The game does not use a joystick - all movements are with your mouse. So, only people who can use a mouse should consider buying this game. For some people, this seems to be an issue - I did not find it a problem.

Overall, this game is very fun and really drew me in with the storyline and intuitive gameplay. Freelancer mixes elements of a trading game, a space combate/sim game, and an RPG. The RPG sequences reminded me in an odd way of *real* oldies like "Burn Cycle" and "Angel Devoid", which were cinema-based sci-fi story games most people probably don't remember. Other reviewers have detailed the plot, so I won't bother - suffice to say that it did keep my interest and really added to the game.

The game has 2 places where it really shines - one is "atmosophere", which is hard to define. When playing, the user interface, game graphics and sound really create a sense of future tech and add to a suspension of disbelief that can make you forget how long you've been playing. The other area is the game's attempt to be a "jack of all trades" by combining elements of many different game genres. For me, this was a real succeess and rounded out the world-building done by the developers. Gamers looking for a hard-core space sim should avoid this game, but if you are looking for a space game experience that is broader - albeit not quite as deep - Freelancer is a really good find!

Morrowind in Space

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: October 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Freelancer is more an RPG than either an action game or sim, which is why I don't hesitate to liken it to The Elder Scrolls III. It is open-ended, with few obligations on the part of the player unless you so desire them. Focus is largely placed on exploring new areas, encountering exciting new people, and of course killing them. There are a host of factions you can interact with, each with alliances, unique weapons, distinctive ships, and bases.

As the name of the game suggests, you are your own boss and can go anywhere and do pretty much anything. If it suits your fancy, you can smuggle drugs and prey on hapless merchants; or you can choose to protect those same merchants and declare yourself the local sheriff. You gain levels as you advance your worth, and this allows you to purchase better weapons and ships. There are a whole ton of each to check out, all with strengths and weaknesses.

Freelancer's single play campaign is simply fantastic. It's not particularly hard, but neither is it dull or monotonous. There are non-linear elements that facilitate replay, and the game doesn't end when you finish the main story. Throughout the missions you explore only a fraction of the total worlds out there, which definitely gives you an idea of how big the game universe is. Be advised that wandering around could get you into very big trouble, which is quite realistic in my opinion but might disturb some gamers.

The game's controls and mechanics are extremely simplified, also more fitting to a shooter or RPG than a sim. You have energy, shields, and armor. Energy is for firing your guns, afterburning, and recharging shields. The other two can be instantly recharged by batteries or nanobots so long as you have them. Additionally, individual weapons and pieces of your ship can be damaged and even destroyed if you take too much punishment (the latter happens quite rarely and you'll often be dead by that time anyway) and are repairable only in dock. You use the mouse to both aim and guide your ship, and can fire one of four weapons- guns, missiles, torpedoes, and mines. Additionally, you can launch decoys to fool incoming warheads if you're too lazy to pull an S-turn. Enemy craft are listed in your HUD just like in most other space sims, but there is no radar- you just get an arrow pointing to the target you selected. You can see straight ahead in 1st or 3rd person, or straight back in 3rd person, but nowhere else. To reduce the tedium of flying through nothingness, you can activate cruise engines that increase your speed by about 3x but deactivate weapons. This might sound like a good way to escape from a fight, but it takes a while to charge the cruise and there are weapons that can disable it.

Graphics are quite impressive, especially for the system requirements on the box. Some of the effects get a bit repetitive, but the combat is well done and the locations all have unique looks. All of the ships also have their own look, and the explosions are nicely done. Capital ships will break into blasted chunks when they die, and fighters will fly to pieces and burn up. If you manage to do enough structural damage to a target, it will show it. Missiles leave incandescent trails and shields flash when struck.

The sound is at times both good and bad. The music is well done, with unique tracks for most of the worlds you can land on. Voice acting on the part of the major character cast is also well done, with such notables as Jennifer Hale, George Takei, and John Rhys-Davies taking part. The comm chatter, however, is a bit of a disappointment. Most of the speakers sound like my next door neighbor, and I could swear they were all the same two people (one male, one female) despite the many different nationalities they're supposed to represent. This is somewhat mediated by the dynamic nature of the dialogue, which is quite interesting to listen to sometimes. If you can't get enough of it, you can hail random ships as you go by, and they'll be glad to give you a full ID.

All in all, the best thing about Freelancer is that you can do almost anything you want. If you have the firepower to pull it off, you can try to conquer the whole galaxy on your own. It's not a sim, as demonstrated by the fact that freighters seem to perform just as well as light fighters, but it's not supposed to be a sim. This is one heck of a space RPG, and anyone who can appreciate that should check it out.

Freelancer succeeds... mostly.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: April 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Chris Roberts started this game several (5?) years ago as the ultimate space privateering game and a sequel of sorts to one of his most famous games, Privateer. Roberts is most famous for his immortal Wing Commander series of games of which there are five not counting expansions. With Microsoft backing Digital Anvil and several "Best of Show" awards at E3 (the biggest game tradeshow on the planet), Freelancer looked to be a spacejockey's dream come true. There was just that agonizingly long wait to deal with. One that saw creator Chris Roberts leave the game.

