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One of the best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Ive had this game since it came out in 2003 and still play it on occasion.
Its a game with lots of lasting appeal. Its pretty much an open game, you can go wherever you want and do what you want; youre not locked into taking one path. Easy interface/controls no flightstick required. Theres also tons of mods for this game available thats another plus.

Well done space adventure.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Not to say Freelance doesn't have its' drawbacks--it does--but they are easy to overcome. Simply, you go the LancerReactor web site and download your choice of modifications. One of mine is Discovery 4.82. This modification adds more equipment, money, weapons, ships to the game during the story and after.

The story, I seem to remember, ends at about level 27 with over thirty levels possible. Futhermore there are, I guess, about 25 or 27 solar systems involved with the storyline game...I count a total of 57 or 58 solar systems on the game board. Lots of places to go and explore after the game has ended. (Off the record, I wish Bungie had placed one or two 'wandering variables' in the game after the story had ended. This would have given you something to equip your ship for and to make more money for...afterall, you can't whip a level 50 ship with a level 7 ship, and if you don't get the best ship possible--fully dressed out--soon enough, THEY MIGHT WIN!

What do I mean by a wandering variable? In this case it would have been nice if another invader had entered that part of the galaxy...they send out super fighter craft that are level 50 with four fighters inside them at level 20. There mission would be to gather up mineral resources and fight anybody who interfers with them...sooner or later the mother ship would appear for the 'big fight'. This type of X factor can wander all over the starsystems and be unpredictable where and when. It would have given you something else to prepare for than just fight single and groups of fighters of they same type you've fought a dozen times before.

Nevertheless, I like Freelancer. I've had it for acouple of years and played it many times. You'll get tired of it after you've played it through the storyline 2 or three times...you put it away and play your other games, and then sooner or later you want to go back. Play the story line again, go to that one solar system you haven't searched yet...why not be trader this time, or a pirate.

So finally, dispite any complaint from the other reviews, if you like the idea of this type of game you should get it--there are a lot of Mods for it out there. If you do buy it, my advise is download the free Discovery 4.82 from Lancer Reactor and add it to the game the first time.
Bye!

MODs make this game replayable over and over

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ok, I am old. I grew up with Ataris which cost then as much as Xboxes do now. Commodor-64 had "Elite" which is like Freelancer, but no plot at all. When the Intel 486s came out, I played the thematic godparents of Freelancer (Strike Commander, Wing Commander, WC Privateer) and LOVED these old games. Yeah, ok, I need Geritol, but these games are better than the garbage that is TV today.

The control system took a little getting used to, but is pretty easy and enjoyable once you see why the mouse control is important vs joysticks. The universe in the storyline is not "quite" open ended. You still have to do "x" to progress. However, even knowing the story still leaves you a LOT of time to explore the universe and get your rear end shot off if you are not careful. A truly enjoyable game.

I have played Freelancer several times through using different MODs. I truly enjoy the MOD Manager for this game as it allows you to employ multiple MODs.

Some MODs are quaint and just improve a few weapons or your max speed (thank God for that at least). Others change the entire dynamic of the game and universe. One even has the old Privateer ships in it. Another let's you use a really nice gun-only freighter which outguns the Corsairs and even some capitol ships (but you pay a lot for it) or let's you pilot a Cylon Raider from the original Battalstar Galactica series with a very cool energy torpedo system.

All in all, the games with the player modifiable systems are wonderful and the ones I find myself playing over and over again. Freelancer, Doom 3, UFO Aftershock, and others fall into this great catagory.

Immersing solo player experience

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Have never played Freelancer multi-player. Have never added any of the mods. My only experience with Freelancer is as a solo player and this is one of the most immersing games I have played. I like playing in a dark room with nobody around and this game really takes you away. If you are looking for a great solo experience then you can't go wrong here. Exceptional value!

Good game to play, but not a keeper.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: July 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I originally received a demo from my gaming magazine. After several hours with that, I went ahead and bought a used copy, knowing I could sell it for not much less than I bought it a week or two later. But be warned, the work you did on the demo will not carry over to the full game. Apparently the save games do not match the full version.

