content before actually starting on the story track. This is perfectly fine since between story driven missions you can take on any combat or cargo running mission you like. Once, you progress to a certain experience level it will activate the next set of missions in the story. The story itself is pretty standard Sci Fi fair, but still enjoyable. The only problem I found with it was that the CGI actors' lips almost never moved. This was only an issue for about the first two or three conversations and then my attention was no longer drawn to their lips. This is pretty acceptable though considering there are a lot of cookie cutter conversation scenes for when you pick up jobs, gossip, or an improved reputation from people in the bars. So the CG actors come off like the old Thunderbirds series but it's not much of a detractor.

The graphics are spectacular as is the environments you can fly through. There are trade lanes available in the "settled" systems that speed up travel between planets and stations in the system but you can also explore the system just using your cruise engine, although the trade lanes do propel you faster.

After the storyline is finished you can continue exploring. There are several unsettled and fringe systems to map and quite a few easter egg ship's and systems, on one planet I found myself quoting a particular Charlton Heston film. There are derelict ships in just about every system, providing a free source for spare parts and commodities. Some of these derelicts are the only place you can get the most powerful guns in the game, although you'll probably be well past the storyline before you can afford a ship that can mount such powerful weapons.

Even if you are a die hard space shooter fan it will get a little old fairly quick, although I still find myself going back to it for a little relaxation. But the game is surprisingly easy to modify so it's just a matter of jumping on the Net and downloading one of the many Mods out there if you want to liven up.

I my personal opinion, it's perfect just the way it is. The stunning visuals of the nebulae and planets is worth the price.

This is one of the Chris Roberts titles, he's the same designer behind the Privateer/Wing Commander Series. Not only is Chris Roberts quite the visionary but he's also one of the few people that still makes offerings into the non-linear Space RPG genre.

Freelancer is the sequel to Starlancer, both of which were sequels (in spirit) to the Privateer/Wing Commander series. The game starts off with an intriguing story that just pulls you in. From the beginning you're free to do missions, explore (which the game rewards via hidden bases, planets, jump holes, mining, and abandoned ships etc.) and you can land on almost every ship/base/outpost/planet/etc. in the game. When you land somewhere you're free to purchase ships, many different kinds of commodities for trading, take on jobs, talk in the bar, read the news, buy equipment etc.

Thats just a brief summary of all the good things this game has to offer. Now onto the bad. The story, while excellent, begins to go downhill about half way through. It feels rushed and the ending was a bit cliché. The first half is definitely the most intriguing. Some features weren't completed as designed and you can tell that the team was probably pressured to ship despite the loose ends. Namely the reputation system, the minor character cut scenes and dialogue, and non storyline jobs. The minor character cut scenes (talking to people in the bar) gets very repetitive, I would have liked to see a feature that lets you skip those and get right to the text of what they have to say. The reputation system works in relation to the story however it's importance after that dwindles..part of it ties into your ability to take on missions after you complete the story. The missions you're able to take are all exactly the same. They are basically combat missions with the names changed. I would have liked to have seen exploration, shipping, spying/espionage, investigative, scientific, and other types of diverse missions. It would have added much more to the re-playability of this already re-playable game. Because you're limited on the types of jobs you can take, you tend not to care about your reputation hence the fun kind of ends. It would have also been cool if you could buy you're own base or something along those lines which would have added to re-playability.

Despite it's shortcomings, which become obvious during game play, this title is still very much excellent and if you're into space at all you'll enjoy this one. It's definitely immersive. Hopefully Chris Roberts won't give up, because only he has the vision to combine next generation features with Hollywood quality storytelling and cinematics.

This game is very addictive, I kept playing it for hours straight until late at night but also the fact that you can't save a game when you are in space contributed to this, at times I just HAD to play on in order not to loose any game data.

So yes, "Freelancer" is addictive but also quite flawed. Also for instance, something that extremely bothered me was that you couldn't skip any of the cut scene's with as a result that at times you had to watch the same few minute cut scene time after time. A great opportunity for me to multitask to check my e-mail or have a chat with my friends and more things like that, while I had to wait for the cut scene to be over.

The story starts of promising but the further you get the more ridiculous it all gets. Also the game also ends quite abrupt, at least it did so for me. It is quite obvious that they are hinting at a upcoming sequel. I don't know if a sequel is in the works at the moment but I am sure that most likely I will pick one up once it will be released.

The gameplay is very easy! Even for those who are not familiar with flight games. To put it boldly, every fool can play this game. Yes, some levels are quite hard and require lots of effort. It took me about 1-2 weeks for me to finish this game which might be a bit too short. But thank God for the multi-player option! It allows you to keep playing short missions, just like the single player game once you have completed it by the way.

Even though lot's of mission are the same, it just simply stays cool to be in the middle of the at times massive dogfights.

The graphics are good but just not anything revolutionary or anything.

Addictive game but beware of its flaws.

7/10

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