Well, now Freelancer is finally out. Does it live up to expecations? No. But don't let that stop you. First off, the expectations were way too high to begin with, especially three years ago. We should have all known better. Freelancer provides a very fun space combat game that is accessible to just about everyone. The mouse control not only means casual players don't have to worry about buying a joystick, but is surprisingly fun to use. It's so fun, even if I could use a joystick with this game, I wouldn't (and I have a nice Microsoft Forcefeedback Pro). The game's storyline is very absorbing, and the way the story pauses between missions allowing you to "freelance" greatly enhances the game. You play through a little bit of the story, then go off and do what you want for a bit. Then the story comes back and you complete a little bit more. If your not ready to go on with the story when the time comes, not to worry, the game allows you to proceed at your pace. This allows the game to have all the aspects of being a "freelancer" without being nothing more than a bunch of boring cargo runs from one system to the other.

Another great thing about the game is the level system. Players of Diablo (or games like EQ) will be familiar with this. As you progress, you can increase your level. Higher level means better ships, guns, and shields. You can also find special weapons in the depths of space if you look hard enough. This aspect greatly enhances playability after the story is over. Yep, Freelancer is one of the few games that you can keep playing after it's over.

The downside is that Freelancer is over too soon. The story really should have been twice as long as it is the real meat of the game. Depending on how much you freelance between missions, you can beat the game in less than 20 hours. The other downside is that there isn't much to do after the story ends. I'd say I played about 20 hours on my own after the story, but unlike Diablo where you can seeming keep leveling and finding new more powerful items to infinity, this game definately has a ceiling to reach. You end the story at around level 23. You max out your level and items around the mid 30's. There should be more.

The other problem is multiplayer. Freelancer was originally promising to be this great multiplayer experience, but ends up being practically dead to any multiplayer thanks to one of the worst handlings of a multiplayer format I have ever seen. This being that when you play a multiplayer game, you must create and save your character (and ship, etc.) on the server you are playing on. Add to this the fact that microsoft has NO dedicated servers for this forcing you to rely strictly on independent servers forces you to ask, "what were they thinking?" Imagine playing all day on a server with this new character you created, only to find that you can never log onto that server again either because it's taken down or because it's not on 24/7 and your timing is incompatible. Basically, microsoft could care less if you played this game multiplayer. The good news is, that if you have a group of friends and one can run a server, you can meet up and play with them, but random online play is virtually eliminated.

All in all, 40 hours of play for a game is good. I'd rather pay for a game that lasted only 20 hours but was a hell of a lot of fun than play a game for only 20 hours because it wasn't. Fortunately, the single player aspects of the game are strong enough to warrant the purchase. Freelancer could have been a truly great game, but I'm glad that it's at least a very good game.

PROS:
*Accessible to many poeple, not just hardcore flight junkies.
*Does not require you to buy a joystick.
*Engaging and exciting storyline.
*Simple interface that allows a lot of control.
*Computer does all the bookwork for you leaving you to just fly the ship and save the galaxy.
*Stunning graphics that run great on recommended specs (which are low).
*Fun and addicting level up/collect weapons design.

CONS:
*Horrendous multiplayer design.
*Story too short.
*Not enough to do after story ends.
*No difficulty settings (though the game isn't too hard, some people might like to make it harder).
*Non-story missions can be a bit repetative.

An excellent game for those new to Space Sims and open-ended

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have played X-BTF, X-Tension, IWar2, and Battlecruiser Millenium. All are good games and more open-ended than Freelancer. I-War2 is closest to Freelancer, and graphically was ahead of its time. I admit, Freelancer should of been out in late 2001, but I won't ring my hands over it.

Freelancer brings this genre, open-ended space to the Mortal Man. Mortal meaning most people don't have the time to invest in the aformentioned games, esp. BCM.

Gameplay
Like in Battlezone II, this game introduces the gamer to the game "during the game", no optional tutorial. I am a big fan of this type of introduction. Freelancer allows you to run your own server, mine is "Salt Lake City - Lancer Reactor". It provides players with cooperative gameplay much like NeverWinter Nights. NWN is a superior game, but for a space-sim, Freelancer gets an A for gameplay.
So, the new gamer gets a good introduction to open-ended space games. This genre just got a shot in the arm, a badly needed one. Freelancer is open-ended, just not as open as Morrowind.
When you run your own Multiplayer server, you can play the game totally open-ended. I love to play it in short bursts, do 2-3 missions, then logout. I like it when outside people join in my small server and work with me.