It was a nice game. One of the pluses was the impressive graphics. You cruise through all manner of perfectly rendered space, including debris and asteroid and ice fields and dust clouds. The fps always seems stable. The ships look pretty good, the AI is sufficient, but usually involves the enemy turning suddenly and hitting the afterburners (which you can practically sit on in the bettter ships) or giving you a multiple ship head on barrage that leaves your craft crippled. You'll die a few times, but overall the difficulty is not bad. Thanks to shield batteries and a nanobots. The sounds are excellent, from the eerie atmospheric soundtrack to the blast of your cannons to the buzz of your shields and the clanking of docks and your ship's engine revving up for full cruise. The controls are good, simple, easy to learn. The mouse flight is truly innovative for a space shooter. And the way your guns track much faster than the nose of your ship is nice. Also the targeting system is nice once you get the hang of it, and you can really practice your visual concentration and shooter skills for other online games where it matters. You can toy with the camera to get all sorts of gorgeous screen shots of you and your latest heavy fighter patrolling the space lanes. You do fly bys past (tiny) planets, make approaches to and dock with extensive bases of all shapes and types. The feeling of being surrounded by the immensity of space is definitely there in the visuals and sound and feel.

The story is pretty cool. It's kind of arbitrary though and involves an alien artifact that happens to be the key to some huge conspiracy involving widespread corruption and the theories of Freeman Dyson. Also, there's lots of murders and guns and you won't score with your beautiful employer. There are no aliens in the game: EVERYONE in Freelancer is an anomolous robotic person- thing. So androcentric, just like the Galactic Empire in Star Wars.

But the downside to this game is pretty steep for anyone seeking any level of realism in the gameplay. I just couldn't understand how they couldn't come up with something resembling what actual solar systems simply must look like. In the game, planets are stationary and seem to be about 30km in circumference for the most part. Planets are crowded together, and have no other features besides being different colors. No oceans or mountains or topography at all. Within planets and bases it's all the same exact thing with different textures and skins and architecture and a slightly different clip of your ship landing in a different port: slick jazzy music, a dead bar full of corporate and governmental workers sitting alone doing nothing, the same boring greetings and introduction protocols. And if you want to be a merchant, be prepared for some long and monotonous space travel. The missiles and countermeasures are mostly useless. You may even find yourself disliking the character you play in the game. Everyone in the Freelancer universe looks like a product of genetic bioengineering or the well toned descendants of the Moonraker project. The major objects in each system are connected by jump lanes that you enter and go real fast along to get to the next place. The realism is just absent. Planets don't go around a really distant sun, it's more like pretty marbles sitting around haphazardly and a flood light facing you 1000 km away. No realism in the physics of anything except the ships. And after the story is done, all that's left to do is get bounties. And you'll have done enough of that by then. It should take about 20-25 hours to complete, including plenty of random exploration.

Worth your money, if you intend to sell it later. That's about all I can think of, and I did give it 4 stars.

So many things to do, I can't decide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: August 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First, before I get to storyline, lets get to the basics. The graphics are above-par, and so is the sound. My only beff is the AI. every time you talk to a non-mission relted charachter it always starts like this (unlessyou have alredy spoken with them). "Can I help you?" "I'd just like to know what's going on around here" "Your first time here?" "yeah" "Well, I work for THE BOUNTY HUNTERS GUILD. We don't feel the need to run things around here, but we do have a sizeable stake in its operation. Card? Everything seems to be in order. I have heard a rumor." then they tell you. The faction Hostility/freindliness meter is unique, because some corporations will be hostile as soon as you see them. It is difficult in the missions to maintain a good rep. with the bounty hunters.

