Freelancer

SkynetV4

SkynetV4

Mildly Dipped
I gotta admit it. Ever since I played Buck Rogers and the Doomsday Laser for the Sega Genesis, I've become an space combat/rpg junkie. I have tried several substitutes such as: TDZK, Starports, KotOR and some others. I had heard of Freelancer, the space combat simulator released by Microsoft. I don't remember where, I heard that the game had some "RPG" elements so I picked it up.
Man, have I been had? What I thought to be a great rehashing of a good solid RPG universe: the space western from the 50s/60s/70s. What I got: a crappy flight simulator with the ability to buy better ships and guns. RPG quality is none since the only thing you decide is which shinies you use to destroy your enemies. I mean why can't companies get a clue and make a solid RPG with Space Combat....WHY??!!
 
Closest I've ever gotten was Star Control series, but it's not a flight sim type combat. It's top down.
 
Then you should recognize my Avatar. Anyway, I love the Star Control series, but anyone can advise you to stay away from Star Control 3, it it to Star Control what FO: BOS is to Fallout....

There's a neat little game called "Space Trader" for the Palm Pilot platform that's excellent, but, remember, it's a Palm Pilot game, so don't expect a lot. There's also an old game called Elite that's similar...
 
I wasted too much time playing Elite and Elite II.


Star command is a good one, but make sure its the first one, all the other ones are crap. Sentinel Worlds is also a good one, I still play it from time to time.

Of course, all those games are extremely old and have pretty awful graphics. A newer game is X2: The Threat which might be worth a look. Privateer is always a good choice too. The second one isn't bad and looks half decent too.
 
I totally forgot about the Escape Velocity series.

For a long time it was a bastion of Mac Gaming goodness for which there simply was no equal on the PC. However, recently Ambrosia Software released the next game in the series EV:Nova for PC. Its quite kick ass. Its not a flight sim, and the graphics are rather simple (I prefer the term quaint) But its pretty much your best bet for quality space sim RPG fun. The demo is quite expansive as well, so there is no reason not to try it out.

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/
 
Yeah, Freelancer *quickly* looses its novelty. The "opened-ended" universe really disappoints. It claims that you can be a bounty hunter, trader, etc. but those scenarios are pretty straight forward and they become formulaic with the only difference being what kinda ship attacks you.

The story line is a tad bit long-winded and I admittedly quit in the latter quarter of the game because seeing the next 15 second cutscene wasn't enough incentive for me to engage in a long-winded dogfight.

The one thing that I was pretty excited about was the ship customization. But often times, to earn enough money for the newest top of the line ship required mindless tedium of blasting open asteroids for their minerals and shipping them to the best space port for cost. And often, the ships were only different from your last ship by how many turrets they could equip or how fast they could spin in the axel.

As a space-sim, it offers many repetitve and tedious dogfights that eventually become easy to beat. As an opened-ended RPG world, it doesn't deliver in the amount of depth.
 
the "RPG"-element is no more than choosing your missions and some random text floats when you click someone at the bar...

to put it simply the game is: pick a mission, fight, win, get better ship, pick a mission, fight, win, get better ship, pick a mission, fight, win, get better ship, pick a mission, fight, win, get better ship, pick a mission, fight, win, get better ship, pick a mission, fight, win, get better ship...

also the open ended thing is pure bullocks, so is the pick a mission thing for that matter... you think you got some freedom of movement, but you dont. the missions you have to do to get money are the same 5 standard missions everywhere, just different crafts to fight, but same missions. (intercept, go collect bounty, destroy laserplatforms,...)
 
...and if you don't like certain aspects and wish for it to become even worse, with severe interface problems, support Derek !Smart in his infantile crusade to rape the license. :)
 
Roshambo said:
...and if you don't like certain aspects and wish for it to become even worse, with severe interface problems, support Derek !Smart in his infantile crusade to rape the license.
Click to expand...

How can we not love this guy?

I mean, I am not claiming that Buck Rogers was the best RPG/Space Sim I played but it was the first! Shadowrun and the Space Combat, Trading/RPG are genres which are severely underdeveloped. However didn't a Russian guy come in a few months showing a very tempting fan project?
 
SkynetV3 said:
However didn't a Russian guy come in a few months showing a very tempting fan project?
Click to expand...

Would that be the one Derek "Assgremlin" Smart threatened if he got the rights to Freelancer?
 
Roshambo said:
...and if you don't like certain aspects and wish for it to become even worse, with severe interface problems, support Derek !Smart in his infantile crusade to rape the license. :)
Click to expand...

I thought he wanted the freespace license? Aren't they two different games?
 
those games were fun if you aren't that hardcore RPG'er yet, or if you can ignore what they call "RPG elements" and try to enjoy the game for whatever it offers...

try harbinger but it got nothing to do with spaceships, its just futuristic, and don't pay alot for it too.
 
SkynetV3 said:
Pain meds? What kind of pain are we talking about? Guilt for eating babies? ;p
Click to expand...
Dammit! I was just about to say that.

Maybe it's for indigestion, or those nasty little bruises they give you with their bony shins if they're fighters.
 
I liked it for the whole eight hours it took for me to beat the plot. This game was a lot better when it was called WC: Privateer.
 
Buckle said:
I liked it for the whole eight hours it took for me to beat the plot. This game was a lot better when it was called WC: Privateer.
Click to expand...
And it would have remained a lot better if it had stayed "privateer 3"
It's such a shame that the old WC expanded memory drivers are incompatible with windows
 
hey you had to love the retros in privateer. just like all the religous wacks here in the states. but the games only redeeming value is the multiplayer aspect. yes its still just dogfighting in space but at least its not repeetitive ai's.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top