Graphics
Some say the graphics are dated. Not sure what other space-sim games have better graphics, EVE possibly. I enjoy the graphics and with my Athlon 1700+ and ATI 8500 128MB, runs smoothly in single player, and gets a little choppy sometimes in Multiplayer. This is fine with me. When I played Battlezone II in 1999, it was choppy with a 16mb TNT and Athlon 500. Not till I built this machine that Battlezone II runs without any chop, and this is 1 year old. So I am glad Freelancer is a bit ahead in terms of graphics requirements.

Sound
Voice acting is superb, the best since Homeworld. In fact, not since Homeworld have I been so drawn to a game. Microsoft, my hat is off to you. Compare the voice acting here to Hegemonia, which was a joke of a game, and I am a Imperium Galactica II fan.
Hegemonia was a waste...BR>Space music is not as good as Homeworld, but still good. I am a fan of Morrowind, Homeworld, Battlezone II, I-War2 and NeverWinter music.

Summary
Including Freelancer, those games I just listed are the best I have played, along with Half-Life and Imperium Galactica II.
I like open ended games, like X-Tension(good music too), but
Freelancer brings those hauty open-ended games down to the level that most people won't loose interest.

So, if you are a total newbie, I recommend Freelancer.....

Freelancer deserves to be ranked with those games.

Some Things That Might Help You Out!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: March 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

An excellent game for sci-fi sim novices

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: April 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The ship designs in Freelancer are very unconventional, and seem to have more in common with the works of Science fiction artists like Chris Foss and Boris Vallejo, rather than the "Star Trek/Star Wars" stylistic fetishes that some sci-fi simulators follow. The designs will not be to everyone's tastes, and it's possible to underestimate a ship's performance based purely on its design. The Sabre is a good example of this - it looks like a gigantic spacegoing anvil, but is one of the best ships in the game.

The most prominent and most successful innovation in the game, is the successful implementation of a mouse-keyboard interface, which replaces the joystick used in most sci-fi simulator games. The interface actually works much better than a joystick, giving the player a much greater sense of freedom. It also makes it much easier to execute complex manuevers like strafing or loops - very important when dodging enemy fighters or spoofing missiles.

The less successful innovation, is an attempt at implementing a dynamic universe in the game. It almost works, but there are obviously some features that should have been implemented in the game to make it more convincing. For instance, even though your reputation with a particular faction can change, a faction's area of influence will not expand or contract, based on the actions you take. Furthermore, the news feed is a very useful way of keeping track of events during the single-player campaign. However, once the campaign is over, the newsfeed becomes totally useless.

Furthermore, the graphics are slightly out-dated now. This is testimony to the lengthy development time of the game (almost five years). The graphics in Independence War 2, which was released 18 months ago, are far superior than those used in Freelancer. The objects are not detailed enough - especially "super heavy fighters" like the Eagle or Titan. Large objects like space stations and battleships, aren't big enough to give a sufficient sense of size or scale.

In the end, Freelancer is an extremely worthy addition to the sci-fi simulator genre. As the Single-player campaign is extremely short, and replay value is limited, many hardcore sci-fi fans probably won't want to play full price for it. However, for the enterprising novice, who shies away from space sims due to their complexity, Freelancer is a wonderful introduction to the genre. Here's hoping that Digital Anvil are given the opportunity to develop a sequel to this wonderful game.

disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: May 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Ok, let's get to the bashing, shall we? Ahh, yes... my favorite part.

First of all, the interface. In a word: UGH! Joystick control is not available, and the mouse control is so slick and so simple that it really takes the fun out of playing this game. MOST OF THE GAME IS SPENT CHASING A LITTLE DOT ON THE SCREEN WITH YOUR MOUSE CURSOR. To make matters worse, the AI is overwhelmingly stupid. You can just steer towards you opponents and shoot - they don't have a clue how to fly. Oh, and did I mention that you can instantly repair Hull/Shield? Well, you can. Congrats, you'll never die!

My second biggest gripe is the repetitiveness of it all. Most missions consist of 3 waypoints with a few bad guys in each. You do several of these missions, accumulate enough dough, then do a story mission, then go back to doing these. Rinse, lather, repeat...

The voice acting is terrible. I could do a better job, and I speak in a monotone with a thick Russian accent. Humor is non-existent, the writing [is bad] and none of the characters have anything interesting to say. The story seems cobbled together from every other space sim out there, and when the... well, when the "big surprise" comes in, I thought "yawn... well its about time".

So what does the game do right? It looks good, that's for sure, and even on my modest rig it ran without a hiccup. It's stable, the universe is large, there are plenty of ships/guns (though they are all like), and there is multiplayer, though it feels more of an afterthought.

So, in conclusion: this is not the sequel to Elite and Privateer that you were hoping for. It doesn't have Privater II's style, nor Elite's open-endedness - and the gameplay is pretty weak. If you want to play an Elite-esque flight sim, I SINCERELY recomment Tachyon: The Fringe, and if you want to see some excellent gameplay, try Independence War II: Edge of Chaos. Just don't waste time/money on this.

Final rating: **1/2.

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