The gameplay gets relatively tedious, until you get to about level 8. then the missions get interesting. The game, though extremely short, is high in replay-ability. Also, the posibilites after the game for exploration is endless. find hidden bases and a planet inhabited by monkeys. Shoot wrecked ships (marked by a red X on the map) to get their equiptment. Unfortunately, most of the time, they are in Minefields or radiation zones. Also, if you sell a unique weapon to a base that doesn't normally sell it, by your next visit to the equiptment dealer, it is gone. you cannot attach wepons that are tractored in until landing on a base and selling it and then rebuying it for more money. Some problems arise in the Omicron systems. Fighting Outcasts gets your rep. up with Corsairs and Vice Versa. If you are on good with Corsairs, you can fly through Omicron Gamma and Theta just fine, but Alpha and Beta are nearly Impossible to navigate, even with Diamondback, Jade, Silver Fire, Archangel, and Bloodfire guns and a Titan ship. Overall Rating: Excellent.

Cheap rip-off of a small German independent company's games

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 13
Date: February 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Cheap is the active description. Rip-off is the verdict. If you want a great game, in the tradition of Elite and Privateer, turn to EgoSoft out of Germany. X-Beyond the Frontier, X-Tension, and the newly released X2-The Threat, all blow Microsoft's lame game to shame. Freelancer should be relegated to not the bargain-bin, (as it is now), but to the trash bin. And if you did play Freelancer, and actually liked it, then you will LOVE X2! And yes, they have an English version. And they continue to come up with add-ons - not "patches", but real additions to the game ala "The Sims", for free download by registered owners. Make money trading, owning factories, blowing up Pirates or other bad guys, and capture ships. Own a fleet of transports, fighters, corvettes, destroyers, battleships and carriers! Compared to X2 by Egosoft, Freelancer is a poor Craker Jacks prize. And Egosoft has been growing this franchise for a long, long time.

Good game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: April 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is really good, has great graphics and a good plot. Here are the details:

PROS
) Great graphics
) Good Controls and interface
) and even a great story line

CONS
) Short manual. (this is the reason for only 4 stars)
) and there seems to be no way to mod the game, assuming you want to.
) Requires a rather good computer.

Best game of the year, obviously

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I've played just about every space-combat sim released for the last 5-8 years and this is, hands down, the most complete experience. Everything I've ever wanted to do in a space sim is accomplishable here in this game, from trading to killing to exploring. I was really sad when I found out that Firefly was canceled, but this game makes me feel MUCH better.

As for the joystick scandel... sure, I'd like to be able to use my Saitek Force Feedback, but I am getting buy with my mouse just as easily.

Really, the only possible improvement would be voice.

Could have been, should have been, but utimately wasn't...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I just finished this game hours ago. It has been a long time that I have actually played a game all the way through, but the plot managed to hold my interest, a rare thing indeed. I felt that the storyline in this game was excellent. Well Almost. Everything was good up until the ending, which was completely anticlimactic and made very little, if any, sense. That is my major complaint with the game. It is not my only complaint; it is however the only thing that was strong enough of a let-down that I feel as though I wasted my money.
I also felt that the control system was excellent; it allowed me to divert much of my attention to gaining victory over my opponents and not over the keyboard. Flight/space-sim orientated people may find it over simple and even ridiculous, but for me it was great.
The graphics were beautiful, and ran great even on my poor machine (Athlon 700, GeForce2, and 512 Mb). And the game ran flawlessly, except for the sound system would sometimes crash, but I think that is more a flaw with my ancient first-gen sblive! card. At least the QA department did its job for once.
This game touts itself as being open-ended, if only this were true. Yes you can do whatever jobs you like and you can choose to ignore the main plot and never turn back. Unfortunately you will never advance in level, will be locked out of the better equipment, and therefore will never be powerful enough to effectively leave the Liberty System in the game. Not that linear game play is a bad thing, but come on Microsoft, that's just false advertising. And they say that it is similar to a role-playing game, if that is so, where is the character development?
This game just feels unfinished. So much hype was built around it that was just rushed out to the public, when more time could have been used and polished this game into a true gem.
I give it three stars, fun to play but there are better ways to spend your fifty bucks.

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